At 28, she's Britain's youngest lighthouse keeper

Jeri Cormack, 28, became the youngest retained lighthouse keeper for the Northern Lighthouse Board this January, and she found the job on Facebook. She now looks after three landmarks in the north of Scotland, including Duncansby Head, built in 1924 by a crew that included her great-grandfather. She is one of 17 retained keepers on the board's roster, only two of whom are women, and is believed to be the youngest keeper in Britain. On monthly eight-hour visits to Noss Head, she vacuums the 76-step spiral staircase, cleans the lantern windows, and checks for storm damage. When sheep force their way through a gate, she rounds them up too. The building does not stay quiet. "Whenever there's wind, it whistles through the building. It sounds like screeching," she told The Scotsman. Hail came in June. She said it sounded like thunder. Most keeping jobs vanished after Britain's lighthouses were fully automated in 1998.