Lighthouse keepers hand over to the machines
The last staffed light on the northern coast went automatic at midnight.
For 160 years somebody climbed the stairs at dusk. Last night nobody did. The lamp at Gull Point lit itself, turned itself and, at 6:02 this morning, put itself out again without a hand on the switch.
"The lamp will not notice the difference," said the departing keeper, who leaves the service after 31 years. "The village might."
How the new light works
A sensor on the gallery measures daylight. The station reports to the harbour office by telephone line every hour, and an engineer can ask for its state by sending the word STATUS.
- The lamp changes its own bulb from a rack of six.
- A battery room keeps it lit for nine days without mains power.
- The fog signal sounds when visibility falls below two miles.
Open day
The keeper's cottage opens to visitors on the first Sunday of May. Entry is free; the stairs are not for the faint of heart.