Lighthouse is a beacon of hope

ONE hundred and fifty years ago it cost just a few thousand pounds to build, but its value to a fragile island community is now almost beyond measure.

Generations of seafarers have depended on the lighthouse at North Ronaldsay in Orkney and, while it is still a working building, the 60-strong population depend on its status as a tourist attraction as well.

Wednesday is the 150th anniversary of the light going on at the famous tower, at 139ft the tallest land-based lighthouse in Britain and one of the most photographed landmarks in the country.

Dignitaries including Jim Wallace, the deputy first minister and Orkney MP, will join the celebrations.

The lighthouse is now even more important to the island’s viability, with the community-run North Ronaldsay Trust having bought the keepers’ cottages and associated buildings last year to provide tourist accommodation and workshops for local businesses. One of the units is already being used to weave wool from the famous North Ronaldsay sheep.

The trust, set up in 2000 to preserve and promote the island’s built and natural heritage, bought the buildings for 60,000 with help from the Scottish Land Fund and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

The lighthouse was automated in 1998 and is still owned by the Northern Lighthouse Board. However, it is now the only working lighthouse in Orkney, and one of only a few in Scotland open to the public, with the trust organising tours around the landmark and up the 176 steps to the top.

William Muir, the trust chairman, said that before automation a principal keeper and three assistants and their families stayed on the island.

"We lost these families and their incomes, which affected the economy of the community, and we have been keen to encourage the regrowth of the island and create new jobs.

"The 150th anniversary is an important milestone for us and there is still a tremendous interest in lighthouses and how they function," he said.

The lighthouse board say it is hoped that through its partnership with the trust the lighthouse tours and the development of the associated properties will encourage tourism and attract families to the island.

Lighthouse board commissioners will visit North Ronaldsay tomorrow to inspect the light and to join the trust in marking the anniversary.

There has been a lighthouse on North Ronaldsay since 1789. The original beacon

was built by Thomas Smith, an Edinburgh lampmaker, assisted by his stepson Robert Stevenson, founder of a famous family of lighthouse engineers, and grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson.

When a new lighthouse was built at Start Point on the neighbouring island of Sanday in 1806 the old lighthouse beacon on North Ronaldsay became redundant.

Over the years, however, it became obvious that North Ronaldsay required its own lighthouse and Alan Stevenson, son of Robert, set about the task.

On Stevenson’s recommendation, the lowest offer, of 6,181, was accepted from William Kinghorn, a builder from Leith and the new light was lit on 1 September, 1854.