We experience the wildness of the ocean, but less than the keepers who used to live in the lighthouses in Brittany, where the sea is much deeper and they really felt the force of the waves coming in. There are sand banks around the island which are constantly changing and with them the surrounding currents, so you need to understand the dangers. We have professional boat pilots who bring us and provisions to and fro from the island but we still need to be able to read the sea. I live on the Ile d’Oléron just to the north and I have never lived more than 200metres from the coast. To do that and to be practically alone on a little island in the middle of the sea is something I had always dreamt of being able to do. I like to live in a similar way when I am on land, living in an old stone building which needs looking after, using different artisanal skills. I heard they were looking for someone, and as I also loved everything to do with lighthouses, I applied. Why did you choose to become a lighthouse keeper? We work one week on, one week off, two weeks on, two weeks off and our schedules are staggered so that we are never with the same colleague for more than a week. We are not allowed to be alone here for safety reasons. ![]() There are always two of us on duty at a time. I was an electrician, some of us have marine skills, and some tourism qualifications. There are still a few qualified lighthouse keepers, they no longer live on the lighthouses, but are called out to maintain and repair them when necessary.Įach of us come from a different background so that our skills are complementary. You trained in electro- mechanics so you could look after the light. Up until the 1990s you could study for a specific lighthouse keeper qualification at Brest in Brittany. We are not strictly speaking lighthouse keepers, but keepers of this lighthouse. Are you and your colleagues at Cordouan the only lighthouse keepers left in France? We have to do the work of a mechanic, electrician, plumber, builder, carpenter, painter etc, and in the summer, a tourist guide when it is open to visitors. We also have to make sure the electricity generators are always running smoothly. There are a great number of precious and ancient materials which need looking after. There is the tower plus several buildings built in a circle around the central tower. There is always work to do as it is vast.
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