A Lighthouse keeper's guided tours, Episode Five. South coast of England
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 พ.ค. 2023
- This is now continuing along the South coast of England. It takes in just two Lighthouses, Royal Sovereign & Beachy Head, both of which are not open to visitors. The video concludes with some short footage of the decommissioned Belle Tout Lighthouse, which is now a unique Bed and Breakfast.
My very grateful thanks to Rob Wassell, who kindly allowed me use of his photographs of Beachy Head, as Trinity house refused me entry.
And a big mention to The Save the Stripes campaign to raise money when Trinity House were not going to repaint Beachy.
And another big mention to Sussex Blast Cleaning that won the contract to clean and repaint the Lighthouse.
Two books that may be of further use are: The British Lighthouse Trail, by Sarah Kerr and Lighthouse Accommodation, Britain & Worldwide by Joy Tubby
Finally, the ALK, The Association of Lighthouse Keepers, for their continual help to my video channel.
useful contacts:
trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouse-visitor-centres
trinityhouse.co.uk/contact
phone: 020 7481 6900
ruralretreats.co.uk/lighthouse-cottages
phone: 01386701177
and for Belle Tout Lighthouse:
www.belletout.co.uk/
phone: 01323 423 185
Another nice video to watch on this sunny day. Well done Peter. History at its best. 🙏
Thank you very much, Glad you enjoyed the video. Take care and stay safe
Cheers Peter, flawlessly done, as usual. Thank you. My go to, favourite YT channel.
Thank you very much Paul, glad you like my channel. Take care and above all else, stay safe.
Thank you Peter another great video 👏 can’t believe they refused you access to beachy head 😖 we are so lucky you took the time to film these locations, invaluable footage now 💡
Thank you David, much appreciated. Yes, the refusal was a bummer, but the New Trinity House doesn't know me and I don't know them, so such is life I guess. Cheers and stay safe
They don't and won't give access to anyone. Whether you're the media, a researcher, historian or a retired lighthouse keeper, TH will always say no. I was so lucky, honoured and privileged to visit due to my involvement with Save the Stripes and I really appreciate the opportunity.
Oh my. How would a person actually fall asleep when the lighthouse was moving so abruptly or even violently these were very brave people. Even thinking of day to day living. My life seems so easy. Thank you for sharing. From Bakersfield California USA
Thank you Katherine. Yes, I don't think I would have gotten much sleep that night if I had been there. I would probably be wearing a life jacket as well! Cheers and stay safe.
Your body will go to sleep when you really need it anywhere
Amazing!
Thank you Liam, much, appreciated. Stay safe
Loved the sound of the fog horn, oddly miss it.. Also, i remember sometimes at Christmas the tower would be on the local news when i think the navy would deliver a Christmas tree by helicopter
Thank you for that, especially your memories. I was once told by a Keeper about another Lighthouse up in Wales, that the BBC set up a Christmas helicopter delivery. Once the filming of Santa passing several parcels to the Keepers was done, they took them back again as they were just props! I never found out if they actually left them anything! Cheers and stay safe.
Fascinating, excellent video.
Thank you very much, glad you liked it. Much appreciated, Cheers and stay safe
Thanks so much for posting these. They are a great historical record of what life would have been like.
Thank you very much, much appreciated, stay safe.
great video and still photos 😁
Thank you very much Bryan, Rob Wassell came up trumps with his photographs. Cheers and stay safe
Brilliant, Peter. Thank you for putting this together and sharing it with the world so they can find out more about the amazing lighthouses we have at Beachy Head.
Thank you Rob and especially for letting me use your photographs for this Lighthouse video. Especially as Trinity House refused me entry, even though I worked for them for 23 years! So without your brilliant input, this would have been very difficult to have completed. Thanks again, keep safe.
Brilliant as usual Peter. Thank you again for sharing your memories.
Thank you David. So glad you liked it. Cheers and stay safe
Out of all the lighthouses you have featured the Sovereign is the least I would have been comfortable to live on. Saying that though in the event of an engineroom fire it looks like the only offshore that someone would have some sort of chance of escaping before they drowned of hypothermia.
Thank you. Yes, in hindsight we were very lucky that we never had anything major happen out at sea. Cheers and take care
As always an amazing video. Would you happen to have any other videos or longer videos of the royal Sovereign diaphone fog horn??
Very good video thanks and keep up the good work
Thank you Jacob, glad you liked it. cheers and stay safe.
Beachy head is one my favourite lighthouse
@@jacobparry6212 I think it is our only one that still looks like an original Lighthouse, no helipad.
@@PeterHalil agreed
On your first video of royal sovereign, I was so struck at how luxurious it seemed compared to the others like Hanois or needles. Loads of space! Such a shame I’ll never be able to visit, but a privilege to watch your archive!
Thank you very much Eric, glad you like the video. Yes, a crying shame, but the Sovereign has reached the end of its planned life, which says more to me about the granite Victorian Lighthouses, still standing proud. Cheers and stay safe.
I saw Nab Tower pre refurb from the Portsmouth Bilbao ferry. There is a YT video where an urbexer goes inside post refurb. It's been reduced in height, had the outside metal work removed, and covered in shotcrete.
the urbexer needs to be arrested for trespassing onto navigation aids
Thanks Peter.
Think I'd have liked the opportunity to be a lighthouse keeper.
Really poor from Trinity House not to let you visit Beachy Head to complete the videos!
Thanks Joe, Yes it was a pity that Trinity said no, but they say they have new rules so no way to have changed their minds. Any way no worries. Cheers and take care.
Thank you Peter for the nice video again. I must say Beachy Head is one of my favorite lighthouses and it's beautiful inside as well. At least I had the chance to see it from outside while passing it on a sailboat on the way from Glücksburg, Germany to Portsmouth. An exiting view. Best regards from Germany!
Thank you very much. Yes, Beachy Head still looks like a proper old school Lighthouse. I've never seen it from the sea, so I envy you on that score. I've seen it from the air en route to the Royal Sovereign. I was however posted there once a long while ago to cover for someone, but that was around the early 1980's. No photographs unfortunately. Thanks again, take care and stay safe.
The first time I went to Eastbourne many many moons ago, I wondered what the structure was. I love the unusual structures as much as the traditional. The walkways around the side were always going to be the first bits to go. Its served well past its design life, still sad to see it go. I wish the superstructure could be preserved on land but needs ££.
Thank you for that. There was a group trying to preserve the Tower bit but I've lost contact with them. The Tower might have looked good in the middle of an indoor shopping mall, especially if they could have used the fog horn at closing time!
Sorry, poor joke, they were talking of preserving some sort of monument ashore, hope it works out for them. Cheers and stay safe
My local lighthouse has a decommissioned fog horn.....they can let it off on on open days on the condition it is not foggy 🤣🤣
I was fortunate to have seen the Royal Sovereign, sad to think that it will be demolished. Great video.
Hi Aaron, Glad you liked it. Yes the Sovereign must look great from a boats perspective. Cheers and stay safe
@@PeterHalil from a distance, it looks small but as you approach it, it grows, quite quickly. From a boat its massive! Good fishing ground, or used to be. Because of its utterly unique design, I always have a soft spot for the tower. These films deserve to be listed by the national archives, because they are a priceless piece of social history. These really are glorious.
Beautiful serie, so nostalgic and romantic for my generation of outsiders. Thanks for uploading.
Note: wat does stare crazy or stairs crazy mean? Found it: stir-crazy.
You are very welcome. I think he was saying stir crazy as a sort of joke. Stir crazy was what some prisoners suffered from for being locked up for so long. Cheers and stay safe
Nice one, Peter.
I believe the Royal Sovereign light is still there, although I haven't been to Eastbourne for five or six years. Google Earth shows it in 2020, and I doubt Trinity House will be spending the millions it will probably cost to remove.
All the best.
Thank you, they are scheduled to remove it, but not sure when. Cheers and stay safe
@@PeterHalil maybe save the cabin/supersttructure and tower as a holiday let some place
As always an amazing video. Would you happen to have any other videos or longer videos of the royal Sovereign diaphone fog horn??
As always an amazing video. Would you happen to have any other videos or longer videos of the royal Sovereign diaphone fog horn??
On my Royal Sovereign 1993 tape at about 31minutes and 17 seconds there are bits, cheers. Thank you and stay safe
That's awesome would have loved to experience harsh weather on the royal sovereign. Would have been very interesting. Do you have any longer recordings of the diaphone sounding as well. Best regards