Ailsa Craig Lighthouse
The Ailsa Craig Lighthouse, is an active 19th century lighthouse located on Ailsa Craig, an island in the Firth of Clyde, just offshore from Girvan, South Ayrshire, Scotland.
History
It was completed in 1886, the construction being overseen by Thomas and David Alan Stevenson.
Initially, the lighthouse used oil-burning lamps, but by 1911, these were replaced with incandescent lighting.
Fog signals were discontinued in 1987. Then, in 1990, the lighthouse was automated, and a refurbishment took place in 2001, when it was converted to run on solar power.
Ailsa Craig is also known as "Paddy's Mile Stone" as it lies halfway between the cities of Glasgow and Belfast. As well as being a local landmark and a well known marine navigational hazard the island is a protected bird sanctuary, sheltering thousands of breeding pairs of sea birds. Other wild life found on and around the island are a colony of grey seals as well as the occasional whale, and more commonly large basking sharks during the summer months. The basking shark is a large but harmless shark: it can often be seen from boats feeding at the surface on the planktonic bloom which grows in great abundance around the British Isles during the warmer months.
In June 2018 the former lighthouse keepers' cottages, now derelict, were placed for sale by auction.
See also
References
- ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Southwestern Scotland". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- ^ Ailsa Craig Lighthouse Northern Lighthouse Board.Retrieved 8 May 2016
External links
- Northern Lighthouse Board
- Lighthouses For Sale Research Website
- v
- t
- e
(except principal
island groups)
- Ailsa Craig
- Ardnamurchan
- Bass Rock
- Bell Rock
- Buchan Ness
- Cape Wrath
- Chanonry
- Corran Point
- Corsewall
- Covesea Skerries
- Crammag Head
- Davaar
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- Dunnet Head
- Fidra
- Fife Ness
- Girdle Ness
- Holy Island (Outer)
- Inchkeith
- Isle of May
- Kinnaird Head
- Mull of Galloway
- Mull of Kintyre
- North Rona
- Noss Head
- Pladda
- Rattray Head
- Rubh Re
- St Abbs Head
- Sanda
- Scurdie Ness
- Stoer Head
- Strathy Point
- Stroma
- Sule Skerry
- Tarbat Ness
- Turnberry
- Minor lights
- Bressay
- Eshaness
- Fair Isle North
- Fair Isle South
- Firths Voe
- Foula
- Hoo Stack
- Little Holm
- Muckle Flugga
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- Ve Skerries
- Minor lights
- Chicken Rock
- Douglas Head
- Langness (minor light)
- Maughold Head
- Point of Ayre
- Thousla Rock (minor light)