ÄRHOLMEN

The building at Ärholmen is unique in Sweden.

It was built especially for the manufacture of gas, which it supplied to 200 lighthouses and an immense number of buoys, from Varberg to the Norwegian border, from 1918-1965. Gustaf Dalén's ingenious inventions were simple and dependable, and Swedish lighthouses ran on gas until it was replaced by solar cells and batteries in the 1980s.

The gas was highly explosive and electrical apparatus was prohibited. The staff got their light through the windows from gas lamps outside, but a little spark could cause an explosion.

On Ärholmen there were three ordinary lighthouse-keepers and one lighthouse-master, with their families and their sheep, dogs and poultry. For the women, housekeeping was a full-time job. People learned to do their own weather forecasting.

When the gulls were swimming, preening their feathers and crazy for food, there was a storm on the way. From the kitchen table you could see which way it was blowing. The gulls always stood with their heads to the wind. If the house was full of flies, then there would be thunder.

Mysterious things happened out here. In the lighthouse-master's house, steps could be heard on the attic staircase and tappings on the door, and if you dared stay up till midnight, you might see a little grey gnome creeping between the woodshed and the house.