This is an edited version of an interview with Jem Finer that was first heard in June 2020.
In an area of London known as the Docklands is a part of the waterfront known as the Trinity Buoy Wharf. On the wharf is London’s only lighthouse. The lighthouse at the Trinity Buoy Wharf was never used for navigation. Completed in 1866, it was used by Trinity House for the training of prospective lighthouse keepers. The scientist Michael Faraday also carried out experiments there.
Musician and composer Jem Finer has repurposed the lighthouse in a unique way. His ambient sound piece called Longplayer started playing in the lighthouse at the stroke of midnight just as the year 2000 began. It’s been playing ever since, and the intention is that it won’t repeat until midnight on December 31, 2999. Longplayer is composed for singing bowls, a type of ancient bell.
Click here to listen to Longplayer
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U.S. Lighthouse Society Historian Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of 24 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. He is a past president of the American Lighthouse Foundation and founder of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, and he has lectured and narrated cruises throughout the Northeast and in other regions. He is also the producer and host of the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s weekly podcast, “Light Hearted.” He can be emailed at Jeremy@uslhs.org