Lighthouses - Guardians of the Night | Full Documentary

[Music] [Music] [Music] uh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the lighthouse undoubtedly the most fragile of monuments standing firm for centuries against the storming of wave and wind it is finally abandoned by man and crumbles into legend such was the fate of the lighthouse of alexandria the oldest and perhaps the best known lighthouse in the world travelers described it as being a hundred times bigger than a man its light burned as brightly as a star in the night sky built in the 3rd century a.d was destroyed by an earthquake in august 1303 [Music] all that now remains of this seventh wonder of the world are a few submerged columns off the coast of pharos the island that gave its name to the flame carrying towers wine border wine was the reason behind one of the oldest and most beautiful lighthouses still in operation the lighthouse of corduron at the mouth of the girond at that point there is a treacherous rock which caused the ships of henry iii to found her with their cargo of wine the king ordered his architect louis de foie to build an impressive building to serve as lighthouse fortress chapel and royal residence the tower was later extended by 20 meters but the ground floor has retained its typical late 16th century architecture the only neoclassical lighthouse on the french coast with its porches pediments and pilasters it was classified as a historic monument in 1862 one of the first buildings to be so honored along with notre dame in the 17th century the lighthouse was still surrounded by houses and a farm where vines were grown over the years the island disappeared and corduroy became a lighthouse on the open sea the english were the first to think of building lighthouses on isolated rocks known to cause great damage to boats the most famous of these reefs was eddie stone a few miles out to sea from plymouth five different lighthouses were built on this rock in a hundred years an eccentric john wynne stanley built the first tower which was far too low the second tower was higher but it looked like a chinese pagoda the house was full of devices and incredible ornaments but there was one problem it wasn't solid this didn't stop when stanley from challenging the elements while fishing he used to call out rise up sea come and put my work to the test the sea didn't have to be challenged for long on the 26th of november 1703 both the lighthouse and its architect were swept away the third eddie stone lighthouse built of wood was destroyed by fire an engineer john sween took the idea for the design of the fourth lighthouse from the oak a tree able to withstand the most violent of storms the lighthouse was wide at the base curving midway and narrow at the top the form was classical but the lighting system was primitive [Music] another attempt at the impossible bell rock this time it was a matter of building a lighthouse on a reef that was covered by three to four meters of water at high tide the engineer robert stevenson took up the challenge the only way to work was at low tide between the tides a manually operated pump dried out the site a forge was hastily installed to sharpen implements blunted by the rock the stones were cut and erected on the mainland [Music] special cranes devised by stevenson set them down on the reef one by one in the order in which they would be assembled the blocks were transported across cast iron gangways [Music] [Music] construction began in may 1807 and the tower was completed in september 1810 [Music] once the builders were finished the carpenters arrived to fit doors staircases window frames then provisions and barrels of water were hosted into the lighthouse the rigorous life of the guardians of the sea had begun this is john reed the first keeper of the bell rock lighthouse and his last successor john both who left the lighthouse when automation took over in 1987. over 180 years generations of men kept the light burning in this narrow tower in the middle of the ocean their accommodation consisted of three tiny rooms the kitchen the dormitory and the washroom they were untiring in their supervision of the nine parabolic reflectors sending out the red and white flashes of light that have been seen along the coast of scotland since february 1811. [Music] in four years robert stevenson had built an unparalleled technological masterpiece [Music] his exploit inspired the imagination and triggered an enthusiastic response the lighthouse became a subject for literature for engraving for magic lantern shows [Music] what could be more exciting more romantic than this slender stone tower guarded by men shedding light to keep death at bay however on stormy nights the light given out by the reflectors was not strong enough the lighthouses were less effective than had been hoped [Applause] then a young french physicist augustan franel came up with an idea that revolutionized lighting at sea he imagined a system of graded lenses that would gather and concentrate the rays of light into a horizontal beam that would be much more effective than the system of parabolic reflectors [Music] the first fresnel lenses were based on straight rods the central lens consisted of four polygons with trapezium forming the surrounding rings at the time it was far easier to cut straight rods than circular pieces [Music] [Music] you have to remember that france at that time specialized in the manufacture of fresnel lenses and exported them all over the world we had up to five manufacturers in france mr barbier the founder of the company set up in business around 1850 to 1852 to be precise they started prospecting the world market around that time they had a succession of people who were all very dynamic who were willing to go anywhere in the world we supplied equipment to every corner of the world one of our most important jobs was the beaconing of the red sea managed by my father at the end of the last century the work took three years at the same time we built a few lighthouses on land including the one at mokka and of course the lighthouses on the islands we really enjoyed the work it was a noble and at the same time exciting thing to be doing [Music] the coast of brittany a far western corner of europe where the sea is at its most treacherous a belt of some forty lighthouses the most famous in france are found here at 75 meters one of the highest towers in europe the ilviers lighthouse [Music] the lighthouse of la vie at the end of res point the last watchtower of the lost city of east [Music] carion built in memory of a naval ensign who was guillotined under the revolution at the age of 19 one of the most luxuriously decorated lighthouses the rooms are nine meters in diameter the paneling is a russian oak [Music] the haunted lighthouse bringer of bad luck [Music] [Music] funded by donation stands on one of the most dangerous reefs in the atlantic during fierce storms the sea lashes against the pains of the lantern [Music] our men the most isolated the most difficult the most humid it took 14 years to build the lighthouse in this hellish place and then 17 years to reinforce it [Music] lastly le crease on the island of wesson an important landing lighthouse at the southern entrance to the channel opposite its english counterpart bishop rock [Applause] but what about other countries where are these steamers headed setting off from the ports of europe packed the capacity people began to travel on a grand scale towards the end of the last century they traveled to find adventure but also to avoid death the failure of the potato crop the ensuing famine the industrial revolution the deprived people of work just some of the causes of the mass exodus of immigrants to america through drama and tragedy the lighthouse became a powerful image for these migrants for those leaving their homes that last light burning in the night symbolized the country they would never see again i was overwhelmed with sadness as i watched the light from the lighthouse when i could no longer see it i knew we had left forever [Music] out on the open sea life on board ship could be difficult these crossings indelibly engraved on the collective imagination of the united states were made under appalling conditions charlie chaplin found his way of transcending them [Music] [Applause] [Music] promiscuity poor hygiene rotting provisions the threat of epidemic such was life at sea when the distant glimmer of the first american lighthouse was sighted on the horizon after five or six weeks at sea there was delirious rejoicing what they saw was the light of hope of welcome of a new life [Applause] [Music] at the site of the lighthouse we threw ourselves on our knees and gave thanks to god [Applause] cape race was the most important landing lighthouse in north america located to the south of newfoundland it was on the route of every european ship traveling to the united states and canada [Music] however it was in this place close to the reassuring lighthouse that the danger was greatest here death lay in waiting [Music] here one ship in eight disappeared without trace crushed by an iceberg drawn by violent currents or misled by thick fogs masking the cliffs the fate of the survivors was death from cold and hunger the frequency of the shipwrecks the high number of deaths the petitions the scandals the mounting pressure eventually led to the building of the first lighthouses along the canadian coast [Music] at great cost and effort the greatest danger spots were signaled the capes the small islands huge boilers were hoisted onto the beach to fuel the fog horns but the new lighthouses gave scant light in an effort to save money the british government was using second-hand equipment old oil lamps and parabolic reflectors that had been replaced in europe by fresnel lenses up to 1966 the bonavista lighthouse in newfoundland was still using a lighting system that had long been replaced in scotland the system originally used in the bell rock however there is no doubt that weather conditions here make signaling extremely difficult we are flying over the strait of belle isle between the coasts of newfoundland and labrador in the gulf of st lawrence the shortest route between britain and montreal a lighthouse was built with great difficulty on the summit of belle isle in 1856 as soon as it was in use it was realized that it was too high its light was being dispersed in the thick fogs rising from the strait a second lamp was installed lower down beneath the foghorn [Music] [Applause] [Music] on closer to nova scotia ships pass a peaceful looking island sable island but appearances can be deceptive this island is the cemetery of the atlantic it's well documented that hundreds of ships were swallowed by these depths at a spot where the gulf stream meets the currents moving down from labrador 20 kilometers long and one and a half kilometers wide the island is inhabited by hundreds of wild horses descendants of a pair of horses washed up from a shipwreck in the 18th century [Music] the authorities were at first reluctant to put a lighthouse on this island famous for its shipwrecks but also for its shipwreckers would the light attract ships to the danger or turn them away from it the question was fiercely debated [Music] [Music] it was not until 1871 that two wooden lighthouses were built one on either side of the island [Music] the lighthouse on the western side of the island was particularly exposed to erosion by the elements and it was rebuilt seven times in the space of the century nowadays the lighthouses are fully automated the keepers house sunk in the sand [Music] [Music] moving on from the island the immigrants finally caught sight of the first american lighthouse built in 1716 by the british it stands at the entrance to the port of boston [Music] [Music] as ships approached the minutes ledge lighthouse voices dropped to a whisper this was the haunted lighthouse it was rumored that the lamps and lenses were looked after by ghosts the spirits of two keepers killed when the first tower collapsed on windy days if you listen closely you could hear voices calling for help [Music] however this painful image did not last journey's end so long awaited was now in sight [Music] the statue of liberty on bedlow island welcomed the newcomers to new york harbor [Music] unveiled in 1886 this lighthouse for such it is was a monument to the glory of american independence on top of the statue designed by the frenchman bartholdi three keepers took turns for 16 years to keep the flame burning in the torch and once a symbol of liberty and a guide to passing ships [Music] this is where the story of the lighthouse becomes the story of mankind [Music] oh [Music] the cape race lighthouse in newfoundland the capshare lighthouse in quebec the lighthouse on the river kennebec in maine united states [Music] the carrion lighthouse had finished air [Music] [Music] the boston lighthouse in the united states [Music] the puentamour lighthouse in labrador canada the longstone lighthouse in england [Music] the crash lighthouse in france [Applause] the rhythm of life of lighthouse keepers is a ritual lighting lamps and putting them out [Applause] [Music] actions repeated daily so that by night lighthouses can light the coastlines of the world [Music] the most difficult part of the job for a keeper of a lighthouse on the open sea is actually getting to his place of work it takes a cool head attention to detail and very good pilots seen here in a film made in 1958 is an expert in these matters i never imagined myself doing this work at the time we had launches that were hollow at the back and it was this that cost one of my fellow pilots his boat which he lost at the four lighthouse two people were drowned the boat filled up with water capsized and shattered against the rock how long have you been captain of the villain 33 years all the lighthouses are difficult but our man was the worst were you ever afraid did you ever feel you wouldn't make it afraid no it's not a question of fear worried yes afraid no if you're afraid you lose your call but you could say i've been worried sometimes we stayed alongside the lighthouse for an hour before going up you had to judge the weather the force of the water and sometimes we had to turn back without getting off the boat they always had enough reserve provisions on the lighthouse enough for three months in principle three months of stale bread and biscuits is a long time i can tell you but we often had to postpone the relief for several days the reliefs must have been a lot more dangerous at that time no no the reliefs have always is different for each lighthouse but the rules for the relief are always the same the fresh provisions are hoisted on first then the keeper taking over the watch is lifted on the keeper going off duty then goes down the only lighthouse is still using this ancient system of relief by ropes and winches are the french lighthouses on the open sea [Music] elsewhere like here in canada the helicopter has replaced the old system the prince shoal lighthouse a modern lighthouse built in 1955 stands at the point where the saint lawrence and saginay rivers meet every week the helicopter of the canadian coast guards drops off one of the keepers starting duty and picks up one coming off duty [Music] also on a weekly basis the pole star ship of the scottish lighthouse service brings provisions and relief teams to one of the most inaccessible lighthouses in the world bell rock bellrock bell rock bell rock this is paul star paul style hey let's sing it over [Applause] if the conditions are good the relief will go ahead and with a small launch you know and if there's any danger at all they won't they attempt to do the relief and they'll try the next landing time which is eight hours later if they can't do that they'll do it by helicopter [Music] landing conditions are so precarious that a helicopter is often needed to cross the few hundred meters between the ship and the lighthouse a costly operation one ship a team of 30 men a helicopter and pilot all to get two keepers on and off the lighthouse lower down on the same coast of britain the longstone lighthouse watches over a chain of islands the farne islands for about a century the families of keepers lived in this isolated lighthouse nowadays keepers who look more like astronauts arrive by helicopter every two weeks [Applause] for four weeks twice as long as for french lighthouses two men share the watch the upkeep of the buildings the television and the pleasures of fishing it takes two to work a lighthouse and the hardest part of all is maintaining good relations with the other keeper so [Music] [Applause] be [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] and that's the most important thing i was lucky to have some great mates and my memories of that time are very happy ones i'll never forget them you'll rarely find yourself working with someone you see eye to eye with on everything but you get used to it that's what life in the lighthouse is all about the keeper's skill lies in avoiding breakdown breakdown which could have disastrous consequences for a passing ship constant checks must be made on the generators and emergency lighting equipment which should engage automatically in the event of failure [Music] in these narrow confines disorder and carelessness are not advisable and on the polished wood floor of the carrion lighthouse cloth pads are a must the keeper on the watch takes meteorological readings twice daily [Music] with a third of their time spent on land and two-thirds on the sea a lighthouse keeper who has been married for 15 years would only have spent five of those years with his wife how do these men put up with such an irregular family life on 32 days home they get sick here and then when you come back it just looks sick and honeymoon i was almost 45 you know before i had any kind of family life now at least i've got that it's a plus point it's not an easy job in most ways you're it's a lonesome job we come here for 32 days at a time i came here today now i'll be here for 32 days and while we're here we work an eight-hour shift and uh we're off for 16. if i had to start again i'd do the same thing over i'd start all over again even though in my time we had to spend three weeks in the lighthouse instead of two 20 days in the lighthouse and 10 days at home well i suppose you could say we're see people we're interested in navigation there's really no other answer maybe it's because we'd love to watch the ships going by we take pride in keeping strict time with the watch if you don't find the world the watch has always been central to the job of the lighthouse keeper even today despite the sophisticated equipment accidents still happen the night we filmed the port of portland in the united states it was very foggy and a boat ran aground not far from where we were filming just beneath the main lighthouse over here on cushing island i had my fog going on and there was another fog going on ram island ledge light and he still went to ground so that means i'd say we're still pretty useful last night was one of the worst cases that i've done since i've been here south poland due to the fog and the wind and the sea conditions five people on board very shook up there's going on the rocks we proceeded out to them last night and all we could do the most we do is get the people off the safety of the people and anything else other to do is commercial salvage [Music] we filmed a salvage company trying to free the boat they no sooner headed out then it capsized the tug pulled it out to sea where it immediately went down again [Music] in any case it's not our job too it's up to us to alert the maritime station at concay or the police station at brest or across unfortunately our job is to take note of damage well there's not really much you can do especially this time of the year because the cliffs are too covered with ice and snow and that and we have no rescue equipment to get down to anybody so you have to depend on aircraft or other boats in the area but i doubt very much if we could do anything really only just watch probably 12 people round [Music] to save or not to save to intervene or to send for help this is the dilemma facing present-day lighthouse keepers in the past with no radio or telephone they had no choice but to risk their own lives [Music] such was the case of grace darling the daughter of the keeper of longstone lighthouse who became a national heroine the keepers still like to tell her story this is darling's room this is her bedroom this is where she slept her bed was just here under the window here she woke up one morning and saw the wreck of the paw patrol which was on this near rocky the harker rocks she went downstairs told her father he said i was too stormy to go out it was too rough for the boats to get out from the shore she persuaded him to make an attempt and they set off in their own boat rolled down to the side of the rock and brought survivors back [Music] [Applause] of the 52 people on board nine were saved the survivors stayed in the lighthouse for two days until the storm had died down then a rescue boat came and took them ashore grace darling became famous overnight her story was written her portrait painted people flocked to see her and her picture was used to sell chocolates and sweets [Music] [Music] like all true heroines grace darling died young because of all the fuss her father claimed in fact she died of tuberculosis on her grave a monument was built that can be seen from the sea and or next to her face symbolizing her courage [Music] grace darling helped her father the lighthouse watch was often a family affair the father trained his sons who were in turn helped by their own children the number of buildings grew with the generations the most surprising example of this is undoubtedly the cape spear lighthouse in newfoundland where the cantwell's have been in charge for six generations uh this is my great great grandfather right here this is my grandfather and uh this is my father we've been uh four greats back and i'm the sixth generation uh who's worked here at cape spur life as i remember was very good we had lots of heat and lots of light and lots of food which was uh which was the essentials and the basics of life if you had that well you had you had everything basically that you needed we had a we had a good home life and a nice sturdy house there was a little lock with the time stuck up on top of iraq but other than that it was a lot of fun we were all youngsters at the time and from 10 down we would spend our time trying to get behind the corner on our father and get over the fence and see how close to the cliff we could really get without getting caught or without falling of course we would get caught once and you would pay the price of course and you wouldn't do it anymore the authorities gradually began to rationalize the job and the way of life of the lighthouse keepers well we were told that back in 71 when they started talking about automation that eventually they would phase out each you know families would go so the first one went and then about three two three years the second one and then at the same span of time the other one went it was toot and i was the only one was left and after that there wasn't it wasn't as good at all because i had to come down like eight o'clock in the morning until four in the afternoon and when you come down in the morning find a lot of air it's quite different than what it was years ago first the families left and then the jobs of the lighthouse keepers were threatened personally myself this is my last trip out to the bell rock and they're sending the engineers to put in an automated light you know and i'll do away with the services of light keepers in the deserted lighthouse everything runs automatically buildings that are still functional have been abandoned prey to ransackers and yet there are still lighthouses where families keep the watch together i don't know who would ever want to talk to him in a reversal of tradition now it's not the keeper that the helicopter brings to the lighthouse but his wife and children for three months they will live at the pace of the isolated lighthouse [Music] between newfoundland and labrador a particularly dangerous straight leads into the gulf of st lawrence [Music] the two lighthouses of belle isle stand like sentinels on the volcanic island these two will be the last to be inhabited by men right now we're engaged as you can see here at northeast palo alto station in the movement of the light keepers family and resupply groceries and personal effects the keepers themselves came out to the isolated stations here they came out sometime in early may and their families because their kids would be in school had to wait until sometime mid-june when school was out and this is the first chance now the helicopter has been able to come up in this area to take them out and so for a few years more in this age of satellites and automation the guardians of the night continue to keep the watch in the sun foreign [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you

Channel: Extreme Mysteries

Views: 58,083

Keywords: lighthouse keepers, lighthouse keepers stories, lighthouses in storms, lighthouses rule, lighthouses at night, lighthouses around the world, lighthouses documentary, lighthouses in maine, free documentary, free documentary movies on youtube, free documentary history, free documentary movies, free documentaries full length, lighthouse church, history documentary, free full history movies, free movies history channel, guardians of the night, statue of liberty

Id: 9wrvMAsCrP8

Length: 49min 29sec (2969 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 10 2022