Captain Coquet’s Corner: Coquet kitchen
The new kitchen arrives on Coquet Island via Puffin Cruises’ boat
It’s a race against time to get the island ready for the return of the puffins and the rest of the birds heading back to Coquet Island.
As Napoleon once said “an army marches on its stomach” so we have taken that saying on-board and are fitting out the RSPB lighthouse quarters with a lovely new kitchen!
The old one was falling apart – old age and dampness from the sandstone building has taken its toll on the old lighthouse keepers’ quarters and facilities, so Howdens were given the task of providing a new kitchen fit for wardens to test out new culinary skills.
The logistics have been tricky, having to cope with no mains power, planning around winter weather and getting everything over to Coquet Island on Puffin Cruises. The electrician, plumber, fitter and painter are all local fellas… and none of them had set foot on Coquet before, and are now new honorary Coqueteers.
Also new is an office with decent furniture, storage and filing system. It will give us room and a proper base to deal with all the data we collect during monitoring as well as a work station for the researchers on the island.
We will still need Tilley lamps, all-weather sleeping bags and hot water bottles but this winter has been a huge step forward in getting Coquet into the 21st century to help the RSPB wardens do their job even better!
Paul Morrison
