I have posted about Turnberry lighthouse before. This lighthouse will be a familiar sight to TV golf fans as the Open Championship has been held here in 1977, 1986 and 1994.
Turnberry lighthouse was built on the recommendation of the Receiver of Wrecks in the nearby town of Ayr. The reefs of Turnberry Point and nearby Brest (or Bristo) Rocks were notorious as the graveyard of many ships making their way to and from the busy ports in the Firth of Clyde. The lighthouse engineers, David and Thomas Stevenson, recommended construction on the point rather than on the offshore rocks and it was completed in 1873.
It is funny how we Scottish sea kayakers often find ourselves rockhopping in the wake of the Stevensons.
20/01/2008
They were busy boys, indeed! You may recall me remarking I came across one of their lighthouse designs in Newfoundland at Rose Blanche on the south coast. No longer fuctioning, but nicely restored with a B&B and restaurant just below it.
ReplyDeleteMichael, a little further south, Corsewall lighthouse in Galloway has operated as a hotel and restaurant for many years. It is currently up for sale. Unfortunately its exposed position might not be the best location for a sea kayaking owner! You would probably still need a car to drive to more sheltered waters!
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