Scottish Lighthouses

Before the age of the lighthouse Scotlandís untamed seas and perilous rocky coast too often witnessed the watery end to the marinerís voyage. From its establishment in 1786, it was the remit of the Northern Lighthouse Board to tame these harsh seas with the building of guiding lights around Scotlandís rugged coast ëFor the Safety of Allí.??The history of Scotlandís lighthouses would be dominated by one family of engineers. For its first 150 years, the NLB would be shaped by four generations of the Stevenson family as lighthouse builders, innovators and inventors. From humble beginnings at Kinnaird Head, this family would perfect the engineering marvels of the Bell Rock and Skerryvore, and pioneer wireless technologies into the modern age.??The lighthouse story is also one of habitation on the Stevensonsí creations on the extremities of civilisation as the light-keepers, and their families, lived and served on the wind-battered terrain of Scotlandís edge. It was a story of survival, a unique way of life, which came and went within the pages of this history. The technological breakthroughs which began with the Stevensons advanced to automation and the end of the light-keeper.??Nowadays the lights still flash, but thereís nobody there.