Lighthouse Keepers

Left to right: At Hanois: Dick Packer, AK (n/k), PK Cuthbertson, Charlie Hayward, Mr Le Coutier. The photo was in Dick's collection but Dave Jones took the photo.

Recollections of Dick Packer

by Jane Packer (daughter)

Here are some recollections of a conversation about working with my Dad, Dick Packer, that I had with David Jones who was a keeper in the 1950s for approximately five years. (The names are spelt as I heard them so maybe incorrect!)

I was inspired to contact Mr Jones having heard him from a podcast whereby he read out a list of names of people he had worked with and said he would be happy to hear from them or anyone connected to them....my late father was on that list. Our conversation lasted for about two hours and I was perched on a window sill at the Lizard Lighthouse at the time, to get a good reception, scribbling into a diary and then a notebook when I realized there was a lot to be said. Then I went off to Australia for three months so my apologies if these notes do not make any sense.

I listen to the podcasts when I am doing a mundane job so it is there in the background and I can pick out any relevant bits of interest to me, it’s a good way for busy people like us to do it.

Hanois

Mr Jones was there in 1956 and again in 1958. He remembers that my Mum would always invite him in for a coffee before going out to the Hanois and he felt this was so the PK, George Madden in the next house, could have some final moments with his wife. George Madden and his wife would use semaphore from Hanois to the cliffs to communicate and sometimes my mother would walk my brother out to those cliffs, he would have been 3 to 4, so that he could wave to Dad. Although Mr Jones said George Madden was the PK at the Hanois, there is a note of ‘AK at Dungerness’ also, which looks like it refers to him.

Dad would swim in the “Gut” at the Hanois and one time he had just got out when a shark swam through! There was a hole, a well, where they kept their crabs and lobsters, they used a stick with a crook on it to fork them out. They would return the hens to keep a supply.

The Elder Brethen visited once and Dad threw the rope out and one of the Brethen said “good show that man” but Dad did not have a life jacket on so he should have got a “bollocking”. There was a gun to fire a line to anyone who went into the sea.

Mr Cuthbertson and Charlie Hayward are names my parents mentioned a lot. The latter smoked a lot and would cough his guts up.

Mr Jones remembers Dad telling him about a Mr Tresize the PK at Dungeness. There was also a Goldsmith (must be Robbie) who was the PK on the Hanois. Mr Goldsmith also lost his son who was about 19 and was out on a small boat crabbing/lobsters and went over the side, He drowned. There is a small plaque to him on the wall at the houses.

Hanois was very basic and still damaged from the war with bullet marks up in the service room. It was considered a punishment to be sent out there and Mr Le Courtier who took them out and back again, told Dave that one of the German soldiers, who was already out there said to him, "You'll be picking me up next time." Mr Le Courtier, knowing what the guy had done, said he thought he'd be out there for quite some time. The next time he went out there was to collect the soldier's body as he had gone up in the service room and shot himself. Mt Le Coutier always felt guilty about that.

Hanois had a phone and radio but otherwise nothing else, it was a paraffin lamp - very basic.

Dungeness

Mr Jones mentioned a Mr Trezise being the PK at Dungeness in relation to a story Dad had told him and also a Bill Christie at Dungeness. They built a new lighthouse at there in 1960 as the [building of the nuclear] power station blocked out the [light from the] old one. I have a postcard of Dungeness from Dad to my mother saying that he was living in the round house. Dad was there in the 50s so must be the old lighthouse.

Mr Jones also got married in Folkestone registry office which is not in the centre of Folkestone apparently. Mentioned as my parents were married there: it was obviously popular with keepers and there will be quite a few names in the registry).

Casquets

Mr Jones mentions Bill Christie being the PK there. Germans were there, and there was some kind of military action that took place which we know of. Mick Allen was the boatman who would take them out to the Casquets. He had a coaster and apparently it sank causing his wife and son’s death. He also lost his other son from pneumonia, and he had a daughter that survived. He also had a brother who used to work on the Trinity House vessels but was very badly burned in an incident and could not work on the vessels any longer so he owned the Riduna stores up in St Annes, Alderney and ran them, so maybe John Allen was his son. This conversation came about as Dad was good friends with John Allen a boatman on Alderney who also ran The Divers and took us out to the Casquets on one occasion. Later, I spoke to a relative on Alderney recently and confirmed they are all the same family, The chap who was badly burned (referred to as Uncle Dick) was on a TH vessel and was down below working where fumes were gathering. Someone carelessly lit or threw a lit cigarette into the hold so hence it blew. He could no longer work for TH and became one of the first guinea pigs for skin grafting. Trinity House boats that took them out to the Casquets were the Burhou and previous to that it was the Litre, which was a sailing boat.