Lighthouse Museum, Fraserburgh

HISTORY BURNING BRIGHT

Lighthouses have played a crucial role in the safety of shipping in Scottish waters for more than 200 years. As Lorraine Wakefield discovers the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses is a fitting tribute to the service they provide.

When the Northern Lighthouse Board was created by an Act of Parliament in 1786 the first place to get a new lighthouse was Kinnaird Head at Fraserburgh on the north east coast of Scotland where a light was installed on top of a fortified castle.

This lighthouse to warn passing boats of the approaching coastline was nothing more than a simple coal fire in those days but over the following 200 years technological advances have led to major changes in the way lighthouses work.

Over the last ten years or so all of Scotland's lighthouses have been automated with the last one being switched over in 1998 and now their interesting history is on display at Kinnaird Castle lighthouse which is home to the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses.

After using a coal fire as the beacon at Kinnaird Head a candle beacon was created by Robert Smith with the light reflected by large mirrors to ensure ships' safe passage.

In the early 19th century the first of the Stevenson family became involved in lighthouse design and in 1824 the lighthouse at Kinnaird Head was reconstructed inside the castle by Robert Stevenson, engineer to the Northern Lighthouse Board.

His son Alan Stevenson redesigned and developed the lighthouse again in 1851 with changes to the light and the lighthouse keeper's cottages.

His nephew, David A. Stevenson, continued the great engineering tradition in the family in 1902 when another new lens was installed and the cottages, which are still on the site at Kinnaird Head today, were developed.

Kinnaird Head lighthouse was decommissioned in 1991 and because of its unique status in the history of the country's lighthouses, it was decided to replace it with a new automated facility to allow the original lighthouse to be changed into a museum.

Although Kinnaird Head itself undoubtedly has a fascinating story the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses, which opened five years ago, covers the story of all the lighthouses around the coastline.

Visitors can see the original lighthouse and engine room - preserved as it was the day the last keeper left - and take a trip to the top of the lighthouse to view the magnificent Buchan coast.

There's also a new interpretative centre and an amazing array of lighthouse lenses and equipment which has been brought together from all over Scotland and the Isle of Man over many years.

"As the process of change was taking place with the Northern Lighthouse Board - which is still the organisation responsible for servicing the lights - and they applied the new technology we became a place that can take the old technology," explained David Bett, museum director.

"That is a close working relationship which continues today. Lighthouses are now run by solar panels and quite different technology, and are all automated, but we have examples of original design."

The lighthouse museum attracts all kinds of visitors from both home and abroad and the fact that two of the guides are former lighthouse keepers themselves makes it a fascinating visit all round.

"The guides can give educational information about what it was like to live in a lighthouse from rock pillar lighthouses, where they had to leave their families behind, to land based ones," continued David. "It is a great opportunity to let visitors hear what it was really like."

As well as discovering the important role lighthouses play in the safety of shipping around Scotland's coastline and getting a flavour for life as a lighthouse keeper, the dramatic position of Kinnaird Head on the Moray Firth also lends itself to exploring the area further.

Even though lighthouse keepers are no longer required their legacy lives on in the museum and the many lighthouses which continue to burn brightly around Scotland.

The Museum of Scottish Lighthouses is open all year round seven days a week and details of opening hours are on the website http://www.lighthousemuseum.co.uk or by phoning 01346 511022.


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