A lighthouse on a castle

Today we are delighted to be taking part in a blog hop celebrating National Lighthouse Day - yet another brilliant idea from our friends Madi and Mom.

Now it's not that Gail and I are being competitive or anything, but we're betting that no-one else in this hop will be visiting a lighthouse built on top of a castle!

Yes really. This is Kinnaird Head lighthouse in Fraserburgh, in the NE corner of Scotland. A light tower was installed way back in 1787 on top of a wee castle built in the 1500s by the Fraser family. In 1824 the esteemed lighthouse engineer Robert Stevenson (grandfather of the 'Treasure Island' and 'Kidnapped' author Robert Louis Stevenson) made major structural alterations to the building and installed a new lantern, but retained the original castle tower, which still stands today.

We like this old painting of the lighthouse, and are grateful that, although windy too when we visited, weather conditions were slightly less dramatic!

After checking out the fog horn beside the lighthouse Gail and I went exploring the town.

It has to be said that Fraserburgh  (locally known as The Broch) is an austere place with what Gail says is an 'end of the world' feel to it.

The colourful fishing boats in the harbour came as a welcome relief,

And even better, at the southern end of the town is a simply awesome two mile long beach.

Wheee!

Rain was threatened so we turned around when half way along the beach and made it back for one last look at the lighthouse before the skies opened.

There is a museum adjacent to the lighthouse. Gail has been there before and tells me it's well worth a visit, although I guess I'll never know as dogs are not allowed inside...

You can read more about the lighthouse history here.

P.S. Shall I let you into a wee secret? When Gail was a little girl, in an era when 'normal' little girls were supposed to aspire to be nurses or, if good at their lessons, perhaps teachers, my human was fantasising about being a lighthouse keeper when she grew up...