Lighthouses of England, Royal Sovereign. 1993
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- Опубліковано 15 лют 2020
- This was filmed in 1993 when I did a tour of duty on board. You will get a full tour of the station as well as some of the life of us Lighthouse Keepers at work. There is a video out (which I will link) that shows the building of this Lighthouse.
This Lighthouse has reached the end of it's life and is due to be dismantled in 2020.
The following is the link to how they made and positioned this Lighthouse.
• Royal Sovereign Light ...
Got to admit, that is the coolest lighthouse I have seen on these series.
Hi, thank you for that. It's cool no more, it is being dismantled. The Tower has been saved and brought ashore. Cheers and take care
Great video an historic record of this lighthouse as now it is decommissioned and being removed with the light tower being on re erected on the seafront.
Thank you very much. I wish it well in its final resting place ashore, and hope everyone treats it with respect. Cheers and stay safe.
Wow, this video made my week. Amazing! As a kid I would spend summers in Eastbourne with relatives and would often sit on the beach gazing out at the cross on the horizon. When I was able to drive myself there, I was amazed to drive up onto the downs and actually see it in the perspective of the sea. Always wanted to visit and now I virtually have. Gutted to hear it's being dismantled, feels like part of my childhood disappearing. So enjoying your videos...
Thank you Wayne, glad you are enjoying my videos, still loads more to come, it makes my day as well when I get nice feedback like yours, take care, cheers.
This is such a great series. It’s historic. Thank you, Peter, for taking the time to put these up on YT.
I really enjoy the laid back pace of these vids, the walkthroughs, and especially how you show us “a day in the life of a lighthouse keeper”.
Love your touch with the filming and editing also. The sea circling around the base of the tower @ 43:07 stands out as one of those many moments.
Thank you very much for your very kind words, much appreciated. Some of my videos are a bit more frantic, if I'm only visiting to film and I have time restraints, especially if on helicopter visit. Where I have longer, and where I'm sent to do duty, then I like to do as much as I can, to give the feeling of what it was like as well as how we lived, cheers, glad you like them. Stay safe and take care
One of only three g-type diaphone foghorns I've ever heard! Thank you for documenting and preserving this piece of maritime history
Thank you very much for your information and comments, always appreciated. I learned something there thanks. Cheers and stay safe.
must have been like heaven with all that space compared to the others you have showed us
Andrew Easson completely agree
It certainly was Andrew, getting your own room was a very big bonus, cheers.
Thanks so much for preserving the footage, it's important for history. I'm not sure what it is about this video, but it makes me feel nostalgic for some reason. The calm summer weather, perhaps a reminder of a simpler time.
Thanks John, it was a record of a time that is now gone forever, cheers and stay safe
Without all of these videos, we'd be left with just a few glimpses of life in a lighthouse. There really isn't a lot out there -- these are absolute gold. I'm so glad that this piece of history has had a decent chance at surviving future generations through these documentaries. The channel owner deserves a huge pat on the back. Well done, sir.
And just to think that these were taped before even having a platform such as YT - great job!
Thank you very much for the kind words Phil. I really enjoyed making them, it kept me busy at the time and is still keeping me busy. Still lots more to come, some long, some short and some better than others. Thanks again and stay safe.
Thanks for these great videos Peter. As an ex Royal Navy navigator I certainly appreciated the work of TH and all its keepers
Thank you, I was also an ex RN sailor, but just the chockhead on the flight deck of a couple of carriers, safe seas, take care.
Great stuff! Thanks for having the foresight to record this and for sharing the footage with us.
My pleasure, glad that they found people like you to enjoy them, cheers, take care.
All the money and hours spent keeping sailors safe for the last couple of hundred years and a little Wren fly's out to find some insects , this is what makes Peters films so great, thank you once again
Thank you Neil, If I have the time on a Lighthouse I like to include those little nature bits that made my job just a bit more special, Thanks and stay safe.
I just came across these videos. Such a unique look into a world very few get to see. Your production was wonderful presented. The fact that you didn't over talk every aspect really pulls the viewer in and allows us to explore on our own. Thank you kindly.
Ed, Thank you so much for your kind words, glad you enjoy my videos, and glad you found the channel. Cheers and stay safe
Your films are just fantastic and so informative of your profession. Thank you so much for the work you and your colleagues did and the great footage you have put together.
Thank you Rob for your very kind words, much appreciated, so glad that you enjoyed my films, take care.
I have always been a fan of Lighthouses since I was a kid. And have always dreamed of being a lighthouse keeper
Hi Jerome, If you can no longer be a Lighthouse Keeper then the other way of doing it would be to join the mechanics/electricians/labour force teams that go out to maintain these places. they can sometimes be out on a lighthouse for a few weeks at a time working.
Also you asked about a fog horn video. The only footage I have on this lighthouse is in the video, but there will be one coming out on the Lizard Lighthouse and I already have a snippet of how we started up that fog horn which is very similar. I will put the link to that here, cheers.
ua-cam.com/video/tSxXhWKs1iw/v-deo.html&ab_channel=PeterHalil
My Grandfather used to work on the Spurn lightship. He never spoke about it, but my Grandmother said it was quite grim for him. In the 1930s in Hull, any work was welcomed.
I've since visited the lightship which is now moored in a marina and can be visited. It's not somewhere I'd like to be, although I would be much happier on the Royal Sovereign with my own room (when it isn't foggy!).
BTW, thanks for uploading this. It is nice to see such things documented.
@@horsenuts1831 Thank you for the kind words and also the info on your Grandfathers service on the Spurn Lightship. And yes I would rather be on the Royal sovereign than a Lightship too. Cheers and stay safe
Peter i must, like many other people thankyou for this video , absolutely fascinating and i notice there are others i need to go and watch.
Thankyou Sir for sharing this, many regards from France.
Hello France. Thank you very much, glad you liked the video. Take care, stay safe and have a Merry Christmas.
@@PeterHalil Appreciate you replying Peter, likewise i hope you have a happy christmas and i am going to continue to watch your films.
Thanks for sharing. More history that needs to be preserved.
Thanks Charlie, that was my intention before it was all lost forever.
Fascinating and surprisingly relaxing video. Anyway, I think was about 1973 when my mum was in a convalescent home in Bexhill and we stayed there a few nights. It left with one of my strongest memories of my childhood, of listening to a distant foghorn with a wonderfully deep pitch that changed just as it stopped. Think I've just head it again here, 1st time in 43 years!
Hi Crepello, I think I started this channel so that us Lighthouse Keepers didn't just fade away without a murmur, so for it to spark the reactions I've been getting and more especially the memories it is triggering in people like yourself, well it's been special, thank you, take care.
Love these wonderful films, I have just found them Peter, a real treat. Feel as though one is in the light house. What a great series, a time capsules of what your working life was like and other dedicated members in these light houses, keeping mariners journeys safer . I love the engineering stuff but also the domestic side, the kitchen, the cupboards, washing arrangements, buffing up the brass etc that you filmed and kept, real cosy viewing and relaxing to watch. I always from a young child liked listening to The Shipping Forecast, now I know where the information comes from or did back then! Thank you so much Peter
Wow!, Thank you very much Pierette for your lovely comments. I tried to let others feel what we felt in our daily/Monthly bubble, as the crazy World rushed by outside of our so called secret life. At other times, I didn't have the luxury of time, to try and film as many of the lighthouses before my redundancy caught me up. So glad you found my channel, and so glad that you enjoy the films. Thanks again, take care and stay safe.
While boarding school in Seaford, Sussex during the 70's wasn't much fun, I do remember feeling reassured while falling asleep when the fog horns were going. Another great video Peter.
Thank you Stephen, I must admit that I quite like the fog horn sounds of old but not too keen on the new poop poop electric ones, take care.
Wonderful memories when watching this video as I grew up in Pevensey Bay and clearly remember the Royal Sovereign lightship that the tower replaced. My father was a keen part time fisherman and, having a fast boat, we often took trips out to, and around, the ‘light’ for pleasure. I was about 17 when the tower was completed. Thanks for bringing those memories back to me.
Thank you Ian, glad our efforts tweaked the memory buds. Sorry for the delay but have just discovered masses of messages that I wasn't notified about.Yes the Sovereign was a great pull for local fishermen, take care.
Really enjoyed the tour Peter, as always.
Can see why this was one of your favourites, as its a very spacious lighthouse and having your own private room aboard must have been a great bonus, plus, an actual bathroom too.
Thanks again for sharing Peter.
Take care
Thank you June, Yes a bathroom on a Lighthouse, who would have thought! Ha Ha, certainly a novelty. I enjoyed the space on the Sovereign, cheers and take care.
Mentioned on the needles light house. I hadn’t seen this one’s light and feared decommission had already started. Just sat at cooden fishing and watching the light house flash away still. Will be shame when it does go but for now it’s still doing its job
Also hearing them foghorns gives me great childhood memories, we used to hear that from St Leonard’s when mum used to take us along seafront! & remember going along in dads car seeing that bright spotlight 👍
Yes, I miss the old fog horn sounds too. Cheers and take care
I've been interested in lighthouses since I was 3 years old; the first one I ever saw and visited was Cap Frehel in Brittany, on my 4th birthday. These videos are truly fantastic - well shot, well made and with brilliant narration. Thank you for uploading them to UA-cam!
Thank you very much Ringer, so glad that you too have a love of Lighthouses, also, so glad that you like my video's, take care, stay safe.
What a special time to be part of a career and history that becomes phased out. We cannot live in your footsteps, rather live vicariously through these captured moments in time. Thank you.
Thank you David for your very Kind words, glad you enjoyed our World that is no more, take care and stay safe.
Lovely detailed video and views. That offshore light must have been a dream posting to get compared to the offshore tower lights. Designers took full advantage of the space a platform base would offer. Wow that fog horn really was a beast.
Thank you Napier,much appreciated, yes that fog horn was a beast but I still love those sounds. Yes again as regards dream postings, masses of room and your own bedroom, bliss!, stay safe, cheers.
@@PeterHalil interesting at start you flew over the former Belle Tout lighthouse and saw how right on cliff edge it had become. Remember seeing a programme on how they moved it away from the edge.
@@NapierNimbus Hi, I remember that well, don't know how close it would be now.
Hopefully ,they upgraded they're isolation from the mainland since 1993.
Stayed for a couple of days with my Auntie in Eastbourne when I was on holidays from Australia back in 1984. Used to get up in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep and watch the light from the Royal Sovereign lighthouse.
Thanks for that, pretty soon they will dismantle it, so it will be gone from out to sea. There is a group, in Eastbourne, I think, that are in talks to bring the lighthouse tower bit etc and install it somewhere ashore as an attraction/museum type exhibit. Cheers and take care
Brilliant as always Peter, just rounded Brothers Island light in Cook straight New Zealand 25 minutes ago.
Wow, the seas down that part of the World can be rather nasty I hear, stay safe and thanks for the kind words.
Ah, luxury! The Bon Ton of lighthouse assignments. I didn't dare hope, but once again you deliver. Thank you. All your video productions are highly informative, and your experienced perspective make them unique among the UA-cam collection.
Thank you for that, much appreciated, glad you like them, more to come.
Thank you Peter.A superb video as well.
Kind regards
Mick
Fascinating insight into an ordinarily unseen world.
Thank you very much, glad you liked our video. Take care and stay safe.
Just discovered your wonderful filmography of Lighthouse history through the algorithms of UA-cam while looking for reviews of the new film, The Lighthouse.
Thanks for these gems, was good to see Durleston Handfast point lighthouse, I pass it regularly on my coast walks.
Cheers Peter !
Thank you Simon glad you liked my efforts. I haven't seen the film "Lighthouse" yet but it's on my list.
What an absolute pleasure to stumble upon this video. I can just about see Royal Sovereign from my window in Hastings - yes it's still there. Not sure when they are going to dismantle it and take away a great piece of sea architecture.
For so many years I've seen it from land and always wondered what it looked like inside, now thanks to you and this superb video, I will wonder no more. Thank you very much for filming and uploading this little time capsule, so very enjoyable.
Thank you Josh for the kind words, glad you enjoyed the video. It was supposed to be dismantled this year but I assume the dreaded Covid etc put a hold on it. There are also moves to at least save the Lighthouse bit and lens to be put on show somewhere ashore, hopefully that will succeed, cheers.
Greetings from lake Winnipeg in Manitoba Canada 🇨🇦. Great videos. Thank you for your hard work of putting them together. I hope your safe through this crazy world.
Thank you James, Hi Manitoba, Canada. So far I've managed to stay safe from the pandemic and the crazy people that seem to be on every street just now! Glad you like the videos, take care and stay safe.
Superb look at a Long lost livelihood, Thankyou for the excellent footage.....one job I wished I had been old enough to enrol for, but sadly they were coming offline as I was of coming of an employable age .....👍🇮🇲
Sorry you missed out Andy, but glad you like our efforts, take care and stay safe.
This would be my ultimate job. Too bad there is no such thing anymore. I might have to make my own lighthouse when I retire. Being isolated away from people, with the sea all around you, and all that cool machinery, is everything that calls out to me.
Yes, it either calls to you or it doesn't. Take care.
Brilliant video again Peter, I remember the helicopter used to be hungered in our sea king hanger at raf st mawgan we occasionally used to help pull it out or put it to bed if the tractor tug was playing up
Hi Daz, thanks for that, we miss the big yellows up here on Anglesey, 22 Squadron, everything changes, take care, stay safe.
Merry Christmas Peter! Hope those helicopters are behaving, cheers and best wishes, Jeff D...
Merry Christmas to you too, and have a Happy, healthy New year. Cheers
Your videos really are fascinating to watch and are a fantastic record of a historic moment just prior to these lighthouses being automated! It's great that you were able to capture these moments on camera, so thank you for sharing.
I had always assumed the concrete tower section was hollow, so it was interesting to see how far down it went.
It was nice to hear what the old fog signal sounded like and It was a bonus to see the old West Pier in Brighton from above, prior to it's complete destruction.
Thanks again for sharing these videos.
Thank you for your very much for your very kind words. I was a Keeper with a love of History and was keen not to let us Keepers and our job vanish without any record of it at all, so then the snowball got bigger and bigger! LOL, so glad my efforts have mainly found people like you to enjoy them, take care, more to come.
@@PeterHalil No worries! Glad to hear there is more to come.
It's great that you had the foresight to record all of this.
A few years ago I visited every mainland lighthouse in England, and am working on Scotland, and I photographed (Albeit at long range) most of the offshore lights as far as I can recall. I'd like to see if I can get out to the Royal Sovereign sometime before it's demolished, as I've only really been able to see it from the top of Beachy Head.
@@WorldWideLighthouses Our association of Lighthouse Keepers did a visit out to the Sovereign by boat but they weren't even allowed to board it. I suspect that as it is going to vanish soon that there will be lots of boats doing trips out to see it, take care.
Well done Peter,very interesting.thank you😁👍👏👏👏
Hi David, glad you liked it, I've only just found this response from you amongst several others that I hadn't been notified about, so sorry about that.cheers.
Nice video on lighthouse content . I enjoyed watch the video . It feels calm and relaxed to watch maybe the same feels to those who works there too . Wish the very best to all the the lighthouse employees out there . Keep update with more video on it . TQ sir for all your knowledgeable video u haved uploaded . Love from Malaysia 🇲🇾
Hello Malaysia and thank you for the kind words. Glad you enjoyed the video, Take care and stay safe.
Only just found this remarkable video. I live in Newhaven and remember when they were constructing the base on the East beach before it was towed out to position. It's always been a landmark (should that be 'seamark') off the coast, and is no longer there.
Thank you very much. I don't know if it is all gone yet, but the top bit has certainly been removed. Cheers and stay safe.
Many thanks Peter for your fabulous videos. Was brought up with this lighthouse just off the coast.
will be a shame to see it go.
Thanks Gavin, so you must have been one of those twinkling lights we could see ashore? It is a shame, all you will get to replace it is a large buoy, take care.
@@PeterHalil Is it possible to PM you ? Would be interesting to chat.
@@gavinvigar822 I can be found on Facebook under my name.
this is definitly of the best channels here on youtube :) thanks for the good content you deliver. greets
Thank you very much bigwie, much appreciated, loads more coming, take care.
@@PeterHalil thanks for providing us with fresh and new content :) you please take care too. Greetings from Berlin :)
Thank you for a truly wonderful video, you are a great and gifted natural film maker. Thank you for sharing it
Thank you very much for your kind comments, I'm getting worried now after a string of niceness coming my way, I must be due a severe kicking! LOl Thanks again, take care and stay safe.
Wow what an amazing video - full of every detail... Just how I like it.
Wow!, thanks for those wonderful kind words, so glad that you like it. Cheers and stay safe.
I fell off my chair...Now a bed and breakfast...ha too true, sign O the times...Hello and greetings Peter, time to hang out with you and yer mates back in the day...Cheers!!
Cheers Mate, Have a safe and Happy Christmas.
I’m enjoying these
Thanks for pulling it all together
I’d always wanted to be a lighthouse keeper- ocean tug captain
I ended up a bra fitter, how unlucky was I
Thanks again
Thanks Andy I'm glad you didn't put bra fitter and I'm enjoying these in the same sentence!
Peter Halil , got a little boat In Hartlepool so we’ve been sailing Ipswich to Lindesfarne up to the moment. I feel a North Sea crossing sometime soon.
Thanks again
@@andydunn5673 Cheers and safe seas & winds.
Amazing channel, fantastic videos!
Cheers newmantron, much appreciated.
Wonderful video, thank you!
Cheers Jimmy, glad you liked it.
Thank you again. Better than any Netflix box set.
Thanks for that, glad you like them.
I was in Eastbourne for a few days up until yesterday.
I'd seen a cross like structure on the horizon while looking out to sea and didn't know what it was.
I asked the landlord of the B&B I was staying in and he told me it was this lighthouse.
I saved lots of videos to watch and have been going through them since getting back.
This is the most interesting and what I was really hoping to find.
Fascinating stuff.
Thank you for uploading.
Thank you very much for your comments. So glad you found my channel. Cheers Mate and above all, stay safe.
Thank you for the great idea & its amazing history 👍
Thank you and stay safe
Thanks Peter another awesome video
Cheers Michael, much appreciated, take care.
i have lived in hastings all my life and remember them building it and when i went out 11 miles into the country at netherfield remember hearing the fog horn coming up through the valley i have been out to the soveriegn in a boat and have my own little video of my trip there on youtube but its not so interesting as yours so thanks again
i often take its photo now and the horizon for me will never be the same without it
Hi Kevin, thanks for your memories and all videos will be interesting. I never got footage from the sea perspective and my videos, well I was very lucky by being in the right place at the right time plus a very unique position on the "inside" so to speak. Thanks again, take care.
As a fisherman along the coast Brighton Beach, Marina, Shoreham, Bognor Regis, Eastbourne etc, it's a privilege to see this along my journey on the coast, But it is a shame now to hear rumours it is being dismantled and removed fully -( Peace of history not to mention the money spent on it originally to build. Would be better served as a platform of some kind for sea fisherman to ferry out to moor up alongside it and fish for the day at a cost, that way it can make money along the way, I would love to fish on there would be some cracking Cod and Mackerel, and then have a restaurant for people to sit and eat on from the accommodation quarters.
It is due to be dismantled next March, according to what I've seen lately. There are moves to try and save the Tower and have that on shore somewhere as a possible living museum, cheers, calm seas and safe fishing
@@PeterHalil yes I've heard mid march 2022 to be dismantled.
Thanks for uploading this.
Thanks you are welcome, stay safe
Great video again mate keep them coming
Thanks Space, still loads more, cheers.
@@PeterHalil I'd love to speak to u more about ur experiences
This reminds me of the USCG Frying Pan Tower which has been converted to a hotel off the coast of North Carolina. But of course this one is well painted! Not much rust to see!
Looks a spacious lighthouse to work
It certainly was Joe. It was to be dismantled soon, not sure if they have started the process yet or not. cheers, stay safe
So much better than tv documentaries
Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it, cheers. Take care
Wooow really good mate great vid don 🤠🇬🇧👍👍👍👍
Thanks Mate, glad you liked it, take care.
There's a fascinating documentary also on the construction of this lighthouse
Thanks Phil I have that very video linked on my video description, a very clever design and sheer luxury for us Keepers.
@@PeterHalil I'd also found the great atmospheric 1980s video on the Bishop Rock lighthouse at the transition to automation, with much Lister background soundtrack and fascinating daily tasks pumping sea water for the toilets etc. Seems tragic the Sovereign lighthouse is due for the axe after 50 years when lighthouses like Bishop Rock and Eddystone seem fit after 3x the lifespan. Maybe rebar corrosion affecting Sovereign?
@@philhealey449 Trinity House reckon the Sovereign is being demolished because of corrosion or deterioration, it was made with concrete etc but the Victorian ones were all granite and over kill with there strength.
The Rolls Royce of lighthouses? Looks like it was a fun assignment ... Such a shame future generations won't have these opportunities....
Hi Legionnaire, yes it was a brill posting, yes a shame it will be dismantled sooner rather than later, if some very rich so and so could pluck it up and donk it in a lake somewhere it would make a great pad or Hotel LOL
Sunday morning, a nice cup of coffee, and.....a new LH video!! An outstanding start to a very cold day. Thank you sir. One more thing.....that cute little bird that seemed to be a bit too far at sea for its size. What was it doing? it looked like it was tracking the invisible lighthouse bug...on foot!
Hi, That bird was searching for all the bugs etc that nestle under the beams and planking, cheers
I believe that foghorn was sold off after the building was automated. It's in private hands now. I saw a photograph of someone cleaning it and then hooking it up to a compressor. They painted it black though.
Thanks for sharing. I believe this structure is to be removed in 2020. I read built in 1971. It was staffed until automation in 1994.
Yes, they start to dismantle this year, or at the very least, the preparatory work.
In June 2019, Trinity House announced that the lighthouse would be decommissioned, and then removed, because of the platform's structural condition
@@londo776 Cheers that's what I heard as well.
@@PeterHalil I watched the how it was built film - with groovy synth soundtrack! Removing the aged concrete foundation platform will be interesting - I presume pumping the sand out and getting inflatable air bags in , after removing the steel superstructure.
@@bryanearthloop2403 From what I gather, they are leaving the base on the sea bed.
I can see on a clear day from were I live the Royal Sovereign lighthouse, so it's really interesting to see what it looks like close up and inside as well. I read somewhere that it's now decommissioned.
Hi, Yes they are supposed to be demolishing it now. There are moves afoot to save the tower itself, complete with the light and put it on show somewhere local, I hope that happens.
11:50. Toilet roll installed backwards. A clear sign of cabin fever... 😁
But on the serious note, Thanks for all the excellent informative videos. Well done sir. 👍🏻
I agree, I like my toilet rolls the other way too, I also have to straighten pictures!
Thanks, glad you like them, more to come. Stay safe.
Shamei that it is going as it has been such a landmark for my 37 years in Hastings as. I have been abke to see it from all my various homes. Farewell friend. How will boats miss the sandbank now:
Thank you very much. At a guess, they will mark it with buoys. Yes a great shame the Sovereign will be gone, but the Tower should live again on shore. Cheers and stay safe
This is beautiful
Thank you very much, so glad you enjoyed it. Take care and stay safe.
Great video. However, this iconic structure is no more. It was decommissioned by Trinity House and a local charity in Bexhill-on-Sea has acquired the tower to restore and form part of a marine heritage centre on the seafront. There is video either on Facebook, or maybe even UA-cam, following the recent tricky transportation of the lantern tower to a company in Bexhill, to undertake the first stages of restoration. Bexhill his home of the Sovereign Light cafe as per the well known song, hence they bid to take it and got it. The whole structure may be gone and no longer a wonderful view from the shore, but part of it will live on in a corner of Sussex.
Thank you very much, glad you liked the video. It's also great that the Tower will live on in Bexhill-on-Sea. I will have to make a point of getting down to that part of the World to see it when it's all done. Now I'm off to search for that video on You Tube that you mentioned. Take care, Stay safe and have a Merry Christmas.
@@PeterHalil Hi Peter if you can't find the info on UA-cam let me know. I am still indirectly linked to the project (was there at it's beginnings, but I am not able to do the heavier restoration work now required) and should be able to send you the Facebook link or the photos and film direct. I will no doubt get involved in the fund raising aspect though. 🙂🙋♀️
Thank you very much, I managed to find it OK and watched it. Definitely mixed feelings, but at least the Tower will have a new life ashore and no doubt get smothered with TLC. Cheers and stay safe. @@jeangenie5807
Love your film :)
Much appreciated, Thank you very much. Cheers and stay safe.
Hello Peter! Thank you for the video…fascinating! I’ve passed by the tower a number of times but have never been close to it. It will be missed very much when it’s dismantled. I’m surprised it is being decommissioned after only 50 years or so. I’m also interested in your surname…I met a Gibraltarian with the same surname as yours during my time there in the Royal Navy in the early 1960s.. He helped maintain the various navigation lights on the Rock and showed myself and a group of young RN types around the main lighthouse. He had a very interesting job! Are you related? I really enjoy your videos. I look forward to watching them all. Finally, did you know ‘Andy The Light’ …he used to operate his Amateur Radio station from the lights he was based and I used to talk to him over the radio. I’ve momentarily forgotten his surname but I think he’s passed on now. A great character! Best wishes, Rob in Bournemouth.
Very interesting ~ thanks
Cheers Chris, take care.
Just watched this great video , very interesting , they certainly thought of everything when they built it 👍 sad to see it go , as I’m writing this I see there’s barges & a platform next to it waiting for demolition 😢
Thank you very much, I just hope it doesn't all go to scrap. Cheers and stay safe
@@PeterHalil think it’s being dismantled bit by bit , looked out there this morning & the lighthouse is by itself with no barges nearby , apparently there going back & fourth to shoreham to the lighthouse with the barges & floating platform taking bits of it away every trip 😔
Thanks again, I hope the bods ashore that were trying to get the Lighthouse Tower bit to preserve it somewhere, managed it OK?@@paulbb27
@@PeterHalil let’s hope so , that would be great 👍 will be missed by many
very interesting.
be nice to see what its like now, shame its coming down this year
I was determined to do this job when I grew up because I always fancied the idea of a month offshore and a month at home but sadly I didn't leave school until 1997 so I think I was born a generation or two too late.
I just watched a video on how they built this was incredible to watch, and now it’s literally the start of its demolition. Not sure the point of building a light house with a 50 year warranty.
It looked like one of the better offshore lights to live in. It looks a bit less chaotic and more organised than a tower light and the freedom of your own bedroom
Yes Duncan, as you say, and it was quieter compared to the Towers and loads and loads of personal space.
Royal Sovereign's days are numbered. Trinity House announced that dismantling work is going to start soon, presumably next month, along with upgrade works to the Beachy Head Lighthouse to increase the power of its lamp to take over from Royal Sovereign. Local boaters have arranged a farewell flotilla to sail up to the lighthouse to give it a proper send off.
Thanks for the update, such a shame but just glad that I had the chance to do a few duty and filming trips there. Thanks again and stay safe.
@@PeterHalil I thought I'd let you know since you served on it. I hope at least a few portions are saved for display, like the lantern room.
Another wonderful insight into the way Lighthouse Keepers lived and worked. I confess these are hugely fascinating. Living in Sussex, I've seen this lighthouse many times and wondered what it was like inside. It seems that, because it was constructed in the 20th century, the quarters are less rudimentary than some of the old 'rock' Lighthouses you have featured.
Did you have a favourite posting during your service?
Yes the Royal Sovereign was definitely considered "Plush" inside for the Keepers accommodation. I'm not sure on favourites as it seems to change. I liked the Needles a lot, just because of being with Gerry and Ralph. It makes the difference when you all gel, have a similar sense of humour and can rely on each other to do the job. Thanks and stay safe
The end has come for this iconic lighthouse. Trinity House has begun dismantling the superstructure after several months of delay. However, the actual light tower itself has been rescued and was donated to Bexhill for display at a new park.
Yes, I'm glad that the Tower has been rescued. Cheers and take care.
Didnt think it would be, but it was fascinating, l did know it was like that, almost a man made island in the ocean,.
Cheers and yes it could have doubled as a rich mans pad or another Tracy Island!
Looks like the most heavenly existence. I think it would take a very particular type of character to prosper in this environment. Have you ever been stuck on a lighthouse with somebody you really disliked?
Cheers Dave, There has been the odd moments but I can't think of being stuck with somebody like that, thanks, stay safe.
Hi Peter,
When they dismantle it how and who would I approach to get a piece of it small)(.......even just a bolt!
Kindest regards
Hi Michael, I 'm only guessing but you might start with a google for Trinity House contacts which will probably be Neil Jones their public relations man and see what he may say.
What are the walls made out of? Unique lantern having the bulb hanging down? Not come across that before. Great video of a structure that wont be there this time next year.
I can't remember if they are lined concrete, I've put a link to the video showing the construction of the Sovereign in my intro,so it may show it there. The downward light bulb I've never found that anywhere else either, cheers.
Cool thanks mate
Thank you.
Possibly the most interesting video on UA-cam! Spent many years looking at it from Pevensey Bay and used to go out to in a boat and hand the keepers newspapers and chocolate. Was there some sort of 'torpedo' on a rope for bathy data or seabed sampling?
Hi, Thank you very much for those kind comments. As regards, sea bed sampling, I don't think so. But I was only there to fill in a couple of times so never saw or was shown anything like that. I thank you also for thinking of the Keepers out there with newspapers/chocolate etc, it would have been very much appreciated. Cheers and stay safe.
@@PeterHalil Because it is one of the most interesting videos on UA-cam (seriously, it slaked a whole lifetime of curiosity), I cheekily ran it through some AI software to enhance it (the results are on my UA-cam channel but YT will delete this comment if I add a link). I couldn't work out how to contact you to ask for permission so happy to delete (or to do the same to other videos). Seriously, your work should be in the national archives, British Film Institute or similar. I once asked Trinity House if I could spend a quiet Christmas on Royal Sovereign Light Platform - they declined, condemning me to suffer my usual fate.
Sorry but I don't give you permission to put my videos on your channel, so please remove it.@@hughn
@@PeterHalil Gone... would you like copies of the enhanced ones?
Hi Peter ,great video, do you know what the dimensions were for the top deck/heli pad, only I might try and make a model of it now Im retired,
Sorry Tony, don't know that one. Your best bet is either Trinity House in London or the Association of lighthouse Keepers but the paper shipwright does a card model that may give you an idea
www.papershipwright.co.uk/product/royal-sovereign-lighthouse/
How this was built: ua-cam.com/video/ul0Y42v955w/v-deo.html
Does the lighthouse protect a sandbar? No rocks about? What was the yellow suit on the keeper for when the helecopter was arriving?
It looks like a comfortable posting compared to life in a tower. Expect you've seen it but there's an interesting vid (complete with snazzy synth soundtrack) on UA-cam about how the station was built.
As ever, thank you Peter. I think you deserve a special Trinity House award for documenting all this . Cheers!
Hi Matt, If I recall it is to mark a shallow area (probably a sandbar) What you see above the waves is is about the depth of the water below, so fairly shallow for bigger ships. Yes I've linked that other video you were on about, thanks for the kind words, take care.
@@PeterHalil Ah yes! I should have read your intro!
@@mattreid859 No worries, I never read the indexes either LOL
The Lighthouse stands on the Royal Sovereign shoals. Judging by the very good fishing, for conger eel among other species, I would imagine that the shoals are rocky.
Another wonderful film Peter. It's a shame to think this Lighthouse was decommissioned this year. Will it be dismantled totally, do Lighthouses qualify as listed building ?
Thank you very much. Royal Sovereign will be totally removed, there are plans afoot to save the Tower to be displayed somewhere ashore. As for protected buildings, most if not all of our lights were/are grade 2 listed I believe? but don't quote me. But that listing didn't save the Trevose engine room! Not sure if the listing would cover something like the RS anyway. Cheers, have a Happy New Year.
OMG I want to live there
Yes it would make one hell of a place to live, not sure during all the recent storms though.
Andy seems great; these videos are, immensely, lovely. So if you washed up the hallway, did the soap get into the water supply under the blue doors?
Thank you very much. No we were careful with the amount of soap and water we put on the floors near the water tanks. Thanks again for your kind comments. Take care and stay safe.
Here in central USA we have tornadoes that are quite violent and scary. In your years on light houses have you experienced ocean storms in which you were extremely fearful ?
Hi Julie, just discovered your message. I don't think I've ever been scared on a Lighthouse. When I first joined and was out to sea and waves came up over the top and my bed was gently shaken inside a granite stone tower, I guess, apprehensive was the word, but you get used to it. The Towers out to sea were all built by Victorian engineers, so over engineered, really sound solid structures. However, I'm glad that I never was in a Lighthship in any storm, that would have been scary. Take care and stay safe.
It's cool how he tries to eat this food like a French nobleman! 36:04
Thank you for a great video tour. Do you happen to know what year this lighthouse was built?⚓❄
Thank you Frank it was built in 1971, cheers.
Hello Peter, Just Curious To Know If Libations Were Permitted On Any Of These Light Houses?
Hi Dennis, I'm not sure if libations were ever officially banned or not, but I've seen people drinking out on lighthouses. It seemed more frequent with the tech crews that came out to do servicing, but that may be that I noticed them more, cheers.
@@PeterHalil , thanks man.