Lighthouse Tévennec. Descent into “hell” – The Telegram

Marc Pointud began yesterday a stay in lonely two months on the lighthouse Tévennec off the tip of Van.

16 h 45 yesterday. Marc Pointud took Tévennec on foot. The helicopter skid touched the rock on a narrow flatness below the house’s flagship, the time that the President of the Society for heritage lighthouses and beacons jumps. The blades then turn one meter of rock. The operation is delicate. Pierre Brissac, the pilot of Heliberté the company of La Baule, is not impressed. In the late afternoon, the helicopter will make ten rotations of Trepassey to Tévennec, then airlifting the remaining cargo to a two-month stay: gas for heating small craft, food …

“A poisoned gift”

The big departure for Tévennec yesterday during ‘ a sunny afternoon, was delayed, but enthusiasts committed to the mission of the SnPb learned patience from the elements and challenges of all kinds. Cozan Louis, the former lighthouse keeper, loyal support of Marc Pointud, knows whereof he speaks. “The authorization for temporary occupation of Tévennec, given in 2011 to the SnPb was a poisoned chalice, he said. An association has neither the technical means nor the hierarchical operation adapted to work on this kind of site. Over the years, it was normal that there are problems, especially in human relations. The administration did not think we would get to do something Tévennec. So she watched us from afar. We had to move forward, the same faith that inspired the builders of offshore lighthouses when they worked to light fires that save lives. “

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Yesterday Marc Pointud, invited the former lighthouse keepers as” moral support ” its draft Tévennec save and create there an artists’ residence. There was Jean-Marie Cajean, dean of Plogoff of lighthouse keepers, Michel Plouhinec, who was also a lighthouse keeper, whose great-grandfather, Corentin Coquet, spent 15 years on Tévennec and Bernard Venec, great grand son of Jules-Marie Venec who stayed there 19 months, and even Leah and Peter Quéméré, grand-son of Louis and Marie-Jacquette, who lived with their three children on the island. After greeting the patrons present, some from Switzerland or Italy, Marc Pointud with phlegm and humor that characterizes him, said his faith in the future of heritage lighthouses at sea. He embarked yesterday with two books: a Bible and the last work of Jean-Luc Mélenchon where he speaks of the sea as the future of France … the proceedings for registration of 14 lighthouses Iroise as historical monuments is probably not unrelated to work against wind and tide Pointud Marc and his team.

In addition

The ghosts of the house-headlight

As the Skellig islands are the imagination of Ireland Tévennec has become, over the literary stories and storm photographs, the symbol of Britain extreme. Everything is condensed on the tip of the continent: a small house in the fury of the elements, a bitter saving for browsers. Tévennec is a support forever soothing fantasies and daydreams. The true story of the site has fed the legend. In the mid-nineteenth century, the increase in traffic to the tip of Brittany pushing the administration to clarify the poorly paved road off the Raz. ArMen building, which will become “hell of hell” for the lighthouse keepers, began in 1867. The Old Lighthouse case is also studied, but it is too complicated, especially as the site of Ar-Men mobilizes all means.

A cow on site

The rock of Tévennec seems more accessible. Error. Five years of work between 1869 and 1874 will be needed to build the house flagship. The fire is lit on March 15, 1875. A guard was posted there. The Senan Porsmoguer Henry will be the first of a long series. Because the strapping (Porsmoguer participated in the construction of ArMen and Tévennec) requested a transfer a few months after his arrival. His two successors did not take longer. The loneliness is unbearable. The administration decided to appoint, in August 1876, two guards on the stone, allowing more frequent rotations. Things are improving, but Tévennec can not sustainably keep its people who succeed at an accelerated pace. Only Corentin Coquet, Plogoff, will remain fifteen years, from 1881 to 1896. The administration then tried to install married couples. The Milliner arrive in January 1898, then two years later Quéméré (a pie-black cow will be installed for one year on the rock to the required milk to children of the couple), the Quere in 1905, the
s Ropart th n 1907. Finally, Tévennec is automated in 1910 after experiencing in thirty-five, 19 guards, four guards, not counting substitutes. A record.

The crosses carried away

Tévennec is cursed and mature to become a legend. Writers do not deny. Anatole Le Braz evoke the voices of the dead seamen echo in the house, Charles Le Goffic guards went crazy. Others were swept away by the sea, which is false. The lighthouse is haunted, filled with signs of further falls. Even the cross sealed in the rock to exorcise the premises are carried away by the elements (in 1893 and in 2009, before the SnPb not resettling in a third in 2012). Since 1910, nobody has lived sustainably on the rock. The technology ensures the sustainability of the fire under the previous administration. The legend of this unique and magical place continues to nourish minds.
R.L.

Three questions for Marc Pointud

This Light operation Tévennec was difficult to ride?
Yes. Everyone talks about the heritage value of offshore lighthouses, but there is no public money to protect them. This is why we are obliged to appeal to the sponsorship. If a contractor wanted to redo the roof of the house Tévennec, it would make it a nice picture to value for his company. It must first technical means. A cement pallet does not cost much. But a palette airlifted worth gold.

How will you live for two months?
I write, I will convey messages and images. I will look at the sea. No fishing, for preparing fish require wasting too much water. To return to the mainland, I do not know yet how it will happen, but it will be late April-early May.

You open the artist residency on Tévennec?
There are already candidates, including a French artist living in New York who has been in extreme environments and many insist. This may be done in 2017.