At 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 26, 1998, Hugh G. Beacon, 53, climbed up the spiral steps, 105 of them (he counted them often), to the top of the 307-yearold North Foreland lighthouse for the last time. The North Foreland lighthouse was the last of Britain’s 72 manned lighthouses. The closing ceremony was attended by Prince Phillip. The Prince presided over the ceremony in his capacity as Master of the Trinity House Lighthouse Service, which looks after lighthouses in England, Wales, and the Channel Islands.Hugh, who had been a lighthouse keeper for 33 years, said, "It’s a sad day for me. It is not just the end of a job — it’s the end of a way of life."Instead of a 24-hour watch by Hugh and his five-man team, the lighthouse will now be monitored from a computerised control center — from miles away. Prince Philip, 77, also climbed the tower yesterday. The Prince said, "This really is a historic occasion. It is a culmination of nearly 20 years of work to automate the lighthouses around the British coast. I find it difficult to imagine that anybody sitting in a light out on a rock somewhere would be sad to go, but lighthouse keepers seem to like it."

The Prince is right. Lighthouse keeping is (or was) a great job for a Dull Man.Hugh is not lost for work, however. He sent his resume around starting about a year ago. In his resume, Hugh set out to "leverage his skills," something he’d come across in the many newspapers and magazines that he read while sitting out there at North Fareland watching after the lighthouse. His resume stressed his skills at looking after lights — cleaning them, changing the light bulbs, and numerous similar skills. Several nice job offers came in. Hugh accepted one that came in from Harrods in London.Hugh picked Harrods because . . . actually, it was wife, Belinda, who said to take the Harrods’ job. Hugh usually found it easier, in the long run, to follow Belinda’s advice. Hugh doesn’t get along all that well with Belinda. He sometimes wonders why he  married her, wonders what attracted him to her. The answer he usually settles with is that she was fairly bright, had a personality with a little spark in it, and brilliant red hair. This is what impressed him when they first met, in Brighton.

Belinda likes to go to Harrods. "So she can rub elbows with those posh luminaries who shop there," said Hugh. She had a Harrods credit card. Hugh always enjoyed going to Harrods with Belinda and her credit card. With the card, Hugh could go to the store’s "Luxury Bathrooms" for free. Without the card, he would have had to pay £1.He likes the job at Harrods. Like at the lighthouse, he wears a uniform. And like at North Foreland, he commutes to work on a bike. Hugh bought a new bike with his severance pay from the lighthouse work. The new bike is his pride and joy. He’s especially proud of the headlight on it, run by a little generator that rubs on the rear wheel. "Smaller light than I’m used to," Hugh said, "but it gets the job done."We asked Hugh whether he might ever be visiting America. We knew of several DMC meetings that might like to invite him as a guest speaking. We were quite certain they’d like to hear about Hugh and his work and especially how to cope with changing jobs. Dull Men generally resist change. It might be good for them to hear Hugh. Hugh said, "I might consider it. I need to do a little pondering over it." Right then — "a little pondering" — we knew then for sure that he was one of us.Hugh told us that he and Belinda visited the USA a few years ago. It was okay, he said, "A nice place to visit but I’m not sure we’d like to live there."He was thinking about work, as would be fitting, of course. "

Work in American wouldn’t be as much fun," Hugh said. "Fewer types of bulbs, basically only bulbs that screw into the socket, then some various wattages, 40 60, 100, that’s about all" said Hugh. "In England, we have the screw-in bulbs, but also bayonet bulbs, and several difference sizes of each. It makes the work that I do much more challenging."Not all was bad about America, however, for Hugh. He liked the longer hours that stores stayed open. "All the more light bulbs that will burn out sooner, will need to be changed sooner," Hugh said. "And Las Vegas — all that neon."And he liked an ad he heard for a chain of motels. "We’ll keep the light on for you."