How time passes, I would have been 29 years old when this was shot, as I head towards 60 this remeinded me of how things were not so long ago in my mind. I like everything about this video, good health and happiness to everyone.
I have no words to explain our gratitude about this job and this amazing documentary! Thank you for this video for posterity and our heritage! You are really heroes! Thank you!
Thank you ever so much for your very kind words. I hope that other ex Lighthouse Keepers get to see them. We enjoyed making our Lighthouse "Documentary", so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks again and stay safe.
No music! What a marvellous relief! It must take a singular kind of man to do this work: one who is neither claustrophobic nor agoraphobic, one who can sleep through the constant roaring of the sea, one who has no need to be entertained by comrades and can live independently mentally, despite sharing everything with two others. One who can stand fog horns going off every ten minutes and one who has endless patience and is happy to repeat everything he did yesterday, today. I have lived alone for 50 years now and am happy to do so, but I don't think I'd make a lighthouse keeper. Hats off to you, you do such admirable work.
Thank you very much for those kind words. I guess we were all of that. We did have our moments when clashes of personality reared it's ugly head. Luckily, those moments were rare. Thank you once again, stay safe and take care.
Wow, over one million views for this video documentary now, thank you one and all for finding my channel and making this possible and just being the great Lighthouse loving Family, Thank you.
I love those beautiful old Fresnel lenses. They are works of art. And nothing better than seeing that reassuring light beaming out when you're on a boat at sea.
Yes I totally agree with that. I used to like to spend a moment or two up in the lantern at night just to watch the lens lit up in motion, also in my filming I try to get the rainbow patterns across the walls etc. Thanks for your input and stay safe.
One of the underutilized aspects of UA-cam is archival of video like this one. Thank you for doing this! Hopefuly people 100s of years from now will still enjoy this!
this is the most delicate medium humans have ever used to save history. all that need happen is the power goes out and all this is lost forever as the computers involved would over heat and destroy all the saved information. another scenario could be if UA-cam stops being popular all the saved info could be simply shut off, another could be a virus or even an attack but all that is assuming we will still be using these old time computers when we will likely be using quantum computers in 100 years time
I just hope UA-cam won't delete these precious archive videos (under the new policies) just because they "don't have enough profit potential (or something like that)"
Hi Peter, Just found this here today, Seems funny to see myself after all those years ago. My black hair and beard are both white now. I enjoyed the month you spent with us out there. You have done a fantastic job with all these video's. Well Done.
Hi Robbie, Long time no see, my hair (What's left that is Ha) is also on the white side and the beard. Glad you like the videos, to date you are the only Lighthouse Keeper to respond. Cheers, take care.
Hi Peter post automation coming in were the lighthouse keepers reskilled and abosrbed in other trades , hope they did OK , u may ignore my question if u find it annoying.
The framing of so many of these shots are incredibly award worthy. The respect and awe of this structure, it's history and the men who served it are all on display.
Thank you very much for documenting all this. Back in 1994, I was 16 years old and got into the habit of walking my dog along the beach in Edinburgh before going to school. It was always dark and I loved just standing watching the lights from the 2 lighthouses that were visible from the beach. Ever since then always been fascinated by them. I've just discovered your channel and it's a gold mine! Thank you so much for sharing.
I've just been researching it and one of the ones I could see from Portobello beach was Fidra, I don't know if you know it or visited it? Even though I've lived in London for 15 years, when I go back home to visit family who live a 60 second walk from the sea, I always pop down at night to have a look
@@vandibber8221 No Van, don't know that one so will have to try and google it now to find it. PS. Just found it in Sarah Kerr's book, The British Lighthouse Trail. The lighthouse looks very interesting. Cheers
lol Yea, I think about things like that too. "Here, swim out there with this 500 pound stone and this bag of concrete and get the foundation started" lol The link Si vis amari left about the construction is very interesting. No doubt, it was very slow, hard, dangerous work. It has survived over 100 years of pounding in a very harsh environment so clearly they did it right. Just amazing.
This is a really interesting and informative video, very seldom does one come across such a true gem of a documentary like this, filmed by someone actually doing the job. It's this kind of material which is valuable and needs to be archived, rather than the sterile, cut to ribbons and edited "drama" documentaries we see these days on TV. Kind of Robbie to let you film him and to take the time to explain the workings of a Lighthouse. Thanks for taking the time to upload it, really appreciate your efforts.
Thank you for your kind words. Robbie and Barry were great and I enjoyed taking the films. I've finally had the way with it all to get most digitized, then a very long learning curve to learn how to edit after buying the editing program. If they ever try to sell you something that they say is easy and intuitive....run a mile haha..take care.
@@partyvr5053 Not the worst job either.. lots of time off and if ur there u can just chill most of the time i reckon.. surfing utube and the likes... i could see myself doing that job.. rather then going for work every day at 7 am and having 3 weeks off every year..
Problem is, the age of the internet didn't really coincide with the age of the lighthouse, and it sounds like a lot of the lighthouses are automated now.
@@burroughsw5058Ha Ha!, If you really really still want to, try going the other route and be a techy or labourer that goes out to these lights to service and maintain. cheers
What a brilliant video showing daily life as an offshore lighthouse keeper. I once met a chap who'd worked on Bishops Rock lighthouse who told me his hobby was short wave radio and in his time off he used to dangle a wire out of the lighthouse for his aerial.
@@PeterHalil It was some years back now when i was on holiday in Cornwall and visited the Lighthouse Museum (i believe has closed now?) and i was just wandering around when this guy kind of "attached" himself to me as an unofficial guide! He told me he'd worked for Trinity House as a keeper in various lighthouses, both land and offshore. He certainly knew his stuff and i found him very interesting to chat with. The museum should have given him a job but i think he was just happy to talk to anyone about his life before retiring.
@@Bulletguy07 I've been to that museum, in fact my pic that appears on here was taken there in front of the Bishop rock lens. Yes it is closed, wonder where all the exhibits went? Cheers for that, stay safe.
A rare insight into a magical and mystical world. As a plasterer myself, I couldn't help wondering how much effort went into kitting out the lighthouse and the daily drudgery of climbing all those stairs. Many thanks and praise goes out to all those light House keepers who spent most of their working lives in isolation guarding the seas and the vessels that rode on her, so that the rest of us could wake up with a cup of tea or coffee and other treasures we take for granted that found themselves to our shores by boat. Many thanks for sharing.
This was a nice meditation - no music, no drama, well done! Thank you for this valuable, out of ordinary pearl on YT. PS: I am a real fan of lighthouses, therefore I founded a company called lighthousefactory ;) But of course, the name is symbolic.
I just love to hear the real sounds of this type of life. No music is necessary. In my humble opinion, this is an excellent documentary. edit: I wish I could somehow get rid of my fear of heights. 😕
Thank you very much for your kind words, much appreciated. As for your fear of heights, snap, would you believe I'm not clever with that either! Stay safe, cheers.
Peter Halil: thank you very kindly for this beautiful production. Such an important contribution to society, in documenting it for all posterity. I enjoyed it immensely, in fact it’s quite a bit after midnight, but I couldn’t tear myself away until I saw the end of it. I was really surprised as to how very much like a home it was. So many intelligent ideas packed into so few cubic meters. Everything was beautiful and tidy and clean, and not in the least cluttered. And of course it certainly was home half the time. I certainly hope that it’s maintained just as the crew left it. Very few people Who have never had the privilege to see the inside of a lighthouse would expect it to be as it was.
Thank you very much for your kind comments, so glad that you enjoyed it. I very much doubt that it has been preserved as is in the movie. A lot were converted to solar etc, and the insides changed forever, a shame that progress and preservation don't always meet in the middle. Thanks once again, stay safe.
Thank you Peter for sharing with us a bygone career, craft and way of life. That fact saddens me. I'm so glad you spared us the high production values and background music and let us hear and see the unceasing waves, the diesel engines and the gulls. Your video enlightened me on many lighthouse myths like the fact that there was a 'crew' at all and not just a solitary lighthouse keeper. I imagine before the advent of diesel engines there must have been something akin to a giant clock mechanism to spin the lens through the night. This work exemplifies the best UA-cam has to offer us. With Appreciation, Robin
Grief, I'm really getting a "Big Head"now Ha!, thank you for your lovely comments and yes I don't like to put any other sound in my movies than that which was there.I tried to do exactly what you said, I wanted people to get a feel for it plus of course it was a heavy dose of nostalgia for me. Yes again the lights used to be driven by a big brass cogged clockwork motor that drove the huge lenses round by means of a wire with a heavy weight attached slowly going down the tower inside a big metal tube passing through the center of all the rooms in old photos. when it reached the bottom, it would ring a bell and the keeper would wind it back up again about once an hour all through the night.Cheers Robin, take care.
Agreed Robin. The absence of music gave the video one of the most calming, therapeutic, and relaxing video I have ever seen on UA-cam. This video requires some type of award!
Great video!! My Great Grandfather started as an apprentice at the Point Atkinson Lighthouse in West Vancouver in 1888. He took it over in 1910 and had it until his death in 1934. My Grandfather took over until June 1935. Again, great video. Thanks so much. Ken Grafton
Grief that's some good History you've got in your family there, so there must be some salt water coursing through your veins somewhere. Thanks for your comments and take care.cheers.
I've searched and waited for a film just like this to come along for years. In fact, at this late stage I'd rather given up hope that one would. Thank you Peter Halil, this is a unique and invaluable document.
@@PeterHalil Thank YOU Peter. I shall look forward to your other videos. It was reading Stargazing: Memoirs of a Young Lighthouse Keeper by Peter Hill that piqued my interest. It has a lot of the romance about the profession and I'd recommend it to anyone.
Lighthouses have always been one of my favorite things in the World. I never realized how much work is involved in keeping one going. Thank you so much for sharing the video, it was very interesting. Well done. Joe
I have so enjoyed watching this program of you life on this lighthouse.... All new to me , and utterly absorbing ...Thank you so much for all that you do...
Literally stumbled upon this! I was a fisherman and so have huge appreciation for the lighthouses. Posting a video this way is the best as far as I'm concerned. It's not done for 'likes' and is simply recording things how they were - to have the foresight and do it is awesome. How I wished I'd done similar things, even just photos, at places I've worked. A lot of effort went into this. Thank you.
Thank you for your kind words, although I must admit I always felt "Special", because it was a job not many people did, however when a big blow came I was safe inside a fortress of a granite tower whilst the likes of people like you were on a boat made of stuff not meant to float being thrown all over the place. I could never have done your job. Cheers mate, take care.
This just came up on my recommended list also. This is what UA-cam is really good for. A great boon for the armchair traveler. Many thanks for making and posting the video. My hat's off to all keepers.
Great choice of no music. So many producers think they're adding beauty but they end up covering nature. I find music reminds me I am not there. Ambient sights and sounds makes me feel I am in the same room. Well done.
Sorry for the delay in responding but only just finding lots of messages that snuck through without notifying me, that said, Thank you for your comments I wanted people to feel the life as we the Keepers lived it so I'm well pleased that most of you liked it, cheers mate.
As someone who has a fascinaton for lighthouses(and their history)and the life of a wickey, i really enjoyed this video. Its a glimpse into a way life that no longer exists. Many thanks Mr Halil.
I'm a very solitary person with a quiet personality and introverted. I feel I wouldn't mind Bieng on a light house away from society and too many social interactions
I was too, very very shy so this was a dream job for me...then they posted me to a Land station where you had to take tourists up and down the Tower and talk to them and answer all the questions. Quite scarey at the beginning but slowly a new me evolved and the wife reckons I haven't stopped talking since! Lol, take care.
This is so ahead of it's time! It's as though when you filmed this 27 years ago that you knew you would have the opprtunity to share it so widely. I just find it incredible that you were making this 'vlog' when I was a teenager. It's gone now, I know, but I could live this way of life.Thank you so much for sharing this.
Just to say I have stopped video at 3;33 because I already know tis is going to be 50 minutes of quality video, thanks and what a great idea way back in 94,cheers .
I'm absolutely captivated by your stunning videos of the lighthouse! The breathtaking views, serene surroundings, and sense of tranquility make it a truly fantastic and adorable place.….
In Michigan we can get a lighthouse on our license plates for a few extra dollars. Some of that money goes to preserve our historic lighthouses along the Great Lakes. I smile every time I see one. Excellent video!
Wow built in 1862 and manned till January 1996. When this was shot the light house would be demanned in less then two years. Last British manned light house demanned in 1998 and the US 1996.Thank you for shooting this, what a wonderful piece of history. PS very interesting the Germans occupied the light house in WW2 from 1940 to 1945.
Thanks Bruce, I'm glad you liked my efforts, it was always my intention to preserve some sort of a record of us Keepers, and try and show a passing way of life, take care.
@@PeterHalil No thank you sir. Funny the scene I stopped and just watched for a couple of minutes was all three of you at the dinner/dining table with the camera looking down. I tried to imagine the keepers a hundred years before sitting in the room. As a film producer and military historian I am in awe that you caught a unique piece of light house, British and Empire history. Excellent. PS my people/family came from Sandwich to the US in 1635 on the HMS Hercules, some of the 71 million English descendants in North America. An honor sir.
@@brucebisbey9554 Wow, thanks, you've got some brilliant history of your own there. Yes I've often thought of those that were there before me, especially during my midnight to 4 am watch, when I would be on my own, take care and stay safe.
Wow! I was just 2 yrs old kid at that time when you were working in the lighthouse video. I felt some unknown attraction with this video. Thanks for uploading it and Love from India.
Thank you for you kind comments, I hope the other 2 Keepers see this, Oh, and the photographer, which is me was also a working Lighthouse Keeper, I did the movie making in my spare time. Thanks once again, take care.
@@PeterHalil Thanks for taking the time to reply Peter. Please, no need to reply again to this but since I have the ear of a real life Keeper, I'd like to say that in all my years (47 now) I have had a serious curiosity of life lived on a lighthouse..Of course with the iconic 1989 picture of "La Jument", which you may or may not be happy about, it just intensifies my curiosity. I wonder what it is that causes someone like me to have a feeling like this? Possibly an ignorant romance. Who knows? Regardless, your group of videos have been some of the best things I have ever saw in years and answered some of my long winded curiosity. Personally, I think you, Robbie and all the other Keepers are some of the luckiest people in the World to have experienced this position... I do realise of course that some of you just saw this as work and that life may not have been so romantic.... Thanks from this Scot in Australia
@@johnmurray3956 Thank you very much, you hit the nail on the head there with some Keepers just doing a job but that said, me and the vast majority of the others loved it, I only ever met a couple of the ones that it seemed wasted on. Yes we were very lucky to have done that job. So glad people like you are enjoying these videos of a life that once was.Take care mate down under, cheers
I have always had a fascination with lighthouses. I've collected hundreds and hundreds of little ones over my life. On my bucket list is spending time in a lighthouse far out to sea. Probably for a week or two anything past that I get cabin fever. Those men of decades and a century ago out there at the ends of the Earth as a welcome beacon from the dark depths of the oceans and also a bearer of goodwill and warning of the dangerous rocks near. I can't explain it better than that. Lighthouses are cool.
Sorry for the delay, lots of messages only found today. So glad you love Lighthouses and you explained Lighthouses and Keepers very well thanks. Take care, stay safe.
I was going to say that you should have been given an award for this - but then saw that you had been! It's an excellent film and gives a real impression of the work, the life, the place and the people. You should be well proud of this! Cheers.
*+Peter Halil* Thanks so much for taking the time to record and share this document. I have always had an odd love of lighthouses and as a kid, I always wanted to live in one. Seeing the Hanois reminds me just how phenomenal an engineering feat such structures are, from a design and of course, from a human effort point of view. Cheers.
Thank you, I've only just discovered this message. A brilliant book i'm just finishing is "The Red Rocks of the Eddystone" by Fred Majdalany. It goes into great detail of building a Lighthouse on reefs out to sea, still available as second hand book, worth a read, cheers.
Fascinating,really enjoyed the film.I spent all my life at sea,RN,and then mostly on drilling rigs and drill ships.Watchkeeping engineer,8-10 20 cylinder engines on some,but doing a watch all the same.Although there were lots of people onboard a drillship,I enjoyed the solitude of being alone in an engine room or control room.There is something hypnonising about the sea,and fire,when we were flaring gas one could watch the fire and not realize the time passing,but alas,no more.Much respect to you sir.
This is fantastic! I live in Midwest USA and visit Door County, Wisconsin often. My favorite part is touring the lighthouses. When I do that it just feels right. I think in a previous life I was a lighthouse keeper. Thank you for the awesome video!
Thank you for your kind words and I certainly also think that I had a unique experience. When I joined there was only about 250 of us Keepers. There will be more videos of different Lighthouses to follow.
@@PeterHalil I don't believe lives were valued as much then compared to costs. That being said, I don't know how building such a structure in a location like that could ever be very safe.
@@wisenber They used to have a Lighthouse Museum in Penzance Cornwall that had a mock up of the Granite blocks they used. Each one would would notch/lock into the others to give it great strength and they became one as it were. But just starting the 1st row and trying to get up high enough before a storm came and took all your work away! Hats off to them, brilliant.
@@PeterHalil Just imagine the process of offloading granite blocks with the breaking waves all around. Then think about what the sea water temperature was when they were getting soaked all day. I spent a couple of years doing commercial fishing off the Alaskan coast. I was colder there than any snow covered mountain I've visited. They were a sturdy breed of men.
Watching from my sofa here in S. TEXAS, Like truck Drivers, Dr’s. Lawyers, Farmers, etc. I think it takes a unique individual to work 28 on then 28 off, nor do I suppose just anyone could be a Lighthouse Keeper. Thank Y’all for showing how the job is done
Thank you very much for the Kind comments and hello Texas. Hope you are keeping your head down and safe during this ongoing pandemic, cheers and take care.
Thank you glad you liked it. Yes it was one of those jobs that you either took to or didn't, and I loved it. Didn't realize how much I missed it till I'm doing the editing and re living the past myself.
@@PeterHalil There is an old (today abandoned) lightouse on a small island in the Baltic sea not far from where i live, i always dreamed about living there since i was a kid, i even asked the autority represent if it was for sale, but i did not got any clear ansvear, but i realy hope sonebody will preserve it for the future. :)
@@sheep1ewe Thank you mate, I wish you well and hope you either get that Lighthouse preserved or they let you buy it. I was going to buy an old windmill once because it was a bit like a Lighthouse!, take care.
Thank you, glad you liked it. I recently had a comment from a lady who said that in my movie when I filmed Robbie doing his message in a bottle, she found it and responded to him!..take care
Look at the amount of effort and machinery needed just to keep a blinking lamp working ! Life on oil platform also must be like this. If I were working there, my daytime hours would have been spent fishing, crab-ing, befriending sea lions and dolphins.......... Thank you for the shots of Fresnel lenses I always wanted to see.
Cheers for that, yes lots of things we take for granted today will be very old fashioned in a decade or so. It was very old technology when I served, some of the machinery was from the 1940's. They seemed very slow in updating anything till much later on, take care.
What a fascinating, honest and absorbing video! So good, I'm going to have to watch it several times. Thank you for taking time and trouble to record and publish this amazing record of a life that is a complete mystery to landlubbers like me!
Thanks and so glad you enjoyed our efforts. At least now we haven't passed into History without leaving some trace of what we did behind for others to see, thanks again, stay safe.
Hello Peter, what a wonderful video documenting the day to day life of the 'Keeps'.... How awesome to see the daily events that were done out there. It was not all staring out at the rolling seas! It seems there was always something to do! Thank you for the foresight and putting it on film. Cheers!
Thank you for liking it, sorry for delay but a mass of messages went walk about into cyber space and I'm slowly discovering them! there is more footage of other lights and keepers coming, take care
What a fascinating film it flew by Peter I could have watched for another hour! I have always been interested in lighthouses, I only took my young kids up Portland Bill a week ago for their very first lighthouse visit then suddenly this video pops up! Cheers
Sorry for the delay only just finding lots of hidden unanswered messages. Grief Portland Bill is a high climb to the top, hope they all enjoyed it, thanks for your comments, cheers and take care.
@@PeterHalil Thank you for uploading this I am always fascinated by the technical details and I am pleased you took the trouble to provide a window into the manned lighthouse days. There is an interesting drama/doc made about the trials and tribulations of building the Bell Rock lighthouse which might interest you :- www.dailymotion.com/video/xr5mk2
There's a bit of history regarding lighthouses here- specifically the Eddystone lighthouse and its history, why it was made et cetera. ua-cam.com/video/QmrjoKJ4s58/v-deo.html
Hey Robbie, 74yr old female here. This video totally captivated me.You have such a cozy living quarters I could see myself in one of those bunks covered up with a pure down comforter and in the winter wool blankets. Such a peaceful scenario, snuggling down all peaceful and quiet AHHHH what a life. BTW you are a very handsome man if I may say so. Blessings to you and your family.
Fantastic film. Thank you! If only more 'documentaries' could be like this, without needing to act up for the camera and spend minutes talking about very little at all in answer to banal questions.... Looks like sheer pride and joy in your work, a labour of love. Self-sufficiency in seafood must have been the best perk of the job!
Thank you very much for your kind comments. Yes, none of us are actors, no scripts. Just tried to give you all the "feel" of what our life was like on a Lighthouse. Cheers and stay safe
You did a great job with this video, and no music, i cant thank you enough, most videos on UA-cam have music so loud you cant even here or understand what they are talking about anyway, thanks for the upload.
Thank you Bill for the very kind words, so glad you enjoyed it. I hoped that people that see my videos would feel it a bit better with just the natural sound effects, cheers and stay safe.
I always wanted to know how it was like to live in a Light house, beautifully filmed with no distraction of music! Thank you so much for sharing it with us! Hope you are doing well!
Thank you for that, I tried to make it so you could almost be with us and feel it more, the relentless sea etc. So glad you liked it, Take care and stay safe, so far I'm Ok thanks.
Firstly I'm sorry for the delay in responding but I'm just finding lots of lost messages, that said, Thank you very much for your kind words and hello California, so glad you enjoyed the film, more to come, cheers and take care.
As the architect for the restoration of the Saugerties Lighthouse on the Hudson River (USA) I obtained a grant to do a video of its history from 1834 as well as documenting our restoration. The first keeper found the lighthouse too small and rented it out to a local who set up a liquor sales shop. Our village was the center of many early industries so the enterprising fellow did a landslide business. An outraged official from Washington, DC rode all the way by horseback to fire the keeper and restore order. (The video is shown on the :Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast website) Great job, Peter. Thanks for your hard work and wonderful videos.
Thank you very much, I've located the Lighthouse and found the web site so shall have a good look. Well done you with your efforts. It seems like the USA care more about preserving their History than I found here. I couldn't get any grants at all. I kept getting things like, " You are in a grey area you are neither land or Maritime" Good on you for getting yours, I had to self fund, hence the waiting 20 odd years to get it digitized to be able to edit it. Still it's getting done now and most people that respond seem to like it. Anyway, keep safe, take care.
@@PeterHalil Peter, it was a very small token grant which basically just paid for the final DVD copies which we used to help defray the costs. The Elaine and I donated our services - a lengthy labor of love. BTW its listed on the lighthouse web site as documentary under "history" a bit hard to find.
Thank you for your great feed back, glad you liked my video, more to follow, some already out on my site. I actually trained up to be a trucker when I was made redundant but instead of pounding the Highways like you, I ended up on a RAF base fueling the planes from a bowser.Take care, cheers mate.
Truly delightful. Reminiscent, nostalgic, honest. I love it! Thank you for the time you served and for recording, storing, editing, and posting for the world to see the magic of the inner workings of a lighthouse. I enjoyed every moment.
"The lighthouse care takers" A excellent documentary, I just learned so much about lighthouses, and what it takes to operate them, you all have served your country well. Thank you for the education. I will share with my friends and family.
An amazing documentation on life on such a lighthouse. Preserving this type of footage is amazing for generations to come to see what many went through for the safety of our mariners.
A fascinating insight into the workings of our light houses. Many many times have I passed these in the night wondering if there are real people inside. Alas, they are most if not all automated now. My local trinity house depot in East Cowes is now long gone..... sign of the times.
Thank you very much so glad that most people have enjoyed it, more to come hopefully, take care, sorry about the delay in answering but only just finding loads of comments that snuck in under the youtube radar.
Thank You Peter . This took me away into a World of Keeping People at Sea Safe and alot of the Maintenance and Upkeep of a Lighthouse , I would like to Hope there is always a Light in the distance to bring Men Home . It is interesting to see the Charts and Graphs and to Know Men have to Read these to Keep Up on what has been going on , Liked and Shared :) QC
Very interesting, thanks. I love seeing the tasks carried out at the base of the lighthouse with no life jackets being worn! Ah, the days before health and safety.
Great video thanks for sharing it and nice to hear the old fog signal too [ although not so nice for you as you were trying to get some sleep], just a puny beep today which is not quite the same :( Those crabs looked tasty, I hope that they were. Much love and respect to all the Lighthouse keepers and organisations of Trinity House, Northern Lighthouse Board, Irish Lights and all lighthouse authorities across world, for keeping our waters as safe as possible.
Thank you for your kind words.The fog horn was bad for me that day because it was my 1st day there, a new sound to get used to, had been travelling all day the day before, head was banging!....Only took a short while to get used to after that. Robbie took those crabs home so I didn't get to taste those ones. I don't like the new fog horn sounds either, take care.
It does still exist in Ireland, my father looks after 2 lighthouses,been doing it over 30 years now, itss not a full time job tho, just a few days a week average, maintaining, monitoring etc
Amazing video Sir. Reminds me of by-gone dags on small coasters trading World-vide. Fem People, cramped spaces. No internet, computers and cell phones. Miss it somehow🤨 Best regards to you, from a former merchant navn AB
I love this SO much. I think the beauty of the Lighthouse Keepers is that, you help to guide everyone safely and equally. What a great service you provide to humanity. Thank you so much for posting this, Mr. Halil. My dream would be to one day live in a working lighthouse. Your video is as close as I will ever probably get. Bless you.
How time passes, I would have been 29 years old when this was shot, as I head towards 60 this remeinded me of how things were not so long ago in my mind. I like everything about this video, good health and happiness to everyone.
Thank you very much John, much appreciated. Hope you had a great Christmas and get an even better New Year. Take care and stay safe.
This is great its like seeing friends after work for a pint x
I was four years old
I am 29 watching this now ❤
I was just born
I have no words to explain our gratitude about this job and this amazing documentary! Thank you for this video for posterity and our heritage! You are really heroes! Thank you!
Thank you ever so much for your very kind words. I hope that other ex Lighthouse Keepers get to see them. We enjoyed making our Lighthouse "Documentary", so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks again and stay safe.
No music! What a marvellous relief! It must take a singular kind of man to do this work: one who is neither claustrophobic nor agoraphobic, one who can sleep through the constant roaring of the sea, one who has no need to be entertained by comrades and can live independently mentally, despite sharing everything with two others. One who can stand fog horns going off every ten minutes and one who has endless patience and is happy to repeat everything he did yesterday, today. I have lived alone for 50 years now and am happy to do so, but I don't think I'd make a lighthouse keeper. Hats off to you, you do such admirable work.
Thank you very much for those kind words. I guess we were all of that. We did have our moments when clashes of personality reared it's ugly head. Luckily, those moments were rare. Thank you once again, stay safe and take care.
Wow, over one million views for this video documentary now, thank you one and all for finding my channel and making this possible and just being the great Lighthouse loving Family, Thank you.
Peter, if you can, please turn on automatic subtitles.
@@ДмитрийЧеботарёв-щ8х Thanks, I did try, but that option doesn't come up in my settings.
It's a wonderful time capsule Peter. You captured a very unique job.
@@brianbee2869 Thank you very much, much appreciated. Take care and Merry Christmas.
I love those beautiful old Fresnel lenses. They are works of art. And nothing better than seeing that reassuring light beaming out when you're on a boat at sea.
Yes I totally agree with that. I used to like to spend a moment or two up in the lantern at night just to watch the lens lit up in motion, also in my filming I try to get the rainbow patterns across the walls etc. Thanks for your input and stay safe.
One of the underutilized aspects of UA-cam is archival of video like this one.
Thank you for doing this! Hopefuly people 100s of years from now will still enjoy this!
Cheers mate that means a lot to me, I didn't want the Lighthouse Keeper to fade away without so much as a bleat!..take care
this is the most delicate medium humans have ever used to save history. all that need happen is the power goes out and all this is lost forever as the computers involved would over heat and destroy all the saved information. another scenario could be if UA-cam stops being popular all the saved info could be simply shut off, another could be a virus or even an attack but all that is assuming we will still be using these old time computers when we will likely be using quantum computers in 100 years time
This is one reason I love UA-cam.
I just hope UA-cam won't delete these precious archive videos (under the new policies) just because they "don't have enough profit potential (or something like that)"
@@casekocsk Yoy could ask the channel owner to send it you?
Hi Peter,
Just found this here today, Seems funny to see myself after all those years ago.
My black hair and beard are both white now. I enjoyed the month you spent with us out there.
You have done a fantastic job with all these video's. Well Done.
Hi Robbie, Long time no see, my hair (What's left that is Ha) is also on the white side and the beard. Glad you like the videos, to date you are the only Lighthouse Keeper to respond. Cheers, take care.
@ROBBIE Goldsmith. And I thought you appeared a bit grumpy... ;o)
Thanks for these videos, Peter.
@ROBBIE Goldsmith
I am an old sailor, I appreciate that you guys kept the lights on for us out there 😊
@Peter Halil
An excellent job Sir.
I watched the whole thing and all of a sudden it was over, it felt like it was only ten minutes time 😊
@@agolftwittler1223 Thank you it was a pleasure for us, hopefully Robbie will also see this kind message, cheers, take care.
An era that has sadly come to an end. Most are remote controlled these days. Great that you recorded it for posterity. Thanks.
Thank you for liking it, I'm riding a wave of nostalgia editing these videos, cheers.
@Peter Halil said in true maritime fashion...riding a wave 👍
and GPS has made the remote controlled ones obsolete
some are still manned but not in uk waters though
Hi Peter post automation coming in were the lighthouse keepers reskilled and abosrbed in other trades , hope they did OK , u may ignore my question if u find it annoying.
The framing of so many of these shots are incredibly award worthy. The respect and awe of this structure, it's history and the men who served it are all on display.
Thank you very much for your kind comments. Glad you liked the video, take care and stay safe
I didn't plan on coming across this. Very fascinating. I enjoyed it!
Thank you very much for documenting all this. Back in 1994, I was 16 years old and got into the habit of walking my dog along the beach in Edinburgh before going to school. It was always dark and I loved just standing watching the lights from the 2 lighthouses that were visible from the beach. Ever since then always been fascinated by them. I've just discovered your channel and it's a gold mine! Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you very much, glad you found my channel. I was 16 once too! Cheers take care and stay safe.
I've just been researching it and one of the ones I could see from Portobello beach was Fidra, I don't know if you know it or visited it? Even though I've lived in London for 15 years, when I go back home to visit family who live a 60 second walk from the sea, I always pop down at night to have a look
@@vandibber8221 No Van, don't know that one so will have to try and google it now to find it. PS. Just found it in Sarah Kerr's book, The British Lighthouse Trail. The lighthouse looks very interesting. Cheers
🙂 ah 16...dreams@@PeterHalil
What amazes me is how they built a light house in those condition.
www.bellrock.org.uk/lighthouse/index.htm
@@si_vis_amari_ama Nice bit of info. Always wondered how they built these lighthouses in the middle of nowhere
im thinking it was built on a breakwall that was eventually washed away from the waves
Elizabeth Reign Castillo Bellrock Lighthouse
lol Yea, I think about things like that too. "Here, swim out there with this 500 pound stone and this bag of concrete and get the foundation started" lol
The link Si vis amari left about the construction is very interesting. No doubt, it was very slow, hard, dangerous work. It has survived over 100 years of pounding in a very harsh environment so clearly they did it right.
Just amazing.
This is a really interesting and informative video, very seldom does one come across such a true gem of a documentary like this, filmed by someone actually doing the job. It's this kind of material which is valuable and needs to be archived, rather than the sterile, cut to ribbons and edited "drama" documentaries we see these days on TV.
Kind of Robbie to let you film him and to take the time to explain the workings of a Lighthouse. Thanks for taking the time to upload it, really appreciate your efforts.
Thank you for your kind words. Robbie and Barry were great and I enjoyed taking the films. I've finally had the way with it all to get most digitized, then a very long learning curve to learn how to edit after buying the editing program. If they ever try to sell you something that they say is easy and intuitive....run a mile haha..take care.
encore bravo
This is a stunning documentary. Well filmed and edited with NO MUSIC. I am so fortunate to have stumbled upon your Channel. Thank you.
Thank you Joyce, welcome aboard, glad you enjoyed our efforts. Lots more to come. Take care and stay healthy and safe.
Really enjoyed this especially with no music. To all lighthouse keepers thank you for your service. Truly some of the most deserving of unsung heroes.
I think it's so much better without music.
It gives you the feeling that you are nestled safely inside with the crew lol.
Not an easy job! But so interesting, Thankyou for this wonderful video!
@@partyvr5053 Not the worst job either.. lots of time off and if ur there u can just chill most of the time i reckon.. surfing utube and the likes... i could see myself doing that job.. rather then going for work every day at 7 am and having 3 weeks off every year..
Problem is, the age of the internet didn't really coincide with the age of the lighthouse, and it sounds like a lot of the lighthouses are automated now.
It is very satisfying to listen to the sound of the sea rather than the usual loud (and distracting) royalty free music.
Awesome documentary! There's something mysterious about lighthouses that I can't get over..
Thank you very much for that. Yes, since I've been editing all my videos, I've realised that there is an awful lot of that life that I miss, cheers.
I love them my whole life yet I’ve only seen a couple. I think they are symbolic. I love the foghorns too
@@PeterHalil alas its you in the video. Teacher asked all our class what we wanted to be when older, I said a lighthouse keeper, to much laughter.
@@burroughsw5058Ha Ha!, If you really really still want to, try going the other route and be a techy or labourer that goes out to these lights to service and maintain. cheers
What a brilliant video showing daily life as an offshore lighthouse keeper. I once met a chap who'd worked on Bishops Rock lighthouse who told me his hobby was short wave radio and in his time off he used to dangle a wire out of the lighthouse for his aerial.
Thank you for those kind words, that chap on the Bishop could have been Andy Bluer, but there were a few that were into radio, cheers
@@PeterHalil It was some years back now when i was on holiday in Cornwall and visited the Lighthouse Museum (i believe has closed now?) and i was just wandering around when this guy kind of "attached" himself to me as an unofficial guide! He told me he'd worked for Trinity House as a keeper in various lighthouses, both land and offshore. He certainly knew his stuff and i found him very interesting to chat with. The museum should have given him a job but i think he was just happy to talk to anyone about his life before retiring.
@@Bulletguy07 I've been to that museum, in fact my pic that appears on here was taken there in front of the Bishop rock lens. Yes it is closed, wonder where all the exhibits went? Cheers for that, stay safe.
A rare insight into a magical and mystical world. As a plasterer myself, I couldn't help wondering how much effort went into kitting out the lighthouse and the daily drudgery of climbing all those stairs. Many thanks and praise goes out to all those light House keepers who spent most of their working lives in isolation guarding the seas and the vessels that rode on her, so that the rest of us could wake up with a cup of tea or coffee and other treasures we take for granted that found themselves to our shores by boat. Many thanks for sharing.
Cheers thank you for your very kind words, much appreciated, take care.
No need for the gym!
This was a nice meditation - no music, no drama, well done! Thank you for this valuable, out of ordinary pearl on YT.
PS: I am a real fan of lighthouses, therefore I founded a company called lighthousefactory ;) But of course, the name is symbolic.
Thank you for those comments, glad you enjoyed it, take care.
I just love to hear the real sounds of this type of life. No music is necessary.
In my humble opinion, this is an excellent documentary.
edit: I wish I could somehow get rid of my fear of heights. 😕
Thank you very much for your kind words, much appreciated. As for your fear of heights, snap, would you believe I'm not clever with that either! Stay safe, cheers.
I have always been a fan of lighthouses since I was a kid. Have always wanted to to be a lighthouse keeper
Sorry you missed out on being a Lighthouse Keeper, take care.
What an utterly fantastic production - simple and uncut. Loved every part of it👍🏻
Thank you for your kind words, take care
Fantastic insight into the past, thank you Peter for documenting this and for sharing it with us
Thanks glad you liked it.
Peter Halil: thank you very kindly for this beautiful production. Such an important contribution to society, in documenting it for all posterity. I enjoyed it immensely, in fact it’s quite a bit after midnight, but I couldn’t tear myself away until I saw the end of it.
I was really surprised as to how very much like a home it was. So many intelligent ideas packed into so few cubic meters. Everything was beautiful and tidy and clean, and not in the least cluttered. And of course it certainly was home half the time. I certainly hope that it’s maintained just as the crew left it. Very few people Who have never had the privilege to see the inside of a lighthouse would expect it to be as it was.
Thank you very much for your kind comments, so glad that you enjoyed it. I very much doubt that it has been preserved as is in the movie. A lot were converted to solar etc, and the insides changed forever, a shame that progress and preservation don't always meet in the middle. Thanks once again, stay safe.
What a lovely thing to watch many thanks.
Thanks, take care
Thank you Peter for sharing with us a bygone career, craft and way of life. That fact saddens me. I'm so glad you spared us the high production values and background music and let us hear and see the unceasing waves, the diesel engines and the gulls. Your video enlightened me on many lighthouse myths like the fact that there was a 'crew' at all and not just a solitary lighthouse keeper. I imagine before the advent of diesel engines there must have been something akin to a giant clock mechanism to spin the lens through the night. This work exemplifies the best UA-cam has to offer us. With Appreciation, Robin
Grief, I'm really getting a "Big Head"now Ha!, thank you for your lovely comments and yes I don't like to put any other sound in my movies than that which was there.I tried to do exactly what you said, I wanted people to get a feel for it plus of course it was a heavy dose of nostalgia for me. Yes again the lights used to be driven by a big brass cogged clockwork motor that drove the huge lenses round by means of a wire with a heavy weight attached slowly going down the tower inside a big metal tube passing through the center of all the rooms in old photos. when it reached the bottom, it would ring a bell and the keeper would wind it back up again about once an hour all through the night.Cheers Robin, take care.
Agreed Robin.
The absence of music gave the video one of the most calming, therapeutic, and relaxing video I have ever seen on UA-cam.
This video requires some type of award!
@@thekaiser7555 Apparently Peter did get an award for this, and well deserved at that.
Great video!! My Great Grandfather started as an apprentice at the Point Atkinson Lighthouse in West Vancouver in 1888. He took it over in 1910 and had it until his death in 1934. My Grandfather took over until June 1935.
Again, great video. Thanks so much. Ken Grafton
Grief that's some good History you've got in your family there, so there must be some salt water coursing through your veins somewhere. Thanks for your comments and take care.cheers.
I've searched and waited for a film just like this to come along for years. In fact, at this late stage I'd rather given up hope that one would. Thank you Peter Halil, this is a unique and invaluable document.
Sorry for delay but lots of messages were hidden from me, Thanks a lot for your kind words, more videos to come, take care
@@PeterHalil Thank YOU Peter. I shall look forward to your other videos. It was reading Stargazing: Memoirs of a Young Lighthouse Keeper by Peter Hill that piqued my interest. It has a lot of the romance about the profession and I'd recommend it to anyone.
@@PeterHalil Oh goodie, goodie. I'll be looking for Them!!!
Thanks so much for no music
Cheers, I tried to make it as real as we experienced it.
@ace toxic Thanks for that. cheers
@@PeterHalil if you do put music to this can you play what shall we do with a drunken sailor. on a loop 😉
@@andrewdaley3081 Ha Ha, cheers.
right on, judith. background racket (music?) ruins the show.
Lighthouses have always been one of my favorite things in the World. I never realized how much work is involved in keeping one going. Thank you so much for sharing the video, it was very interesting. Well done. Joe
I have so enjoyed watching this program of you life on this lighthouse.... All new to me , and utterly absorbing ...Thank you so much for all that you do...
Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it, cheers.
Literally stumbled upon this!
I was a fisherman and so have huge appreciation for the lighthouses.
Posting a video this way is the best as far as I'm concerned. It's not done for 'likes' and is simply recording things how they were - to have the foresight and do it is awesome. How I wished I'd done similar things, even just photos, at places I've worked.
A lot of effort went into this. Thank you.
Thank you for your kind words, although I must admit I always felt "Special", because it was a job not many people did, however when a big blow came I was safe inside a fortress of a granite tower whilst the likes of people like you were on a boat made of stuff not meant to float being thrown all over the place. I could never have done your job. Cheers mate, take care.
This just came up on my recommended list also. This is what UA-cam is really good for. A great boon for the armchair traveler. Many thanks for making and posting the video. My hat's off to all keepers.
@@spikespa5208 Thank you very much, more to follow, cheers.
Great choice of no music. So many producers think they're adding beauty but they end up covering nature. I find music reminds me I am not there. Ambient sights and sounds makes me feel I am in the same room. Well done.
Exactly hey! this would have been ruined with music
So true!! I'm tired of barely hearing dialogue because of swelling fucking music.
100% agree
@@masterspacetime2826 I'll have to check that one out! Never occurred to me. Cheers.
Sorry for the delay in responding but only just finding lots of messages that snuck through without notifying me, that said, Thank you for your comments I wanted people to feel the life as we the Keepers lived it so I'm well pleased that most of you liked it, cheers mate.
I'm a 20 year Navy vet and I been fascinated with lighthouses and living and working at one. Thanks for sharing this. Cheers.
Glad you liked our efforts, I was in the Navy before the Lighthouses, take care,safe seas.
As someone who has a fascinaton for lighthouses(and their history)and the life of a wickey, i really enjoyed this video. Its a glimpse into a way life that no longer exists. Many thanks Mr Halil.
Thank you very much Sid, glad you liked it, Take care and stay safe
So you have 3 Lister diesel engines to generate power to run everything. Today virtually no one would agree to work in such a facility.
some lighthouses are still manned but not in the uk though.
I'm a very solitary person with a quiet personality and introverted. I feel I wouldn't mind Bieng on a light house away from society and too many social interactions
I was too, very very shy so this was a dream job for me...then they posted me to a Land station where you had to take tourists up and down the Tower and talk to them and answer all the questions. Quite scarey at the beginning but slowly a new me evolved and the wife reckons I haven't stopped talking since! Lol, take care.
@@PeterHalil 😂 The wife.
Same here I'd be quite happy give me 2 cats as well I'm content
What a fascinating video! Loved it, thank you for sharing this bit of history Peter.
Thank you Keith, glad you liked it, take care and stay safe.
Thank you so much for uploading this video. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
You are welcome, so glad you liked it.
This is so ahead of it's time! It's as though when you filmed this 27 years ago that you knew you would have the opprtunity to share it so widely. I just find it incredible that you were making this 'vlog' when I was a teenager. It's gone now, I know, but I could live this way of life.Thank you so much for sharing this.
Thank you very much for your kind words, glad you liked it, and our way of life that we enjoyed. Cheers, Stay safe and take care
Just to say I have stopped video at 3;33 because I already know tis is going to be 50 minutes of quality video, thanks and what a great idea way back in 94,cheers .
Thank you Roger for those very kind words and reaction, take care.
Beautifully done and thoroughly informative. Thank you for your service and such a wonderfully immersive experience! Thank you Peter and crew.
Thank you very much for your kind words and so glad you liked our efforts, cheers, stay safe and take care.
@@PeterHalil You too take care and stay safe all. Will definitely be subscribing. Thanks again
Oh neat a lighthouse tour! Ill just watch a few minutes...here I am almost an hour later wanting more! Great film Peter!
Thanks for your brilliant reaction, take care mate.
Same :)
I'm absolutely captivated by your stunning videos of the lighthouse! The breathtaking views, serene surroundings, and sense of tranquility make it a truly fantastic and adorable place.….
In Michigan we can get a lighthouse on our license plates for a few extra dollars. Some of that money goes to preserve our historic lighthouses along the Great Lakes. I smile every time I see one. Excellent video!
John Smith goes for juggler. "Humor" falls flat. From top of lighthouse.
Yeah about 3 cents of it. Shits a scam as per usual with Michigan.
Sounds like a great idea, thanks for liking the video.
Fellow northern Michigander here. I have visited quite a few lighthouses that we have in this, thee greatest state in the country!!!!!!!
I used to fish at the base of the lighthouse at the mouth of the St. Joe River 55+ years ago.
Wow built in 1862 and manned till January 1996. When this was shot the light house would be demanned in less then two years. Last British manned light house demanned in 1998 and the US 1996.Thank you for shooting this, what a wonderful piece of history. PS very interesting the Germans occupied the light house in WW2 from 1940 to 1945.
Thanks Bruce, I'm glad you liked my efforts, it was always my intention to preserve some sort of a record of us Keepers, and try and show a passing way of life, take care.
@@PeterHalil No thank you sir. Funny the scene I stopped and just watched for a couple of minutes was all three of you at the dinner/dining table with the camera looking down. I tried to imagine the keepers a hundred years before sitting in the room. As a film producer and military historian I am in awe that you caught a unique piece of light house, British and Empire history. Excellent. PS my people/family came from Sandwich to the US in 1635 on the HMS Hercules, some of the 71 million English descendants in North America. An honor sir.
@@brucebisbey9554 Wow, thanks, you've got some brilliant history of your own there. Yes I've often thought of those that were there before me, especially during my midnight to 4 am watch, when I would be on my own, take care and stay safe.
Wow! I was just 2 yrs old kid at that time when you were working in the lighthouse video. I felt some unknown attraction with this video. Thanks for uploading it and Love from India.
Hello Lakhwinder and hello India. Glad you liked the video, thanks for your comments, take care and stay safe.
You two are very brave men! HEROS to my mind! God bless you both and the photographer too who was brave enough to stay there with you for a month!
Thank you for you kind comments, I hope the other 2 Keepers see this, Oh, and the photographer, which is me was also a working Lighthouse Keeper, I did the movie making in my spare time. Thanks once again, take care.
Peter Halil You are very welcome! I mean what I said sincerely!
What a great little doco. Thank you so much for putting it together. It must have blown Robbie away to have come across this as he did.. :)
Thank you, Yes I think he did, it's been a bit like stepping back in time for all of us.
@@PeterHalil Thanks for taking the time to reply Peter. Please, no need to reply again to this but since I have the ear of a real life Keeper, I'd like to say that in all my years (47 now) I have had a serious curiosity of life lived on a lighthouse..Of course with the iconic 1989 picture of "La Jument", which you may or may not be happy about, it just intensifies my curiosity. I wonder what it is that causes someone like me to have a feeling like this? Possibly an ignorant romance. Who knows? Regardless, your group of videos have been some of the best things I have ever saw in years and answered some of my long winded curiosity. Personally, I think you, Robbie and all the other Keepers are some of the luckiest people in the World to have experienced this position... I do realise of course that some of you just saw this as work and that life may not have been so romantic.... Thanks from this Scot in Australia
@@johnmurray3956 Thank you very much, you hit the nail on the head there with some Keepers just doing a job but that said, me and the vast majority of the others loved it, I only ever met a couple of the ones that it seemed wasted on. Yes we were very lucky to have done that job. So glad people like you are enjoying these videos of a life that once was.Take care mate down under, cheers
Really nice old video.l enjoyed the video with my five year old son.Hats off to the lighthouse keepers and to the video makers!!
Thank you for the nice comments, hope your son enjoyed it too. Take care and stay safe.
I have always had a fascination with lighthouses. I've collected hundreds and hundreds of little ones over my life. On my bucket list is spending time in a lighthouse far out to sea. Probably for a week or two anything past that I get cabin fever. Those men of decades and a century ago out there at the ends of the Earth as a welcome beacon from the dark depths of the oceans and also a bearer of goodwill and warning of the dangerous rocks near. I can't explain it better than that. Lighthouses are cool.
Sorry for the delay, lots of messages only found today. So glad you love Lighthouses and you explained Lighthouses and Keepers very well thanks. Take care, stay safe.
Go look at Stannard Rock in Lake Superior. Beautiful and incredibly isolated. I don’t think I could do this.
I was going to say that you should have been given an award for this - but then saw that you had been! It's an excellent film and gives a real impression of the work, the life, the place and the people. You should be well proud of this! Cheers.
Thank you very much, I really enjoyed all my Lighthouse videoing,and it kept me focused away from my impending redundancy at that time.
Awards are given so they dont have to pay them
@@Karl-Benny So so true!..Lol
Very interesting! Thank you very much for sharing, appreciate it 👍
Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱, TW.
Thank you very much, and hello Netherlands. Cheers and stay safe, Happy New Year.
@PeterHalil : thanks! Happy New Year to you too 👍
*+Peter Halil*
Thanks so much for taking the time to record and share this document. I have always had an odd love of lighthouses and as a kid, I always wanted to live in one. Seeing the Hanois reminds me just how phenomenal an engineering feat such structures are, from a design and of course, from a human effort point of view. Cheers.
Thank you, I've only just discovered this message. A brilliant book i'm just finishing is "The Red Rocks of the Eddystone" by Fred Majdalany. It goes into great detail of building a Lighthouse on reefs out to sea, still available as second hand book, worth a read, cheers.
Absolutely amazing. Thank you for filming this and releasing it for us all.
Thanks glad you enjoyed it, more to come.
Does the lighthouse move in the wind ?
Fascinating,really enjoyed the film.I spent all my life at sea,RN,and then mostly on drilling rigs and drill ships.Watchkeeping engineer,8-10 20 cylinder engines on some,but doing a watch all the same.Although there were lots of people onboard a drillship,I enjoyed the solitude of being alone in an engine room or control room.There is something hypnonising about the sea,and fire,when we were flaring gas one could watch the fire and not realize the time passing,but alas,no more.Much respect to you sir.
Thank you very much for the kind comments , glad you enjoyed the video. You seem to have had a very interesting life as well, Take care and stay safe.
I'm a trainee skipper with a fascination for maritime history. Just got into lighthouses, and your channel is fantastic, thank you!
Hi Rowan, Thank you for your kind words, glad you like my channel, welcome aboard, safe winds and calm seas.
Thank you for the footage of the history of the lighthouse. You saved countless lives no doubt 💖 and Teddy made an appearance too!
Lol, cheers mate, I was constantly amazed how many Keepers had a "Teddy" from their missus to keep an eye on them, take care.
Thankyou. I thoroughly enjoyed watching.
This is fantastic! I live in Midwest USA and visit Door County, Wisconsin often. My favorite part is touring the lighthouses. When I do that it just feels right. I think in a previous life I was a lighthouse keeper. Thank you for the awesome video!
Hi Chazz, glad you liked my video, and who knows perhaps you are right about your previous life, take care
@@PeterHalil Thanks and you as well!
Excellent documentary and great editing. A wonderful look at living in a lighthouse that few people will ever know. You've had a unique experience.
Thank you for your kind words and I certainly also think that I had a unique experience. When I joined there was only about 250 of us Keepers. There will be more videos of different Lighthouses to follow.
Excellent and insightful... Thank you to all who made this possible and let us share a part of your life.
Thank you for your kind words.
Light house lenses are a beautiful functioning work of art.
Great watching you all doing a sterling job at keeping ships safe at sea in those days. Kindest regards Jeremy.
Thank you Jeremy, glad you liked it, cheers and stay safe.
Thank you Peter. Great video. Looks like you enjoyed the job. Amazing!!!!
I really did enjoy my job yes, not many days without an inward glow, cheers
Glad you did Peter. Will buy books on lighthouses to know more. Thank you
An intriguing and fascinating insight into your way of life. A lost vocation as a result of automation. Thank you for putting this on.
Thank you for that, so glad you liked our efforts, cheers
I appreciate the service these men provided. Imagine what the men that built it went through!
Thank you, and yes they built a stronger braver man in those construction days.I always wondered how many died building these places.
What I was thinking about all through it too.
@@PeterHalil I don't believe lives were valued as much then compared to costs.
That being said, I don't know how building such a structure in a location like that could ever be very safe.
@@wisenber They used to have a Lighthouse Museum in Penzance Cornwall that had a mock up of the Granite blocks they used. Each one would would notch/lock into the others to give it great strength and they became one as it were. But just starting the 1st row and trying to get up high enough before a storm came and took all your work away! Hats off to them, brilliant.
@@PeterHalil Just imagine the process of offloading granite blocks with the breaking waves all around. Then think about what the sea water temperature was when they were getting soaked all day.
I spent a couple of years doing commercial fishing off the Alaskan coast. I was colder there than any snow covered mountain I've visited. They were a sturdy breed of men.
Watching from my sofa here in S. TEXAS, Like truck Drivers, Dr’s. Lawyers, Farmers, etc. I think it takes a unique individual to work 28 on then 28 off, nor do I suppose just anyone could be a Lighthouse Keeper. Thank Y’all for showing how the job is done
Thank you very much for the Kind comments and hello Texas. Hope you are keeping your head down and safe during this ongoing pandemic, cheers and take care.
This is amazing . I wish I was born in the generation of lighthouse keepers . Great video I really enjoyed seeing what day to day life was like
Thank you glad you liked it. Yes it was one of those jobs that you either took to or didn't, and I loved it. Didn't realize how much I missed it till I'm doing the editing and re living the past myself.
@@PeterHalil
There is an old (today abandoned) lightouse on a small island in the Baltic sea not far from where i live, i always dreamed about living there since i was a kid, i even asked the autority represent if it was for sale, but i did not got any clear ansvear, but i realy hope sonebody will preserve it for the future. :)
@@sheep1ewe Thank you mate, I wish you well and hope you either get that Lighthouse preserved or they let you buy it. I was going to buy an old windmill once because it was a bit like a Lighthouse!, take care.
Thank you Peter, that was quite amazing. A piece of historical footage that was incredibly enjoyable to watch.
Thank you, glad you liked it. I recently had a comment from a lady who said that in my movie when I filmed Robbie doing his message in a bottle, she found it and responded to him!..take care
Look at the amount of effort and machinery needed just to keep a blinking lamp working !
Life on oil platform also must be like this. If I were working there, my daytime hours would have been spent fishing, crab-ing, befriending sea lions and dolphins..........
Thank you for the shots of Fresnel lenses I always wanted to see.
Cheers for that, yes lots of things we take for granted today will be very old fashioned in a decade or so. It was very old technology when I served, some of the machinery was from the 1940's. They seemed very slow in updating anything till much later on, take care.
What a fascinating, honest and absorbing video! So good, I'm going to have to watch it several times. Thank you for taking time and trouble to record and publish this amazing record of a life that is a complete mystery to landlubbers like me!
Thanks and so glad you enjoyed our efforts. At least now we haven't passed into History without leaving some trace of what we did behind for others to see, thanks again, stay safe.
@@PeterHalilupload the long version.youtube allows 10 hour videos now.
Hi, thanks for your comments. Maybe I will have to look into that sometime. Cheers and have a Merry Christmas@@JohnnyDanger36963
Hello Peter, what a wonderful video documenting the day to day life of the 'Keeps'.... How awesome to see the daily events that were done out there. It was not all staring out at the rolling seas! It seems there was always something to do! Thank you for the foresight and putting it on film. Cheers!
Thank you for liking it, sorry for delay but a mass of messages went walk about into cyber space and I'm slowly discovering them! there is more footage of other lights and keepers coming, take care
What a fascinating film it flew by Peter I could have watched for another hour!
I have always been interested in lighthouses, I only took my young kids up Portland Bill a week ago for their very first lighthouse visit then suddenly this video pops up! Cheers
Sorry for the delay only just finding lots of hidden unanswered messages. Grief Portland Bill is a high climb to the top, hope they all enjoyed it, thanks for your comments, cheers and take care.
You're welcome thanks for the kind reply and for your service Peter. If you have any more footage please share!
I'm impressed with the men that built the lighthouse.
Me too, real men then. That would be a brilliant movie for somebody to make.
@@PeterHalil Thank you for uploading this I am always fascinated by the technical details and I am pleased you took the trouble to provide a window into the manned lighthouse days.
There is an interesting drama/doc made about the trials and tribulations of building the Bell Rock lighthouse which might interest you :-
www.dailymotion.com/video/xr5mk2
xvdd1 well done and informative!
There's a bit of history regarding lighthouses here- specifically the Eddystone lighthouse and its history, why it was made et cetera. ua-cam.com/video/QmrjoKJ4s58/v-deo.html
Where did crew go to smoke?
Hey Robbie, 74yr old female here. This video totally captivated me.You have such a cozy living quarters I could see myself in one of those bunks covered up with a pure down comforter and in the winter wool blankets. Such a peaceful scenario, snuggling down all peaceful and quiet AHHHH what a life. BTW you are a very handsome man if I may say so. Blessings to you and your family.
Woooooooo!!!......you go Aunt Kitty!!
Boom chicka wow wow!
Hi Aunt Kitty, Well I am now a 75 years old and not handsome anymore. Pity you didn't find one of my messages in a bottle.
Take care. Robbie.
Fantastic film. Thank you! If only more 'documentaries' could be like this, without needing to act up for the camera and spend minutes talking about very little at all in answer to banal questions.... Looks like sheer pride and joy in your work, a labour of love. Self-sufficiency in seafood must have been the best perk of the job!
Thank you very much for your kind comments. Yes, none of us are actors, no scripts. Just tried to give you all the "feel" of what our life was like on a Lighthouse. Cheers and stay safe
Thank you for the insight of long gone times! Really enjoyed it.
Glad you enjoyed it, take care.
Couldn't stop watching, just fascinating. the camera work and pacing is marvelous. great documentary!
Wow!, Glad you liked the video, I tried to make it so that people could "Feel" what it was like, cheers for a great response, take care.
You did a great job with this video, and no music, i cant thank you enough, most videos on UA-cam have music so loud you cant even here or understand what they are talking about anyway, thanks for the upload.
Thank you Bill for the very kind words, so glad you enjoyed it. I hoped that people that see my videos would feel it a bit better with just the natural sound effects, cheers and stay safe.
I always wanted to know how it was like to live in a Light house, beautifully filmed with no distraction of music! Thank you so much for sharing it with us! Hope you are doing well!
Thank you for that, I tried to make it so you could almost be with us and feel it more, the relentless sea etc. So glad you liked it, Take care and stay safe, so far I'm Ok thanks.
The best documentary I have seen. Thank you, so very much. From: Southern California
Firstly I'm sorry for the delay in responding but I'm just finding lots of lost messages, that said, Thank you very much for your kind words and hello California, so glad you enjoyed the film, more to come, cheers and take care.
As the architect for the restoration of the Saugerties Lighthouse on the Hudson River (USA) I obtained a grant to do a video of its history from 1834 as well as documenting our restoration. The first keeper found the lighthouse too small and rented it out to a local who set up a liquor sales shop. Our village was the center of many early industries so the enterprising fellow did a landslide business. An outraged official from Washington, DC rode all the way by horseback to fire the keeper and restore order. (The video is shown on the :Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast website) Great job, Peter. Thanks for your hard work and wonderful videos.
Thank you very much, I've located the Lighthouse and found the web site so shall have a good look. Well done you with your efforts. It seems like the USA care more about preserving their History than I found here. I couldn't get any grants at all. I kept getting things like, " You are in a grey area you are neither land or Maritime" Good on you for getting yours, I had to self fund, hence the waiting 20 odd years to get it digitized to be able to edit it. Still it's getting done now and most people that respond seem to like it. Anyway, keep safe, take care.
@@PeterHalil Peter, it was a very small token grant which basically just paid for the final DVD copies which we used to help defray the costs. The Elaine and I donated our services - a lengthy labor of love. BTW its listed on the lighthouse web site as documentary under "history" a bit hard to find.
@@ajaxa9 Thanks I will try and find it, take care.
157 years old built to last, very interesting thanks for uploading, PS love the message in a bottle
Cheers, and Robbie has had lots of replies from around the world to his messages in bottles.
@@PeterHalil Awe, that's wonderful.
This just popped up on my feed, so so fascinating. I take my hat off to you for being able to do that job. Superb footage
Thank you for your great feed back, glad you liked my video, more to follow, some already out on my site. I actually trained up to be a trucker when I was made redundant but instead of pounding the Highways like you, I ended up on a RAF base fueling the planes from a bowser.Take care, cheers mate.
Truly delightful. Reminiscent, nostalgic, honest. I love it! Thank you for the time you served and for recording, storing, editing, and posting for the world to see the magic of the inner workings of a lighthouse. I enjoyed every moment.
Thank you so much for those very kind comments. So glad you enjoyed our video record. Take care and stay safe.
"The lighthouse care takers" A excellent documentary, I just learned so much about lighthouses, and what it takes to operate them, you all have served your country well. Thank you for the education. I will share with my friends and family.
Thank you very much for your comments, glad you enjoyed our efforts and I hope your Family does as well, take care, cheers.
Thank you for this video!
So cool that your old colleagues also found it.
Thank you for liking it and yes It was great to hear from old colleagues again, cheers mate.
So pleased to have found you vid....Thank you for your dedication
Blessings to all ......
Thank you John, lots more on my channel and more to come, stay safe.
Hats off to all who served.
Speechless... Well done documentary.
From the United States of America 🇺🇸
Thank you for your very kind words, hi to you across the pond, take care.
@Bains Broadcasting LTD. Hi it is 36 metres or 118 feet, cheers.
An amazing documentation on life on such a lighthouse. Preserving this type of footage is amazing for generations to come to see what many went through for the safety of our mariners.
Thank you for those kind comments, take care.
@@PeterHalil as a merchant seaman, I thank you all m8.
@@PeterHalil did the foghorn catch you out at times ?🤣🤣🤣🤯🤯
@@associatedblacksheepandmisfits Yes it most certainly did, cheers and take care
@@associatedblacksheepandmisfits It was a pleasure, thanks, especially for your service too. Take care
A fascinating insight into the workings of our light houses. Many many times have I passed these in the night wondering if there are real people inside. Alas, they are most if not all automated now.
My local trinity house depot in East Cowes is now long gone..... sign of the times.
Grief, East Cowes gone too? I didn't know that. Thanks for your kind words.
This is an informative documentation! Thank you for making the effort to produce it.
Dave Beedon Hear hear 👍🏼
Thank you very much so glad that most people have enjoyed it, more to come hopefully, take care, sorry about the delay in answering but only just finding loads of comments that snuck in under the youtube radar.
@@AfricanFlightStar Cheers mate.
Thank You Peter . This took me away into a World of Keeping People at Sea Safe and alot of the Maintenance and Upkeep of a Lighthouse , I would like to Hope there is always a Light in the distance to bring Men Home . It is interesting to see the Charts and Graphs and to Know Men have to Read these to Keep Up on what has been going on , Liked and Shared :) QC
Thank you Quaalude, much appreciated, and yes, we all need to hope that too, take care.
Very interesting, thanks. I love seeing the tasks carried out at the base of the lighthouse with no life jackets being worn! Ah, the days before health and safety.
Haha, we did lots of stuff back then that would make health and safety scream.
PS. Not only is it an excellent video, it's beautifully made.
Thank you again.
Great video thanks for sharing it and nice to hear the old fog signal too [ although not so nice for you as you were trying to get some sleep], just a puny beep today which is not quite the same :( Those crabs looked tasty, I hope that they were.
Much love and respect to all the Lighthouse keepers and organisations of Trinity House, Northern Lighthouse Board, Irish Lights and all lighthouse authorities across world, for keeping our waters as safe as possible.
Thank you for your kind words.The fog horn was bad for me that day because it was my 1st day there, a new sound to get used to, had been travelling all day the day before, head was banging!....Only took a short while to get used to after that. Robbie took those crabs home so I didn't get to taste those ones. I don't like the new fog horn sounds either, take care.
Fantastic snapshot in time, think they are all automated now, thanks so much for taking the time to put on YT for us all.
Thank you very much and yes they are all automated now.
I always wanted to be a lighthouse keeper , alas I was born to late the job no longer exists. Thank you for the vid and much respect
Same.
Me as well.
same for me.
thanks mate, take care
It does still exist in Ireland, my father looks after 2 lighthouses,been doing it over 30 years now, itss not a full time job tho, just a few days a week average, maintaining, monitoring etc
I loved your video. I have loved light houses since I was a kid growing up in Florida, USA. Thanks for doing the video.
Sorry I've only just found a huge amount of messages that I wasn't notified about, So glad you liked my video, more to follow, take care.
Amazing video Sir. Reminds me of by-gone dags on small coasters trading World-vide.
Fem People, cramped spaces. No internet, computers and cell phones. Miss it somehow🤨
Best regards to you, from a former merchant navn AB
Thank you for your kind comments, it was people like you that kept us in a job, take care and fair winds.
I love this SO much. I think the beauty of the Lighthouse Keepers is that, you help to guide everyone safely and equally. What a great service you provide to humanity. Thank you so much for posting this, Mr. Halil. My dream would be to one day live in a working lighthouse. Your video is as close as I will ever probably get. Bless you.
Thank you very much much appreciated, and bless you to, take care.