Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Appendix IV
I was appointed as an assistant keeper on the 1 May 1963 and my pay would be £544
per annum. My victualing allowance would be 5/3p per day. On 2 May 1963 I had to
go out to the lighthouse for two calendar months - after my two months on the rock I
wouldget onemonth ashore. Iwas taken outtothe light bythe MV
Pole Star
.The Flan-
nan Islands are 20 miles off the coast of Lewis and it was a two and a half hour trip in
bad weather which was not very nice. When we got to the light, the ship would put the
launchinthewatertotakeustothelanding,wecouldnotgoalongsidesothekeeperson
the rock would put a rope down to pull the keeper going on the rock up on to the landing
along with the provisions to do us for our first month on the rock. When the keepers that
were leaving went ashore that was the last we would see another ship or fresh food for a
month.WhenIgotuptothelightIgotthefrightofmylife,itwasjustthesameasitwas
in 1900, there was no modern amenities at all. The kitchen had the same coal range, the
light in the kitchen was a paraffin lamp that you had to pump air into it to keep it going
as it had a mantel, the table was in the same place by the window as it was in 1900, the
small bedrooms were just the same as they had two bunks in each of the three bedrooms
all adjoining the kitchen. The only thing that we did have which the old keepers did not
have was a gas cooker and a paraffin refrigerator and if you did not get the flame right,
it would not work.
We did have two small generators to charge the batteries but they were for our VHF
communications.WehadtophonetheButtofLewiseverydaybutyoucouldnottalkfor
very long or the battery would run down as they were very old and would not hold the
charge. We did have an old radio with an old accumulator, there was no TV. The Flan-
nans was known as the 'OK Rock' as that was all we had time to send (as a message)!
Theprincipal'swordwaslaw,youdidwhatyouweretold.Hemadetherulesrightdown
towhatweate.Hehadamenuonthewallanditwasthesamemenueveryweek.Break-
fast Monday to Friday would be porridge, you had three slices of bread a day - if you
had two slices of bread for breakfast you only got one slice for tea. The one thing I have
