£265,000 upgrade under way at Duncansby lighthouse

A MAJOR upgrade of Duncansby Head lighthouse is being undertaken at a cost of £265,000, it has been confirmed.

The Northern Lighthouse Board said the work, which is due to be completed by the end of January, involves the decommissioning and removal of the optic lamp and electrical operating system. It will be replaced with a power-saving LED.

Ally Rae, the lighthouse board's project leader, said: "The new light will be more reliable and require less maintenance than the optic lamp and will make a significant saving to running costs. This is only the third time we've been able to place an LED within the existing rotating lens. A temporary light will be used while the work is carried out."

The range of the new light will still be 22 miles.

Mr Rae said the lighthouse tower and adjoining buildings will also be refurbished at a cost of just over a quarter of a million pounds.

The new LED light has been designed and manufactured by the research and development team which supports the UK and Ireland's three general lighthouse authorities – Trinity House, Irish Lights and the Northern Lighthouse Board.

The lighthouse has a square tower and was one of the last built in 1924 by David Stevenson, a member of the famous Stevenson engineering family. There was only a temporary fog signal at Duncansby Head during World War I.

During World War II and on the eve of the invasion of Norway, the lighthouse was machine-gunned by a German bomber but no-one was injured and no damage was caused. The lighthouse was automated in 1997.

Duncansby Head is the farthest point by road from Land's End and features a site of special scientific interest which covers 6.5 km and includes the Duncansby Stacks.