A popular north-east visitor attraction has avoided disaster after taking on the delicate job of cleaning its famous lighthouse for the new year.
The delicate work at the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses’ main attraction, Kinnaird Heard, is carried out twice a year.
And this year, staff flung open the curtains of the lens room itself to carry out a deep clean of the former castle’s interior.
The work, which is already fraught with risk given the age of the glass at the lighthouse, has the added threat of starting a fire if too much sunlight passes through the beacon’s lens.
Fortunately, however, the sight of any sun in the north-east this winter has been rare.
Last night, collections manager Michael Strachan said that curtains are drawn on the beacon throughout the year to prevent any fires from starting, but that this year’s clean required them to be open.
“All lighthouses had curtains and blinds to prevent the sun from being magnified through the lens causing a fire,” he said.
“The lens is cleaned twice a year, but this winter we have cleaned the entire interior of the lantern which required the curtains to be open for a prolonged period. This was safe because there was no sun whatsoever.”
He added that the lens was installed in 1902 and it is the only one left in the UK that is still able to rotate on its original mechanism.
Museum boss Lynda McGuigan said: “It’s what they call a hyper radio lens, and even if you’re not keen on the technology about it aesthetically it is really beautiful.
“We’re a museum and part of our job is looking after the collection, and the lens of course is part of that.
“We have a programme in the museum of cleaning lenses and objects and looking after them.
“It is an important part of what we do here, so that in another 100 years it will still be here and be the way it is now.”
The Museum of Scottish Lighthouses is open 10am to 4.30pm from Tuesday to Sunday. It switches to its summer timetable on March 25.
