The keeper's day began an hour before sunset, when the lens had to be cleaned, the wick trimmed, and the oil reservoir filled so the light could burn until dawn without attention.

Through the night the keeper climbed the tower every few hours to wind the clockwork that turned the lens, to check the flame, and to record the weather in the log, including wind, visibility and any ships sighted.

At dawn the light was extinguished, the curtains drawn around the lens to protect it from the sun, and the day's maintenance began: painting, repairs, and polishing the brass.

Most stations had two or three keepers working in rotation, so that someone was always awake, and families often lived at the station, with children rowed to school on the mainland when the weather allowed.

Automation arrived slowly through the twentieth century, and by its end almost every light in the world ran without a resident keeper.