The Secret Lives of Lighthouse Keepers TV Guide

Our Lives · Series 8

A rare look into the working world of the teams who are responsible for keeping the lights on in 208 lighthouses round the coast of Scotland and the Isle of Man. Established in 1786, the Northern Lighthouse Board’s dedicated lighthouse keepers, along with technicians, engineers and generations of seafarers, have kept vessels, big and small, safe in navigating some of the world’s most treacherous coastal waters. At their base in Oban on the west coast of Scotland, we meet the crew setting off for a month at sea on board the lighthouse supply vessel the Pharos as they voyage 160 miles to Chicken Rock, their southernmost lighthouse, off the coast of the Isle of Man. The 25-strong crew on the Pharos is headed up by the ship’s bosun, Calum MacAulay. He works with his son Jack, who is the third generation of their family to work on the lighthouses. Jack, who recently passed his apprenticeship, has now been with the board for three years and is as passionate about lighthouses as his father and grandfather before him. Jack likes nothing more than sharing the stunning sights with his partner, who lives in South Africa. When Jack is not busy with the general maintenance of the...