Kinnaird Head

We went to Fraserburgh today to meet up with some friends from Dunblane who were on holiday in the general vicinity. There didn't seem like there was a good place to meet up anywhere half way between where we were and where they were so we decided upon Fraserburgh and a trip to the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses.

After lunch in the Tiger Hill cafe and a play in the adjacent play park (in the freezing cold and near sleet), we visited the museum to see more lenses than we had ever had seen before and race one another in teams to build the securest lighthouse.

The museum is based beside the original Kinnaird Head lighthouse which was designed by Thomas Smith (father in law to Robert Stevenson, who was father to Robert Louis Stevenson) and built in 1787.

The highlight of the trip to the museum was a 45 minute tour of the original lighthouse, including the 72 steps up the spiral staircase to the top of the tower, a walk around the top balcony and an opportunity to see the original lenses being turned by the crank used by the lighthouse keepers.

The guide we had was just training, having recently moved from over from the retail part of the museum, but he was incredibly thorough, provided all sorts of interesting facts and coped incredibly well with four excitable children running at high jinks around the lighthouse. Thankfully, we were the only ones on the 3pm tour.