Shows
New Full Audiobooks in Biography & Memoir, History & CultureThe Beacon Bike: Around England and Wales in 327 Lighthouses by Edward PeppettPlease visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/765957 to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Beacon Bike: Around England and Wales in 327 Lighthouses Author: Edward Peppett Narrator: Edward Peppitt Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 11 hours 0 minutes Release date: April 25, 2024 Genres: History & Culture Publisher's Summary: The Beacon Bike is the inspirational tale of one man's quest to fulfil the promise he made to himself as a small child, nestled in the bed of an attic room while the glow of Dungeness lighthouse flashed past his window - a comforting, ever-present companion. It is also a loving tribute to the coast; not only its beautiful...2024-04-2503 min
Light HeartedLight Hearted ep 273 – Edward Peppitt, author and host of the “Keeping Watch” podcastEdward Peppitt is the southeast England representative for the Association of Lighthouse Keepers, or ALK, and he produces and hosts a podcast called Keeping Watch. He’s also a fundraising ambassador for Shift MS, a charity aimed at keeping multiple sclerosis sufferers as active as possible.
Ed Peppitt at Happisburgh Lighthouse in England.
Ed has written a new book called The Beacon Bike. It tells the incredible story of his 3,500-mile bicycle ride to explore the lighthouses around the coast of England and Wales, proving that a diagnosis of MS doesn't mean giving up on a lifelong dream. Ed’s bike...2024-04-141h 01
Keeping WatchRoyal Sovereign lighthouse - A fond farewellThis week we close Season 2 with a tribute to the Royal Sovereign Lighthouse, off the Sussex coast, which following decommissioning was largely dismantled during September and October 2023. I meet and talk to the Royal Sovereign's last Principal Keeper, we'll hear archive recordings of other Keepers who served on Royal Sovereign, and I catch up with ALK member Richard Evans, who shares his own memories of the lighthouse, including the time he attempted to interview the principal keeper during thick fog. On Friday, I drove down to the Ibstock Brickworks in Bexhill, where the Royal Sovereign...2024-01-171h 16
Keeping WatchEd talks with Jennifer Lucy Allan - author of The Foghorn's LamentJust before Christmas, I was lucky enough to meet up online with music writer, journalist and broadcaster Jennifer Lucy Allen. I first encountered Jennifer as a presenter of Radio 3's Late Junction. If you've never listened to the programme, it's well worth staying up for. I defy you to find a more interesting, diverse and eclectic mix of sounds and music in one programme anywhere! It won't come as a surprise, then, that Jennifer takes such an interest herself in non mainstream and experimental music. As a writer for The Wire magazine in 2013, she received an invitation...2023-12-2835 min
Keeping WatchTwo new books for lighthouse enthusiastsWelcome to Episode 10 of the second season of KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for enthusiasts of lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. This week, we’re talking books. I meet with artist and author Roger O’Reilly - who has spent the last few years researching and illustrating nearly 350 lighthouses around the UK and Irish coast. Roger’s new book - Legendary Lighthouses of Britain - will be published in early Spring by Watkins Publishing, and it’s available for pre-order now on Amazon. First, I caught up with p...2023-12-1237 min
Keeping WatchJohn Boath - The last lighthouse keeper on the Bell RockWelcome to Episode 9 of the second season of KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for enthusiasts of lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. This week Mel and I tracked down former Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) keeper, John Boath. We discovered John was the last ever keeper on the Bell Rock. What inspired John to join the lighthouse service? Believe it or not, it was an episode of Blue Peter! John turned out to be a natural and very accomplished public speaker, and the conversation flowed so freely that Me...2023-11-2754 min
Keeping WatchMel talks with Vasily about the Chance Heritage Trust lighthouse mapping projectWelcome to Episode 8 of the second season of KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for enthusiasts of lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. This week our new co-host Mel makes her full podcast debut, when she talks with Russian born Vasily - a lighthouse lover and ALK member who moved to Europe with his family several years ago. He had been involved in a number of lighthouse projects in Russia, and so was particularly excited when the chance came to take part in a worldwide lighthouse research and mapping project organised by t...2023-11-1432 min
Keeping WatchThree former lightvessel keepers and a new co-hostWelcome to Episode 7 of the second season of KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for enthusiasts of lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. At the beginning of October I attended the Association of Lighthouse Keepers AGM and annual dinner just outside Cromer, in Norfolk. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to two former Trinity House lightvessel keepers - Terry Bullard and John Beamish. After the meal, the three of us headed to the hotel bar to talk about life as a light vessel keeper. We were joined by ALK founder, Neil H...2023-10-2939 min
Keeping WatchFormer NLB Lighthouse Keeper David FraserWelcome to Episode 6 of the second season of KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for enthusiasts of lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. This week we meet David Fraser, who served for the Northern Lighthouse Board - the NLB - at a number of Scottish lighthouses in the 1970s. In fact, his career spanned three services, David having joined the army on leaving school, and he then spent 30 years in the Northern Constabulary, serving across the Highlands and Islands, after he left the lighthouse service. Now David has published his me...2023-10-1528 min
Keeping WatchPeter Halil talks with Tom Whiston - former Principal Keeper at Royal Sovereign LighthouseWelcome to Episode 5 of the second season of KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for enthusiasts of lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. If you are based in the UK, you’ll be aware that Royal Sovereign lighthouse - off the Sussex coast - has been decommissioned and is in the process of being removed. You may have seen footage or images this week of its red and white lantern tower dismantled and standing on a temporary platform ready to be brought ashore to Shoreham in the next few weeks. Late...2023-09-3055 min
Keeping WatchColin Bowling - I could only go to school at low tideWelcome to Episode 4 of the second season of KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for enthusiasts of lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. If you listened to Episode 3, you’ll remember we heard a lovely BBC Radio Kent interview from 1988 with Jim Bowling, who was then principal lighthouse keeper at North Foreland lighthouse. We were able to listen thanks to Jim’s son Colin, who lent the recording to us. A few weeks ago I met up with Colin and his wife Lin in Ramsgate, and he shared his memories of hi...2023-09-1724 min
Keeping WatchArchive interview with lighthouse keeper Jim Bowling from 1988Welcome to Episode 3 of the second season of KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for enthusiasts of lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. This week I’m really pleased to be able to share with you a wonderful BBC Radio Kent interview from 1988 with Jim Bowling, who was then principal lighthouse keeper at North Foreland lighthouse. This was Jim’s final posting before he retired, following a 47 year career as a lighthouse keeper with Trinity House. It was Jim’s son Colin who got in touch to lend us a recordi...2023-09-0235 min
Keeping WatchTrinity House Lighthouse Technician Scott TacchiWelcome to Episode 2 of the second season of KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for enthusiasts of lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. This week we meet Scott Tacchi, a Trinity House Lighthouse Technician based in south west England - I guess in many ways Scott is the modern day equivalent of a lighthouse keeper, although by his own admission his role is a far cry from that of the full time keepers in the days before solar power and automation. So what does a Lighthouse Technician do? And how di...2023-08-1954 min
Keeping WatchFormer lighthouse keeper David JonesWelcome to Season 2 of KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for enthusiasts of lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. Now following the final episode in our first Season, we were contacted by David Jones, a former lighthouse keeper who lives just a couple of miles away from me at Dungeness, in Kent. David was born and brought up in Dungeness, and it turned out also to be the first lighthouse where he was stationed, following his National Service and then training at the Trinity House depot in Harwich. Yes ... National S...2023-08-0531 min
Keeping WatchFormer lighthouse keepers Barry Hawkins and Jack HayesWelcome to KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for anyone and everyone interested in lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. In this final episode of Season 1, we meet two former lighthouse keepers - Barry Hawkins, who served at many of the best known lighthouses in Wales and the South West of England between 1980 and 1997 - including Wolf Rock, the Skerries and St Anns Head. And Jack Hayes, whose career with Trinity House started shortly after the war, and included terms at Souter Point, Longships, Round Island, the Nab Tower, Orfordness and Bishop R...2023-02-2046 minKeeping WatchPeter Halil - a remarkable audio and film archive of the life of a lighthouse keeperWelcome to KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for anyone and everyone interested in lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. This week I talk with Peter Halil, who was a Lighthouse Keeper between 1974 and 1997. We talk about his time in the lighthouse service, and about the remarkable archive of interviews he recorded with other keepers throughout the 1990s - as the rollout of automation was gradually making the lighthouse keeper's role redundant. His recordings form a unique and personal archive of film footage and audio recordings that together illustrate the natu...2023-02-0639 minKeeping WatchLight on the Forelands: lighthouse history through the stories of light keeping familiesWelcome to KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for anyone and everyone interested in lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. This week I talk with researcher, lecturer, author and publisher Ken Trethewey, a descendant of the Knott family, one of the most famous names in the history of light keekept watchping. Following Ken's magnificent book The Lighthouses of Cornwall and Devon, published in 2021, 2023 sees the publication of his new book Light on the Forelands, written by Ken and his brother Clifford. Following the Knott family, together with keepers an...2023-01-2331 minKeeping WatchKeeping the Goodwin Sands safe during the blitz and discussing lightships with author Anthony LaneWelcome to KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for anyone and everyone interested in lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. This week we turn our attention back to lightvessels - I talk with author Tony Lane, who probably has the largest archive of research available anywhere about the lightships around our own coast, as well as throughout Europe and America. And we also hear about the experiences of a lightship keeper who served on the North Goodwin lightship during the 1940s, both during and after the war. His reflections include a...2023-01-0952 minKeeping WatchWomen keepers in the lighthouse serviceWelcome to KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for anyone and everyone interested in lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. This week we discuss the role of women in the lighthouse service. We ask why neither Trinity house nor the NLB ever formally appointed female lighthouse keepers, especially when other lighthouse authorities around the world were happy to do so. And yet several notable female keepers did exist in the UK. Other, smaller lighthouse authorities such as Liverpool's Dock Committee and the Lancaster Port Authority were more enlightened, shall we say. ...2022-12-2645 minKeeping WatchDr Sally Montgomery - How a lighthouse optic became an iconic Belfast monumentWelcome to KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for anyone and everyone interested in lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. KEEPING WATCH is brought to you in association with the ALK - The Association of Lighthouse Keepers - a charitable trust in the UK dedicated to keeping lighthouse heritage alive. We’ll hear from former lighthouse keepers, authors of books about lighthouses, people born and brought up in lighthouses, archivists, historians and many others interested in lighthouses, their construction, history and service. This week we turn our attention to B...2022-12-1240 minKeeping WatchFormer lighthouse keepers sharing their storiesWelcome to KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for anyone and everyone interested in lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. KEEPING WATCH is brought to you in association with the ALK - The Association of Lighthouse Keepers - a charitable trust in the UK dedicated to keeping lighthouse heritage alive. We’ll hear from former lighthouse keepers, authors of books about lighthouses, people born and brought up in lighthouses, archivists, historians and many others interested in lighthouses, their construction, history and service. This week, we hear from a numbe...2022-11-2732 min
Keeping WatchTaking inspiration from lightvesselsWelcome to KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for anyone and everyone interested in lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. KEEPING WATCH is brought to you in association with the ALK - The Association of Lighthouse Keepers - a charitable trust in the UK dedicated to keeping lighthouse heritage alive. We’ll hear from former lighthouse keepers, authors of books about lighthouses, people born and brought up in lighthouses, archivists, historians and many others interested in lighthouses, their construction, history and service. This week we turn our attention away...2022-11-1536 minKeeping WatchGerald Butler - Former Keeper for Commissioners of Irish LightsWelcome to KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for anyone and everyone interested in lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. KEEPING WATCH is brought to you in association with the ALK - The Association of Lighthouse Keepers - a charitable trust in the UK dedicated to keeping lighthouse heritage alive. We’ll hear from former lighthouse keepers, authors of books about lighthouses, people born and brought up in lighthouses, archivists, historians and many others interested in lighthouses, their construction, history and service. This week we meet Gerald Butler, a thi...2022-10-3140 minKeeping WatchGrowing up in a lighthouse - Peter SmithWelcome to KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for anyone and everyone interested in lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. KEEPING WATCH is brought to you in association with the ALK - The Association of Lighthouse Keepers - a charitable trust in the UK dedicated to keeping lighthouse heritage alive. We’ll hear from former lighthouse keepers, authors of books about lighthouses, people born and brought up in lighthouses, archivists, historians and many others interested in lighthouses, their construction, history and service. This week I chat with Peter Smith...2022-10-1934 minKeeping WatchAuthor and lighthouse bagger Sarah KerrWelcome to KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for anyone and everyone interested in lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. KEEPING WATCH is brought to you in association with the ALK - The Association of Lighthouse Keepers - a membership organisation and charitable trust in the UK dedicated to keeping lighthouse heritage alive. In this first season of twelve episodes, we’ll hear from the ALK’s founder, Neil Hargreaves, as well as from other former lighthouse keepers, authors of books about lighthouses, people born and brought up in lighthouses, archiv...2022-10-0226 minKeeping WatchMeeting former lighthouse keeper Neil HargreavesThank for joining us - and welcome to KEEPING WATCH - a fortnightly podcast for anyone and everyone interested in lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, light vessels and other aids to maritime navigation. KEEPING WATCH is brought to you in association with the ALK - The Association of Lighthouse Keepers - a membership organisation and charitable trust in the UK dedicated to keeping lighthouse heritage alive. In this first season of twelve episodes, we’ll hear from the ALK’s founder, Neil Hargreaves, as well as from other former lighthouse keepers, authors of books about lighthouses, people born a...2022-09-1935 min