Peter Hill (1)

Hill has written a delightful memoir of the summer that he spent working on three lighthouses in 1973 on the coast of Scotland. After a conversation in a pub saying that this is something that he always wanted to do, he is encouraged to write and see if they offer summer jobs. He does and they offer him an interview. One small white lie about his cooking ability, and he is successful. Shortly after a letter drops on his mat with instruction on how to get to the first lighthouse.

These are the days when lighthouses are manned with three men, who cover all the tasks required over each 24 hour period. He sets off to Pladda where he is welcomed a trainee by the guys there and starts to learn the routines. He immerses himself into the job, loving the remoteness and solitude from the mass of humanity. The guys he works with are all characters, with their own traits and foibles. The lighthouse must be wound every 30 minutes, and these were the day before electricity on them, so he needed to light the paraffin lanterns each night. He is taught the records that must be kept, how to read the weather, checking that the other lighthouses are alight, but most of all he learns how to cook. The food is delivered regularly and they grow their own vegetables and catch their fish, crabs ad lobster, and they always eat well.

Next onto Ailsa Craig. There he meets one of he legends of he lighthouse crews, Stretch, and spends eight weeks on this tiny but beautiful island. His final post was Hyskeir, a tiny rock of the Western isles and only accessible but boat or helicopter. It is utterly remote, and exquisitely beautiful. They have the company of three goats, and right at the end, like a scene from a Hitchcock film, are visited by thousands of migrating birds. There is a delay leaving because of the weather, but as he steps away from his final lighthouse he knows that it has made him who he now is.

This is such a lovely book to read. It is of a time that is now lost to us with the advent of automation and electricity in lighthouses, but Hill brings it vividly to life with his expressive and fluent writing. There is humour in here too, his first dinner in Pladda is very funny, and his descriptions of those his works and lives with is written with wit and sensitivity. Very good, can highly recommend for those that want to read something different.
… (altro)

This book sat on my physical bookshelf for years and I am glad to have finally read it. It isn't really about stargazing but about a young art student named Peter Hill, who is given an opportunity to work at several lighthouses in Scotland during the early 1970s. Along with Peter's youthful musings about his experiences, the book is filled with the colorful stories of other lighthouse keepers, some novices and others near retirement age. There are 1970s references to the Vietnam War, music, tv shows and politics. (Evidently Watergate was a hot topic during that time period in Scotland.) All and all, this was an enjoyable and enlightening read about a bygone era, before the days when lighthouses started to become automated.… (altro)