THE COUNTRYFILE PRESENTER GOES BEHIND THE SCENES ON HIS SHOWS AND FAMILY FARM
MY LIGHTHOUSE ADVENTURES
On a recent Countryfile shoot, I was reminded of the magnificence of our lighthouses. It was for a programme about Flat Holm Island, which sits in the middle of busy shipping lanes where the Bristol Channel meets the Severn Estuary.
At the most southerly point of the 35-hectare island sits the 30m-high Flat Holm Lighthouse, built in 1737. Sadly, the instigation for building these extreme beacons was the loss of many sailors’ lives on reefs, rocks and islands. But, without doubt, their deaths were not in vain, as the lighthouses built subsequently have gone on to save countless more lives.
Flat Holm Lighthouse was originally powered by a coal fire, so coal had to be shipped across from a local beach on the mainland. The fires were kept burning throughout the night; 18th-century lighthouse keepers had huge responsibilities. The lighthouse is now almost entirely solar powered – the technology involved these days is mind-blowing. Lighthouse authority Trinity House is able to remotely monitor the 60-plus beacons under its watch.
Having undertaken lots of hairy stunts on Blue Peter, one particular event has stayed with me: refuelling a lighthouse in the north of Scotland via helicopter. I distinctly remember looking down between my legs at a tanker that was rising and dropping away on the rough North Sea below, confirming the need for a beacon to keep seafarers safe. The helicopter pilot astonished me with his ability to time his pick-u
