Being lonely at Christmas made me think of the lighthouse keepers of the 19th Century. Long before automation, they had to operate their lights manually, and could not leave them alone, meaning they could not even visit friends and relatives on special days.

In particular, I consider the world's oldest sea-washed lighthouse on Bell Rock off the coast of Angus in Scotland, built by Robert Stevenson (not to be confused with railway engineer Robert Stephenson or Treasure Island writer Robert Louis Stevenson, what a popular 19thC name!).

Constructed at great cost with many fatalities between 1807 -1810, Bell Rock heralded a new era in offshore lighthouses. In contrast with other early lighthouses like the Eddystone, its masonry stands even today, and is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Industrial Age.

The lighthouse keepers responsible for this marvel of early 19th century engineering had a difficult job with little comfort. Their only company were the seagulls and gannets that flew in off the coast ten miles away.

Their only comfort, limited amount of spirits, after their tasks of replenishing the fuel, performing maintenance, and listening for signals from ships, or in later years, communication from the mainland.

It was intensely, famously lonely.

So spare a thought for those early 19th century Scottish lighthouse keepers today, for whom Christmas was a sad ordeal of gin, gull, bell, gin, gull, bell, gin, gull. Bell Rock.

(I'm truly sorry about that, but I do find Bell Rock in particular to be fascinating, a real example of a hugely daunting engineering challenge that was solved on the job, made possible, although at great cost. There's a good history of it here.) https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/lifestyle/entertainment/books/717634/shining-a-light-on-the-bell-rock-lighthouse/