What does the future hold for Lighthouses?

*PUBLISHED IN LIVING ORKNEY MAGAZINE – JANUARY 2016*

Auskerry Lighthouse. (C) Simon Brogan

BY Hamish Auskerry

“We were on our way across the South China Sea with the Pentalina on her maiden voyage”, remembers Andrew Banks of Pentland Ferries, “and we had a total blackout: losing all our power for about 10 minutes.

“When we switched everything back on”, Andrew continued, “some of the navigational equipment didn’t come on correctly and because the crew were used to electronic charts, they were completely lost, absolutely lost without electronics”.

It’s every modern-day mariner’s worst fear: stranded in unknown territory with none of the usual navigational aids available. Fortunately, in this particular instance luck presented itself in the form of an Orcadian skipper, well-versed in the art of traditional navigation.

“Alongside our Polish crew, we had William Pottinger, who had been marking our position on the paper charts every hour”, explains Andrew. “He was therefore able to work out exactly where we were.

“Without him, it would have been a problem: it certainly would have taken longer to sort out at the very least. I have no doubt that the crew would have sorted things out eventually, but it’s just that the ‘old school’ method is probably the best way”.

An integral part of this ‘old school’ method has been the practical application of lighthouses. They were once a cornerstone of worldwide maritime activity. Over several centuries, humans across the globe have marveled at and benefited from the engineering ingenuity of this particular instrument of navigation. The first one was built in the Ancient Egyptian port of Alexandria in 3^rd Century BC. Standing at around 450 feet, it was gargantuan for its time and remained the tallest tower in the world until the late 1100s. A mirror was used to reflect the North African sun during the day while a huge fire was built at its peak every night. One of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, It was all but destroyed by 3 earthquakes up to 1323, at which point it became an abandoned ruin.

Auskerry Lighthouse. (C) Simon Brogan

Nearly seven centuries later, and much closer to home, lighthouses (albeit much less tall!) can be seen across Orkney. Generations of sea-faring Orcadians owe their lives to these majestic structures and people come from across the world to appreciate their appearance and significance. Now though, with the continuous development of electronic navigational systems, their future role is in question.

“Lighthouses, as far as navigation goes, are really obsolete”, says Captain of the Earl Sigurd, Angus Thomson. “We don’t use them very often as we’re just scratching around the North Isles so there’s not a big reason for us to use them at all really”.

Angus has been at sea for over 45 years, and his summation of the place of lighthouses in the modern era appears to be fairly ubiquitous. Even the most well-weathered Orcadian seamen admit that the importance of lighthouses has diminished considerably over the course of their careers. The relatively recent development of electronics perhaps came as a surprise to many captains and boat-owners across the world, but none less so than in Orkney. These were nearly always men who throughout their careers at sea had used geographical charts coupled with compasses and a healthy dose of local knowledge. They were now faced with new technology that would revolutionise their industry and profession.

“You keep thinking that technology can’t advance anymore but we now have plotters that map out the seabed as we move and show us that in 3D on a computer screen”, says Ian Harcus of the trawler, ‘Aalskere’, who has seen huge changes in the nature of navigational aids in his near 30 year-long career at sea.

“I know it has to hinge on how good the GPS is, but the GPS is pretty brilliant. Everything tends to get more reliable and you get backups and duplicates for everything more or less so I would certainly say the lighthouses are not a big deal anymore to be quite honest”.

Smith Foubister is a former coxswain of the lifeboat and been at sea for over 45 years. “You wouldn’t go out to sea thinking your plotter is not going to work. Well, young folk certainly wouldn’t.”

“Having said that, I think there will always be a need for lighthouses; you need to have a visual mark just in case the plotter packs up”.

The maintenance of traditional navigational aids comes from a shipping tax called ‘Light Dues’. The levy does not apply to all mariners; instead it mainly affects commercial, merchant and fishing vessels over certain lengths and weights. In truth, the legislation is characteristically complicated and there are many various exemptions and details regarding, amongst others, the number of voyages undertaken within one year. The results of which mean that, for example, Andrew Banks pays around £8000 per year for the Pentalina, and Ian Harcus pays around £1000 for his 33-metre-long fishing vessel.

As well as the lighthouses themselves, these dues pay for maintenance of the navigational buoys. This is a system where lit buoys help guide ships of all sizes through perilous channels. They’re vital, for example, to skippers on Orkney Ferries who use them to navigate around the islands, sometimes in the dark and often in poor weather. Unlike lighthouses that warn of land in the distance, buoys mark a safe course in tight situations where charts on their own may not sufficient.

“I don’t grudge my Light Dues to get the buoys”, says Ian Harcus. “We sometimes go through the Harris Sound in the middle of the Hebridees and it’s pretty important to have the buoys there, especially when you’re fishing in the dark.

“I’m not certain that they provide value for money, but at the same time £1000 compared to what we gross is neither here nor there. Moreover, if I go to somewhere like the Rockall Channel, I can get a haul on the way in and a haul on the way out. That’s maybe as much as five or six grand and I probably wouldn’t use that channel if it wasn’t for the buoys”.

Andrew Banks’ vessels operate the majority of the time in the one specific area, and therefore his skippers need far fewer navigational aids.

“I suppose in reality, light dues are not providing a lot for us”, admits Andrew.

“But at the same time it is essential that there is lighthouses there. There will be a lot of ships coming in from different areas and if their electronics fail then they can revert to paper charts and the lighthouses.

“It’s true to say that is very rare that anything does go wrong on the big ships because everything is duplicated, this would only really apply to smaller boats”.

Andrew’s answer encapsulates the whole debate. The majority of mariners I spoke to hold a similar view: Lighthouses do not have much practical use in the modern era, but nevertheless, they should remain in active use. It’s a curious situation, rooted in tradition, deep respect for the sea and whisper it, perhaps some superstition too.

“I feel that over a lot of years at one time lighthouses would have saved a lot of lives so to do away with them would be quite sad”, said Ian.

“A lot of my ancestors would have had a rougher time at sea without lighthouses so I don’t know whether that would have an effect on folk. Seafaring folk never really forget the things that saved or helped them in the past, so there’s a bit of that too”.

Stormy seas in Auskerry. (C) Simon Brogan

Some of the loyalty is also aimed at the now redundant position of the keepers who often used to live in the lighthouse itself and tend to the light.

“There’s always something in the back of your mind”, explains Angus, “that when they were still manned, if you could see a lighthouse then there’s maybe somebody looking back at you if you do get onto trouble.

“You knew that if you did get into trouble then somebody else would be watching out for you”.

Even with that side to lighthouses gone, there is still the respect and admiration for the structures themselves. St Margaret’s Hope based fisherman Robert Smith has even cautioned about the long-term reliability of electronics, especially in a time of war.

“The lighthouses are there already, they’re an engineering feat and these electronics seem very solid and definite but they’re not, they’re ephemeral”, Robert continued.

“The satellites can go off, there are weapons that can take these things out and if there was a war, GPS would be one of the first things they would go for”.

Despite all the technological advancements and improved marine safety, maybe there is an argument that lighthouses have helped mariners for centuries and therefore we should hesitate before dismantling them after a relatively new, admittedly enormous, change in how we navigate.

It is a fascinatingly British character trait, an eccentricity even. As a nation we have become attached to these structures and so maybe cold-hearted financial logic doesn’t have the same influence as it does on other issues.

“You’ll get folk who have no interest in the sea whatsoever, but they’ll still visit and walk up a lighthouse”, says Angus Thomson.

“There’s certainly something about them, whether it’s a romantic way, I really don’t know, but they’re well liked and I would like to think they will continue to be”.

Whether the new generation of mariners, brought up using electronics and without warm memories of lighthouses, will be able to retain the romanticism of these pillars of traditional navigation… only time will tell.

The January edition of the award-winning Living Orkney magazine

Living Orkney magazine is available in print form and online subscription here: http://www.orcadian.co.uk/subscriptions/

Coalition Controversy – Taking Control of a Tetchy Campaign

St-Paul-La Coste, Languedoc Roussillon, France. 51 days before the General Election.

The Labour leader must take the reins of his party’s campaign run-in

By Hamish Auskerry

#GE2015 becomes more and more personal by the day. Indeed, much of the recent public exchanges between Cameron and Miliband have been akin to those you might hear at school. Substitute the woops and jeers from the green benches of the Commons for the screams of the playground and a similar atmosphere remains. It’s Ed versus Dave. If it wasn’t for ‘despicable’ being the protagonists’ best effort at an insult, these exchanges could be in any school, in any city, anywhere in the country. Forgive me for labouring the metaphor, but at the moment, Miliband is losing out to the school bully. Cameron seems to be calling the shots and Miliband is fighting the blue flame. At every turn in the last few weeks, ‘red’ Ed seems to have been playing catch up on his adversary and only time will tell if the electorate either notices or indeed cares on polling day.

Fighting for a majority?

On the 7^th of March, David Cameron demanded that Miliband rule out what he called the “worst outcome”: a Labour/SNP coalition government. “You could end up”, the PM warned, “with an alliance between the people who want to bankrupt Britain and the people who want to break up Britain”. Tory HQ then released a doctored photograph of a wee Ed in Wee Eck’s pocket and Labour lambasted the Tories for talking up the perceived threat of the SNP. Miliband held firm and decided to awkwardly navigate the next few days denying a deal was on the cards and that they were “fighting for a majority”. Not one Labour MP appeared convinced, whether they were on Andrew Marr’s sofa or hidden behind a crafted press statement. However, at least it seemed that Miliband had a definite plan: his party’s campaign was going to ignore the obvious and frankly alarming threat posed by the SNP. Yet yesterday, Miliband inexplicably announced that Labour would not go into a formal coalition with the nationalists, thus giving the credence to their cause he had warned of. It wasn’t even a strong no: a mere ruling out of a formal coalition: an eventuality few genuinely believed had legs. In fact, the possibility of a so-called ‘confidence and supply’ relationship is now more likely than ever. Along with almost everyone, I confidently predict that Labour will not seal a majority. If Ashcroft is to be believed, they will be decimated in Scotland and only slightly boosted in England. Therefore, some sort of deal with at least the SNP is the only realistic way of Labour returning to government. Miliband’s announcement yesterday puts himself, let alone Jim Murphy, in a difficult situation as we approach the so-called ‘short campaign’. Outside a truly momentous majority-winning election, Labour have only the prospect of forming a minority government, teetering ad infinitum under the demands of the nationalist juggernaut. Not only that, but he is effectively saying that the likely democratic will of the Scottish people has little impact on his plans for government. In doing so, he has put his ailing MPs north of the border even further in trouble. Miliband’s many doubters will be worried about this latest twist in the campaign. Many may ask why the party’s hierarchy haven’t made more fuss out of a possible UKIP/Tory deal. But even if/when Miliband does put more pressure on Cameron to rule out a formal coalition with Farage’s men, he will be seen as merely countering. Perhaps with the exception of the ‘debate over the debates’, Miliband is not sufficiently leading the news agenda. In an election in which he has many to contend with, he appears so far to be outmanoeuvred by his adversaries. If he is to pull off a famous victory in May, he must begin to assert himself over his peers. Hamish

– Have a view you want to share? Get in touch by commenting below or tweeting me @hamishausk

What do you think about the week’s events? Has Ed Miliband made he right choice to rule out a formal coalition with the SNP? What do you think is the best option for Labour in the event of a hung parliament?

‘A Vendre’ – France for Sale

‘For Sale’

Bordeaux, Aquitaine.

By Hamish Auskerry

If there’s been one thing that has been especially conspicuous in rural France, it’s been the ‘A Vendre’ or ‘For Sale’ signs. It has seemed, in certain villages, that every other building has one bolted to its front wall. With the number of people in France actively searching for work now at 3.4 million you can begin to understand why.

Take the village of La Celle Guenand in Indre-et-Loire for example, with its grand church and 14^th Century Chateau, surrounded by picturesque landscape. The school has been closed due to a lack of pupils and the burgeoning old people’s home is conspicuous by its sheer size. Most of the trade in the village comes from the pub-come-shop-come-post office and the B+B business run by the Chateau. There are very few jobs available within walking distance and the village is suffering from it. In truth, along with many others in the area, the village is dying. Literally.

The French economy has a lot to answer for in this matter. French jobless rates rose to record levels in October, the debt is nearly at 100% of GDP and there are now fears that France could start suffering from serious ‘brain drain’ if the situation doesn’t improve soon. Indeed, just last month, John Lewis chief Andy Street described France as “sclerotic, hopeless and downbeat”, a country where “nothing worked”, and advised investors to “get out quickly“. Not what Francois Hollande, the most unpopular French President since records began needed.

Another problem for the French countryside is the obscene amount of money and time it costs for young people to obtain a driving license. The Telegraph reported this month that it can cost as much as €3,000 (£2,400) before a young person can drive. When I consider that it cost me – in Scotland – about £775 all in, this seems an insurmountable barrier, especially when so many people have been ‘hard up’ since the 2008 crash. The effect according to the Telegraph’s Andrew Gilligan is that millions of young people are unable to obtain many careers and hundreds of thousands more, especially in the countryside, cannot take any work where public transport is not available. “Youth unemployment in France is 24 per cent”, added Andrew Gilligan, “and this is one of the reasons why.”

The deserted school of La Celle Guenand. Rather eerily, some of the former pupil’s drawings and posters remain on the classroom walls.

So what are the ailing French government going to do about it? Not a lot, is the short (and long) answer. This week the BBC reported that France’s economic leaders went on an ‘international PR-blitz’ to try and convince the world that their economy is ‘not as bleak as it may seem’. And Francois Hollande? Well, according to the FT’s Michael Stothard, he’s basically threatened to jump ship in 2017 if unemployment has not fallen. It’s a position he may well come to regret: since he took over, there have only been three months where jobless claims have not risen.

Balance? You want some optimism?! Well, you’ll have a fairly difficult time finding much in most recent Anglo-Saxon and indeed French media. The two French hopes are the Prime Minister, Manuel Valls and the Economy minister, Emmanuel Macron. According to the BBC’s Paris-based reporter Hugh Schofield, they are both men with a “proven interest in business-friendly reform”. Macron has already made a personal contribution to the jargon of the trade – Macronomics, which basically just means pushing reform as far as possible. It follows, therefore, that he has made clear his opposition to the 35-hour week, the excessive “generosity” of the French unemployment system, and of the need for shorter benefit periods in order to encourage a return to work.

His first actual reform comes next month with a law on activity and growth which is primarily intended to open up protected professions like lawyers and pharmacists, widen Sunday trading, ease local planning controls and simplify workplace arbitration. According to the BBC, most analysts believe the law will make a difference, though not a huge one, in promoting growth and job creation.

I’m not sure where that leaves the countryside, however. People are leaving the villages and towns for the cities because schools are closing, the population is aging rapidly and the jobs are simply not there. For most of the French people I have spoken to, the 2017 Presidential Election appears to be the oasis in the desert.

– Hamish

Related articles:
French come out fighting for their economic reputation – BBC News

French unemployment rises to 3.4m – Financial Times

Bad economy could spark ‘brain drain’ for France – Press TV

France’s driving test bureaucracy keeps the young in the slow lane – Telegraph