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.
… (meer)

The author slips back in time to memories of his service as a temporary lighthouse keeper in Scotland in the 1970's. Like Stephen King, his reflections and writing sample popular culture from those years, alongside quirky portraits of the real lighthouse keepers who could already see the demise of their own profession. It is disjointed, but it strikes me that that is part of the authenticity of this recollection. Memories fade, highlights stand out; and it was the nature of his work that he spent as much time ashore during his brief career as he did on the lights. He tells the story with a real affection and admiration for the people he worked with, all the more telling given how uncomfortable he was (and they with him) when he started out. In a gentle, quiet and unambitious sort of way this is a extraordinary book. It is a fitting tribute to something that only now exists in memory.… (meer)