|
 | |  | |
There was a period when I escaped the station, wrote former lighthouse keeper Harold Taylor. I am not exactly sure when it was, but it was a pleasant excursion. What had happened was that since I was last there, they had turned Alderney into a Man and Wife Station.
This came about with electrification of the station and the development of a new type of electric drive for the lens. This resulted in withdrawal of the keepers from this cushy station. Howard Allen and his wife who had previously been at Anvil Point took over. They had a staff of local keepers recruited from the island to assist them. There were three. Two older men, one a local man the other an escapee from Surrey where he had held a good job as head of his department in local government. Due to a marital indiscretion he had left home and settled locally, where he became well respected. The third member of the crew was one of the lads who had been a delivery boy to the lighthouse.
The P.K. was due for leave and someone had hit on the brilliant idea to send me over. I could have extended my leave by a couple of days as the relief was later, but I decided upon having the best of both worlds and went to Sark first to collect some working clothes and having a night out. Also to collect my knitting gear and some cheaper booze than I would get on Alderney.
I then went back through Guernsey and then on to the island, a day before I took over. It so happened that the army were in residence and that night they were holding a party at Fort Clonque. The junior keeper saw that I got an invite.
The three weeks went very well and I had little to do myself, due to the new set up. Other than my turn of watch the three keepers did all the maintenance work. I was able to complete some knitting orders whilst on watch. I was also lucky to collect some new ones. I also surprised some of the local priests by turning up for mass. The local priest was away and they were being sent over weekly from Guernsey.
The island seemed to have changed quite a lot since I was last there and I did not feel at all at home. One strange piece of fortune occurred however, and I do not know how it came about. I had a call one day from the B.B.C. who wanted to do an article on the keeper of a lighthouse and their musical choice. I acquiesced to this arrangement, but told them, that I was only temporarily.
They later contacted me when I was back on my proper station and the item was published in the Daily Mail on 13th Aug. 1977. I returned to Sark to complete my month and deposit my knitting material and do a few days work before going on leave.
I do not recall if it was the next turn, or later, for Bix was not with us that long. We had had several occasions when he had repeated his stunt of falling asleep in the lavatory, on one occasion he was on the floor and we could not get the door open. In the mean time the Supt. had been promoted to Chief Supt. but had made a case for remaining at East Cowes instead of moving to Harwich. The skipper of the local depot ship became Supt. This was Capt. Tarrant, a man I had never liked and I had little respect for him.
About the first week-end he was in command, an unfortunate incident occurred on a Friday night. This was the night that the Beau Regarde held a late night session. Bix had been morning watch, gone shopping and not returned. He was due on watch at 2000 hours so I started ringing round the pubs to locate him. When I found where he was I asked them to send him back. He came into the kitchen about 7.30 p.m. in a dazed condition. I asked him if he had the mail, after a quick flick through his pockets he said no, went through the door into the passage that led to his room and the toilet. He did not come back.
At the time due for him to come on watch he was no where to be found. Not in his room, nor the toilet. I again rang around the pubs but failed to trace him. Geoff came back and eventually went to bed. I carried on doing Bix's watch and called Geoff at mid-night for the middle watch
Whilst we were having a cup of tea, at half past mid-night Bix came in.
He was in a terrible state, cut and bruised and in no fit state to go on watch. Geoff carried over his watch till 6 a.m. before calling me. Bix was in such a state that he would have to go to the doctor, and possibly hospital, so I could not hush things up. Although it was Saturday morning I rang through to the depot and requested to speak to the Supt. I told him of the occurrence.
He did not quite know what to do and I left it for him to consult Uncle Tom. Later they both rang back and wanted to know the ins and outs of Bix's past behaviour. When they had satisfied themselves that on previous drunken occasions I had warned him of his conduct, I was told to send him to the depot and engage the local keeper after the doctor had been in attendance.
Bix did not take to kindly to this and I believe went straight home without visiting the doctor or the depot. For this they decided to sack him immediately. He contacted the Union who wished to fight unfair dismissal. This resulted in a hearing at Trinity House, which resulted in a satisfactory conclusion as far as I was concerned.
I subsequently discovered that Bix had been found by some persons leaving the pub unconscious across his cycle in the middle of the road. They carried him to a field and left him there.
From here on however things definitely went down hill, when I came back from my next leave I discovered that Geoff had resigned. He was fed up with all the incompetent keepers and chopping and changes of circumstances.
Jackson had taken over the local bakery and provisions shop to enlarge his empire and offered Geoff a full time job. In Geoff's words he was made an offer he could not refuse. Although the end did not reach the implied dream. I got saddled with a very inadequate Richard Jones who started that same relief. He was compliant until the second member of the new crew arrived. Mike Berridge was a very anti-cooperative person.
Having sent Richard up to the Mermaid to show the fellow the way down, I prepared lunch as per normal and awaited their arrival. The first words of greeting I got from Mike, 'was you wont get that from me'.
Whereupon Richard stated that he would not go in for communal messing in future. This was obviously something they had hatched up between them on the way down. Mike was disruptive and uncooperative in many ways, but not out of the line for proper duty. In the circumstances I contacted Mike Tarrant to discuss the situation. From him I received no support at all, for he had gathered an impression that the sun shone out of Mike's arse.
Things became very difficult, and during this period the new water installation for the hut was taking place. When it was completed and the Supt. made a visit I requested permission to use the cabin again. My argument being that now that we were all cooking independently I could never get to the stove when I was day off, and only with difficulty when I was on duty.
This was because the other two were getting up at different times, having cooked breakfasts, followed by cooked lunches and cooked teas, with the result that the cooker was almost in perpetual use. He saw my point and approved my request. This made things a lot easier for me as the hut was a self contained unit. with electric heaters, a hot water installation and it own cooking stove. I had my own wireless and tape machine, the only thing I lacked was a TV.
I subsequently bought a second hand TV. in Guernsey and carried it across, but it did not last long. This was not really the sets fault. Before I had moved into the hut we had an electrician on station by the name of Wheeler, he had hired a set from the local post office odd job man. It had developed a fault which Wheeler diagnosed by self inspection. When he left the station he did not return the set, but I did when I moved in.
When I was ashore one time Wheeler had come back to do some job and assumed that this was the same set that he had hired before and started interfering with it, finishing up by only having half a picture. He did not relish it much when I returned from leave, he was not in the hut at the time, but living it up on the island.
Not knowing that he was using the set I went and removed it to my official quarters, where I found the deficiency, and subsequently met his wrath when he thought I had pinched his set.
Despite the original ganging up of Mike and Richard against me, they soon found out that they were not all that compatible with each other. When I was in the building I would hear one complaining against the other, which I thought, bloody goodo, serves you right.
Mikes pet complaint was the smell of Richards cooking wafting into his room. In a way this was his own fault, because as circumstances had occurred at the time of their occupancy when they had been in different rooms. Mike had discovered that traditionally the senior hand had occupied opposite rooms, he insisted that they change over. So he brought his discomfort upon himself, which I thought was poetic justice. Another complaint was that Richard also cooked a meal on the middle watch which also woke him.
Mike also got involved in all sorts of intrigues, which I thought were against the islanders' interest. For instance he inveigled his way into Pat's good books. Towards this end he took an island tractor driving test in order to do transporting work for Pat's stores. This would in fact deprive locals of work and cause a lot of resentment. The type of thing that encouraged complaints back to the depot.
I also caught him out several times on deception. The most audacious being at the time of a relief. There was to be a big do on at the Mermaid for some reason that I forget. However Bert had as usual come over early and he and I were going up as I was off duty.
Mike came to me and explained that because of the occasion Pat had rung up and asked if he would go up and help with the washing up and clearing glasses. He should have been on watch and he told me that Richard was prepared to stand in for him, so I acquiesced.
When Bert and I got to the do we noticed that Mike seemed to be doing anything but helping. Bert and I settled down to a seat in the corner, where we were eventually joined by a couple of mature girls, who we learned were trying to keep out of Mikes way. He was trying to foist himself upon them, and they were not keen.
It transpired that he had in fact made the date to see them and that was his whole purpose of being there. I did not find all this out till the following day as I was travelling to Guernsey and the girls were on the same boat. They where professional women and had come over to find a 'bit of rough' away from people who knew them.
We had quite giggle on that trip across and I helped them drain a bottle of spirits that they had surplus to their customs quota. What we did not consume they tipped into the ocean. Also at the do, I had noticed that in order to encourage the deception, Mike had cleared several tables of glasses, and I thought it odd the way that Pat had thanked him. I remarked upon the fact to Pat. who emphatically denied having called on Mikes services.
Harold Taylor's memoirs continue in part 6.
| |  | |  |
To add a comment you must first login or join for free, up in the top left corner.
|
|
