Lighthouses of England, Royal Sovereign. 1993 

Got to admit, that is the coolest lighthouse I have seen on these series.

One of only three g-type diaphone foghorns I've ever heard! Thank you for documenting and preserving this piece of maritime history

Great video an historic record of this lighthouse as now it is decommissioned and being removed with the light tower being on re erected on the seafront.

This is such a great series. It’s historic. Thank you, Peter, for taking the time to put these up on YT. I really enjoy the laid back pace of these vids, the walkthroughs, and especially how you show us “a day in the life of a lighthouse keeper”. Love your touch with the filming and editing also. The sea circling around the base of the tower @ 43:07 stands out as one of those many moments.

Wow, this video made my week. Amazing! As a kid I would spend summers in Eastbourne with relatives and would often sit on the beach gazing out at the cross on the horizon. When I was able to drive myself there, I was amazed to drive up onto the downs and actually see it in the perspective of the sea. Always wanted to visit and now I virtually have. Gutted to hear it's being dismantled, feels like part of my childhood disappearing. So enjoying your videos...

must have been like heaven with all that space compared to the others you have showed us

Thanks so much for preserving the footage, it's important for history. I'm not sure what it is about this video, but it makes me feel nostalgic for some reason. The calm summer weather, perhaps a reminder of a simpler time.

Without all of these videos, we'd be left with just a few glimpses of life in a lighthouse. There really isn't a lot out there -- these are absolute gold. I'm so glad that this piece of history has had a decent chance at surviving future generations through these documentaries. The channel owner deserves a huge pat on the back. Well done, sir.

Great stuff! Thanks for having the foresight to record this and for sharing the footage with us.

What a shame it's been destroyed, loving your videos thanks for your effort.

Peter i must, like many other people thankyou for this video , absolutely fascinating and i notice there are others i need to go and watch. Thankyou Sir for sharing this, many regards from France.

Thanks for these great videos Peter. As an ex Royal Navy navigator I certainly appreciated the work of TH and all its keepers

All the money and hours spent keeping sailors safe for the last couple of hundred years and a little Wren fly's out to find some insects , this is what makes Peters films so great, thank you once again

I just came across these videos. Such a unique look into a world very few get to see. Your production was wonderful presented. The fact that you didn't over talk every aspect really pulls the viewer in and allows us to explore on our own. Thank you kindly.

I have always been a fan of Lighthouses since I was a kid. And have always dreamed of being a lighthouse keeper

Your films are just fantastic and so informative of your profession. Thank you so much for the work you and your colleagues did and the great footage you have put together.

Love these wonderful films, I have just found them Peter, a real treat. Feel as though one is in the light house. What a great series, a time capsules of what your working life was like and other dedicated members in these light houses, keeping mariners journeys safer . I love the engineering stuff but also the domestic side, the kitchen, the cupboards, washing arrangements, buffing up the brass etc that you filmed and kept, real cosy viewing and relaxing to watch. I always from a young child liked listening to The Shipping Forecast, now I know where the information comes from or did back then! Thank you so much Peter

Thanks for sharing. More history that needs to be preserved.

Really enjoyed the tour Peter, as always. Can see why this was one of your favourites, as its a very spacious lighthouse and having your own private room aboard must have been a great bonus, plus, an actual bathroom too. Thanks again for sharing Peter. Take care

Fascinating and surprisingly relaxing video. Anyway, I think was about 1973 when my mum was in a convalescent home in Bexhill and we stayed there a few nights. It left with one of my strongest memories of my childhood, of listening to a distant foghorn with a wonderfully deep pitch that changed just as it stopped. Think I've just head it again here, 1st time in 43 years!

Fascinating insight into an ordinarily unseen world.

Lovely detailed video and views. That offshore light must have been a dream posting to get compared to the offshore tower lights. Designers took full advantage of the space a platform base would offer. Wow that fog horn really was a beast.

Wonderful memories when watching this video as I grew up in Pevensey Bay and clearly remember the Royal Sovereign lightship that the tower replaced. My father was a keen part time fisherman and, having a fast boat, we often took trips out to, and around, the ‘light’ for pleasure. I was about 17 when the tower was completed. Thanks for bringing those memories back to me.

While boarding school in Seaford, Sussex during the 70's wasn't much fun, I do remember feeling reassured while falling asleep when the fog horns were going. Another great video Peter.

Brilliant as always Peter, just rounded Brothers Island light in Cook straight New Zealand 25 minutes ago.

Mentioned on the needles light house. I hadn’t seen this one’s light and feared decommission had already started. Just sat at cooden fishing and watching the light house flash away still. Will be shame when it does go but for now it’s still doing its job

Also hearing them foghorns gives me great childhood memories, we used to hear that from St Leonard’s when mum used to take us along seafront! & remember going along in dads car seeing that bright spotlight 👍

Stayed for a couple of days with my Auntie in Eastbourne when I was on holidays from Australia back in 1984. Used to get up in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep and watch the light from the Royal Sovereign lighthouse.

I've been interested in lighthouses since I was 3 years old; the first one I ever saw and visited was Cap Frehel in Brittany, on my 4th birthday. These videos are truly fantastic - well shot, well made and with brilliant narration. Thank you for uploading them to RU-vid!

Ah, luxury! The Bon Ton of lighthouse assignments. I didn't dare hope, but once again you deliver. Thank you. All your video productions are highly informative, and your experienced perspective make them unique among the RU-vid collection.

What a special time to be part of a career and history that becomes phased out. We cannot live in your footsteps, rather live vicariously through these captured moments in time. Thank you.

Merry Christmas Peter! Hope those helicopters are behaving, cheers and best wishes, Jeff D...

Superb look at a Long lost livelihood, Thankyou for the excellent footage.....one job I wished I had been old enough to enrol for, but sadly they were coming offline as I was of coming of an employable age .....👍🇮🇲

Thank you Peter.A superb video as well. Kind regards Mick

Many thanks Peter for your fabulous videos. Was brought up with this lighthouse just off the coast. will be a shame to see it go.

This would be my ultimate job. Too bad there is no such thing anymore. I might have to make my own lighthouse when I retire. Being isolated away from people, with the sea all around you, and all that cool machinery, is everything that calls out to me.

Only just found this remarkable video. I live in Newhaven and remember when they were constructing the base on the East beach before it was towed out to position. It's always been a landmark (should that be 'seamark') off the coast, and is no longer there.

Just discovered your wonderful filmography of Lighthouse history through the algorithms of RU-vid while looking for reviews of the new film, The Lighthouse. Thanks for these gems, was good to see Durleston Handfast point lighthouse, I pass it regularly on my coast walks. Cheers Peter !

Looks a spacious lighthouse to work

Thank you again. Better than any Netflix box set.

I’m enjoying these Thanks for pulling it all together I’d always wanted to be a lighthouse keeper- ocean tug captain I ended up a bra fitter, how unlucky was I Thanks again

I fell off my chair...Now a bed and breakfast...ha too true, sign O the times...Hello and greetings Peter, time to hang out with you and yer mates back in the day...Cheers!!

So much better than tv documentaries

Thank you for a truly wonderful video, you are a great and gifted natural film maker. Thank you for sharing it

Brilliant video again Peter, I remember the helicopter used to be hungered in our sea king hanger at raf st mawgan we occasionally used to help pull it out or put it to bed if the tractor tug was playing up

Well done Peter,very interesting.thank you😁👍👏👏👏

As a fisherman along the coast Brighton Beach, Marina, Shoreham, Bognor Regis, Eastbourne etc, it's a privilege to see this along my journey on the coast, But it is a shame now to hear rumours it is being dismantled and removed fully -( Peace of history not to mention the money spent on it originally to build. Would be better served as a platform of some kind for sea fisherman to ferry out to moor up alongside it and fish for the day at a cost, that way it can make money along the way, I would love to fish on there would be some cracking Cod and Mackerel, and then have a restaurant for people to sit and eat on from the accommodation quarters.

Greetings from lake Winnipeg in Manitoba Canada 🇨🇦. Great videos. Thank you for your hard work of putting them together. I hope your safe through this crazy world.

What an absolute pleasure to stumble upon this video. I can just about see Royal Sovereign from my window in Hastings - yes it's still there. Not sure when they are going to dismantle it and take away a great piece of sea architecture. For so many years I've seen it from land and always wondered what it looked like inside, now thanks to you and this superb video, I will wonder no more. Thank you very much for filming and uploading this little time capsule, so very enjoyable.

Your videos really are fascinating to watch and are a fantastic record of a historic moment just prior to these lighthouses being automated! It's great that you were able to capture these moments on camera, so thank you for sharing. I had always assumed the concrete tower section was hollow, so it was interesting to see how far down it went. It was nice to hear what the old fog signal sounded like and It was a bonus to see the old West Pier in Brighton from above, prior to it's complete destruction. Thanks again for sharing these videos.

I was in Eastbourne for a few days up until yesterday. I'd seen a cross like structure on the horizon while looking out to sea and didn't know what it was. I asked the landlord of the B&B I was staying in and he told me it was this lighthouse. I saved lots of videos to watch and have been going through them since getting back. This is the most interesting and what I was really hoping to find. Fascinating stuff. Thank you for uploading.

Thanks for sharing. I believe this structure is to be removed in 2020. I read built in 1971. It was staffed until automation in 1994.

Wow what an amazing video - full of every detail... Just how I like it.

Great video again mate keep them coming

This is beautiful

Wooow really good mate great vid don 🤠🇬🇧👍👍👍👍

this is definitly of the best channels here on youtube :) thanks for the good content you deliver. greets

i have lived in hastings all my life and remember them building it and when i went out 11 miles into the country at netherfield remember hearing the fog horn coming up through the valley i have been out to the soveriegn in a boat and have my own little video of my trip there on youtube but its not so interesting as yours so thanks again

Thank you for the great idea & its amazing history 👍

Nice video on lighthouse content . I enjoyed watch the video . It feels calm and relaxed to watch maybe the same feels to those who works there too . Wish the very best to all the the lighthouse employees out there . Keep update with more video on it . TQ sir for all your knowledgeable video u haved uploaded . Love from Malaysia 🇲🇾

Wonderful video, thank you!

This reminds me of the USCG Frying Pan Tower which has been converted to a hotel off the coast of North Carolina. But of course this one is well painted! Not much rust to see!

Love your film :)

11:50. Toilet roll installed backwards. A clear sign of cabin fever... 😁 But on the serious note, Thanks for all the excellent informative videos. Well done sir. 👍🏻

The Rolls Royce of lighthouses? Looks like it was a fun assignment ... Such a shame future generations won't have these opportunities....

There's a fascinating documentary also on the construction of this lighthouse

Amazing channel, fantastic videos!

Shamei that it is going as it has been such a landmark for my 37 years in Hastings as. I have been abke to see it from all my various homes. Farewell friend. How will boats miss the sandbank now:

Thanks Peter another awesome video

Great video. However, this iconic structure is no more. It was decommissioned by Trinity House and a local charity in Bexhill-on-Sea has acquired the tower to restore and form part of a marine heritage centre on the seafront. There is video either on Facebook, or maybe even RU-vid, following the recent tricky transportation of the lantern tower to a company in Bexhill, to undertake the first stages of restoration. Bexhill his home of the Sovereign Light cafe as per the well known song, hence they bid to take it and got it. The whole structure may be gone and no longer a wonderful view from the shore, but part of it will live on in a corner of Sussex.

I believe that foghorn was sold off after the building was automated. It's in private hands now. I saw a photograph of someone cleaning it and then hooking it up to a compressor. They painted it black though.

Thanks for uploading this.

Sunday morning, a nice cup of coffee, and.....a new LH video!! An outstanding start to a very cold day. Thank you sir. One more thing.....that cute little bird that seemed to be a bit too far at sea for its size. What was it doing? it looked like it was tracking the invisible lighthouse bug...on foot!

Just watched this great video , very interesting , they certainly thought of everything when they built it 👍 sad to see it go , as I’m writing this I see there’s barges & a platform next to it waiting for demolition 😢

I can see on a clear day from were I live the Royal Sovereign lighthouse, so it's really interesting to see what it looks like close up and inside as well. I read somewhere that it's now decommissioned.

Royal Sovereign's days are numbered. Trinity House announced that dismantling work is going to start soon, presumably next month, along with upgrade works to the Beachy Head Lighthouse to increase the power of its lamp to take over from Royal Sovereign. Local boaters have arranged a farewell flotilla to sail up to the lighthouse to give it a proper send off.

I was determined to do this job when I grew up because I always fancied the idea of a month offshore and a month at home but sadly I didn't leave school until 1997 so I think I was born a generation or two too late.

It looked like one of the better offshore lights to live in. It looks a bit less chaotic and more organised than a tower light and the freedom of your own bedroom

very interesting.

If you want to see how the Royal Sovereign lighthouse was built and installed see ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ul0Y42v955w.html

The end has come for this iconic lighthouse. Trinity House has begun dismantling the superstructure after several months of delay. However, the actual light tower itself has been rescued and was donated to Bexhill for display at a new park.

be nice to see what its like now, shame its coming down this year

Didnt think it would be, but it was fascinating, l did know it was like that, almost a man made island in the ocean,.

Cool thanks mate

Another wonderful insight into the way Lighthouse Keepers lived and worked. I confess these are hugely fascinating. Living in Sussex, I've seen this lighthouse many times and wondered what it was like inside. It seems that, because it was constructed in the 20th century, the quarters are less rudimentary than some of the old 'rock' Lighthouses you have featured. Did you have a favourite posting during your service?

Very interesting ~ thanks

I just watched a video on how they built this was incredible to watch, and now it’s literally the start of its demolition. Not sure the point of building a light house with a 50 year warranty.

Looks like the most heavenly existence. I think it would take a very particular type of character to prosper in this environment. Have you ever been stuck on a lighthouse with somebody you really disliked?

OMG I want to live there

I would love to spend the night in a light house out at Sea.

Does the lighthouse protect a sandbar? No rocks about? What was the yellow suit on the keeper for when the helecopter was arriving? It looks like a comfortable posting compared to life in a tower. Expect you've seen it but there's an interesting vid (complete with snazzy synth soundtrack) on RU-vid about how the station was built. As ever, thank you Peter. I think you deserve a special Trinity House award for documenting all this . Cheers!

It's cool how he tries to eat this food like a French nobleman! 36:04

Hello Peter! Thank you for the video…fascinating! I’ve passed by the tower a number of times but have never been close to it. It will be missed very much when it’s dismantled. I’m surprised it is being decommissioned after only 50 years or so. I’m also interested in your surname…I met a Gibraltarian with the same surname as yours during my time there in the Royal Navy in the early 1960s.. He helped maintain the various navigation lights on the Rock and showed myself and a group of young RN types around the main lighthouse. He had a very interesting job! Are you related? I really enjoy your videos. I look forward to watching them all. Finally, did you know ‘Andy The Light’ …he used to operate his Amateur Radio station from the lights he was based and I used to talk to him over the radio. I’ve momentarily forgotten his surname but I think he’s passed on now. A great character! Best wishes, Rob in Bournemouth.

How this was built: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ul0Y42v955w.html

A bit of fishing 🎣

What are the walls made out of? Unique lantern having the bulb hanging down? Not come across that before. Great video of a structure that wont be there this time next year.

whats the situation of this location now is it still there? i read somewhere it was being taken down. Was out beachy head the other month and couldn't see it out at sea

Here in central USA we have tornadoes that are quite violent and scary. In your years on light houses have you experienced ocean storms in which you were extremely fearful ?

Positively palatial after the confines of Needles and other cramped lighthouses.

Possibly the most interesting video on RU-vid! Spent many years looking at it from Pevensey Bay and used to go out to in a boat and hand the keepers newspapers and chocolate. Was there some sort of 'torpedo' on a rope for bathy data or seabed sampling?