Neil Hargreaves was a light keeper for Trinity House in England from 1974-1988, and he is the founder and chairman of the Association of Lighthouse Keepers. Neil spent the first two years of his light keeping career on light vessels. His first appointment as an assistant lighthouse keeper was at the Smalls Lighthouse, a wave-swept granite tower on a rock about 20 miles off the coast of Pembrokeshire. He also spent time at Inner Dowsing, Longships, Souter, Wolf Rock, and several other stations. Neil founded the Association of Lighthouse Keepers, or ALK, in 1988, and he serves as its chairman. A transcript of the interview is available at news.uslhs.org.

Lighthouses are seen around the world as a symbol of hope, guidance, and strength along with lots of other positive qualities. In recognition of that, Light Hearted will be doing occasional segments called “Be a Lighthouse,” discussing people and organizations who are being lighthouses, or beacons of hope, in our communities. The first “Be a Lighthouse” focuses on a nonprofit organization on the New Hampshire Seacoast. Gather serves those in the community experiencing hunger by providing nutritious food through innovative distribution programs. Seneca Adam Bernard is the associate executive director of Gather.