Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
10 p.m. until 2 a.m.. He in turn handed over to the third man, who had been on duty the
previous day from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.The third man came back on duty at 2 a.m. until
6 a.m., when he in turn handed over to the first man, who had done the 6 p.m. until 10
p.m. watch the previous night. Generally, depending on the time of year, he would be
the one to put the light out at dawn. Of course there were variations to this system of
watchkeeping but it gives a good idea of how a working day for the lightkeepers was
broken up. On the rock stations there were three keepers, whereas on mainland and is-
land stations, with the introduction of L/ALKs, there were four. This had the bonus of
letting them have a day or so off in rotation. When on a rock, a keeper did twenty-eight
days' duty straight. Back on mainland or island stations one man was on duty all day,
from 10 p.m. until 6 p.m., and he would be the one who came back on duty at 2 a.m.
At family stations, watches were usually, but not always, changed in 'the bothy', al-
most invariably a small, self-contained facility with a bunk, toilet, cooker etc. which
would normally be used by the L/ALK and the OLK.
A good example of one procedure which had not changed since 1900 to the early
1970s was the system of calling bells, the name boards, which exact specifications
David Alan Stevenson had assiduously described above. They were placed in such a
positioninthebedroomthatthelightkeeperhadtogetoutofbedtoanswerthem,there-
fore achieving their purpose. Unless the wife of a lightkeeper was a particularly heavy
sleeper, she would invariably also be awakened at the change of watch. Some wives
eventuallybecamesousedtothebells,thatthesoundneverbotheredthem.Somelight-
keepers have said that it was hard to escape the feeling that they were merely the latest,
and possibly the last, in a long line of lightkeepers to answer that bell.
Monthly Returns were considered to be the bane of an ALK's existence at some sta-
tions. They were generally repetitive and some felt they were totally unnecessary, par-
ticularly having to copy out all the lighting and extinguishing times each month. One
lightkeeper would tell the story of his time on Stroma to illustrate this point:
The returns had been made up and put in an envelope, ready to give to the boatman to
put in the post to HQ in Edinburgh. Relief day came and as it was raining, he stuck the
envelopeunderthecushionontheseatofthetractortokeepitdryandoffhewent.The
relief took place and life went on. Several months later, he happened to lift the cushion
and there was the envelope. He had forgotten to give it to the boatman. However in the
intervening period no one had enquired as to where they were, or why for that month,
Stromahadnotsubmittedanyreturns.Thatwasthepointatwhichhestartedtowonder
ifanyoneeverlookedatthem.HehadavisionofahugeroomattheNLBheadquarters
at 84George Street, Edinburghstacked from floor to ceiling with envelopes containing
returns from all over the country, which were never opened.
