‘I can think of no other edifice constructed by man as altruistic as a lighthouse. They were built only to serve.’ George Bernard Shaw

In a rather quiet and understated way the sight of a lighthouse can spark deep emotions, and not only amongst youngsters. Lighthouses speak of resilience, de?ance, solidity, and to mariners safety and reassurance. They de?ne that often treacherous border between land and sea, and never fail in that duty – it is understood in all lighthouse services across the world that the lights must never go out. If only everything in our life could be as reassuring as a lighthouse, dutifully casting its gleam into dark corners, putting a glowing arm around you and saying, ‘I am here. All will be well’.

There is an abiding fascination with lighthouses, and this book will bring their eccentric, sometimes heroic and often moving human stories to life – many for the first time. As our lighthouses become fully automated, Paul Heiney realised that the role of the lighthouse keeper and their unique stories of life lived in extreme conditions, passed down from keeper to keeper, were at risk of fading into oblivion. He decided to take action. Using his unique access via his association with Trinity House, he travelled the country and beyond to interview as many keepers as he could. In Keepers of the Lights he recounts these extraordinary and moving stories from the last of the keepers, giving a precious insight into what life was like serving on one of the many beacons – usually isolated and desolate, but nevertheless shining a friendly light around our shores.

The keepers’ tales form the heart of the book: we’ll read of murders, mysteries and heroic tales of construction. We’ll hear of the lighthouse keeper who was washed right out of his bed by a rogue wave coming in through the window, the donkey who became an unwilling part of the lighthouse crew in the Irish Sea, the keepers who used their hours and years of isolation to become master painters and rocking horse makers. The individual detail and the bigger themes bring to life this unique experience, enhanced by contemporary illustrations and drawings reproduced alongside the writing.

The creation of chains of lighthouses around the world was one of the great engineering achievements of the 19th and 20th centuries, often at the expense of many lives, and the stories are set alongside nuggets of information from Paul’s wide-ranging research – facts and figures detailing dates of construction, height, distances from shore, costs of running. Essential trivia for all lighthouse fans, setting the context for the keepers’ tales as well as building a vivid picture of lighthouses in all their varied glory, and the stories they could tell if only they could speak.

Paul writes, ‘That collection is set out here, and like the beams of a lighthouse the stories will flash before your eyes, grabbing, I hope, your attention.’