本集内容

Scottish lighthouses keeping ships safe for almost 200 years

苏格兰灯塔守护航行安全已近 200 年

文字稿

On the southernmost tip of Scotland – a disc of light illuminating the darkness before dawn.

在苏格兰最南端的地方，一张发光的圆盘照亮了日出前的黑暗。

Barry Miller, lighthouse keeper
"Well, if we stand here we can see the other end of Wigtownshire. Moving around, you can actually see Cumberland today, which is really very unusual."

巴里·米勒 灯塔管理人
“如果我们站在这，就能看到威格敦郡的另一端。移动一下的话，今天甚至能看到坎伯兰。这非常难得。”

Barry Miller is the lighthouse keeper for the Mull of Galloway. He's one of a long line of them keeping sailors here safe for close to 200 years.

巴里·米勒是加洛韦角的灯塔管理人。他和一代代灯塔管理人在近 200 年间一直守护着水手们在此处的航行安全。

Lorna Gordon, BBC correspondent
"You don't normally get as close to a lighthouse as this. How often does it flash and what colour?"

洛娜·戈登 BBC 通讯员
“人们通常不能来到距离灯塔这么近的地方吧。这盏灯的闪烁频率和颜色如何？”

Barry Miller, lighthouse keeper
"Well this one flashes white every 20 seconds."

巴里·米勒 灯塔管理人
“这盏灯每 20 秒会闪白光。”

Lorna Gordon, BBC correspondent
"They're all different, aren't they?"

洛娜·戈登 BBC 通讯员
“每盏灯都不一样，对吧？”

Barry Miller, lighthouse keeper
"They're all different, yeah. Each lighthouse has what's called its 'character', so mariners can tell where they are, from their pattern of flashing."

巴里·米勒 灯塔管理人
“是的，每盏灯都不一样。每座灯塔都有它的 ‘特征’，所以船员们能通过不同灯塔闪烁的模式来判断自身的位置。”

Barry retired from teaching in his mid-50s and has spent the two decades since looking after the Northern Board lighthouses in Galloway and Ayrshire.

巴里在他 50 多岁的时候从教职退休，从那之后的 20 年间他一直在看管北部灯塔委员会设在加洛韦和艾尔郡的灯塔。

Further along this stretch of coastline – another of our older lighthouses, this one guiding the ferries heading to and from Northern Ireland.

在这段海岸线上更远的地方建有一座更古老的灯塔，这座灯塔指引着往返北爱尔兰的渡轮。

Barry Miller, lighthouse keeper
"Stranraer's been an important ferry port since about 1860, so the lighthouse was built just before that."

巴里·米勒 灯塔管理人
“斯特兰拉尔自 1860 年左右以来一直是一座重要的渡轮港口，而这座灯塔就建于那之前不久。”

Lorna Gordon, BBC correspondent
"And [it's] still busy today."

洛娜·戈登 BBC 通讯员
“并且它今天依然十分繁忙。”

Barry Miller, lighthouse keeper
"Very busy. Yeah, yeah. Oh the lighthouse is absolutely used by both ferry companies as their main mark as they enter Loch Ryan. So it's here for a particular purpose, to mark a particular point."

巴里·米勒 灯塔管理人
“非常繁忙，没错。这座灯塔被两家渡轮公司作为驶入瑞恩湖时的主要信标。因此它建于此处是为了特定的目的，即标记了这个特定的位置。”

Lorna Gordon, BBC correspondent
"What's the biggest part of your job though, just the routine maintenance?"

洛娜·戈登 BBC 通讯员
“那么你工作中最主要的部分是什么，只是日常维护吗？”

Barry Miller, lighthouse keeper
"I suppose the routine maintenance is the biggest part, but there are always things to do."

巴里·米勒 灯塔管理人
“我想日常维护应该是最主要的工作内容了，但也总是有其他事情要做。”

As the light fades – our final stop, Turnberry. Every day is different, says Barry, in a job where he's on call 365 days a year.

随着日光渐渐消失，我们抵达了行程的终点，特恩贝里。巴里说，每一天的工作都有所不同，这是一份一年 365 天随时待命的工作。

Lorna Gordon, BBC correspondent
"We're at another lighthouse, and the Sun is setting. [You can have] long days doing your job."

洛娜·戈登 BBC 通讯员
“我们来到了另一座灯塔，而太阳就要落山了。你的工作时间真长。”

Barry Miller, lighthouse keeper
"It's been a long day, but it is very very rewarding. These lighthouses have been there for 200 years, and there have been people exactly like me, doing exactly what I'm doing."

巴里·米勒 灯塔管理人
“今天确实很漫长，但也让人收获颇多。这些灯塔已经矗立在此 200 年了，其间一直有着和我一样的人，做着我正在做的工作。”

Lorna Gordon, BBC correspondent
"Do you enjoy it?"

洛娜·戈登 BBC 通讯员
“你享受这份工作吗？”

Barry Miller, lighthouse keeper
"Absolutely, yeah. It's very rewarding indeed, really, to try and keep these, what are essential navigational aids, still going."

巴里·米勒 灯塔管理人
“是的，毫无疑问。这确实是一份非常有价值的工作——尽力维护这些重要的导航设施的正常运转。”

Our modern day mariners have plenty of technology to help them.

现代海员们有大量的科技装备来帮助他们在海上航行。

But these sentinels from another time, facing out to sea, are still important. And without our lighthouse keepers looking after them, our coastline would be a much more dangerous place.

但这些面向大海的上个时代的 “海洋哨兵们” 依然对海上航行十分重要。如果没有灯塔管理人对它们的维护，我们的海岸线就会是一个更加凶险的地方。