North Ronaldsay Lighthouse Traditional Cache
Hidden : 8/3/2015
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

NORTH RONALDSAY LIGHT HOUSE

This cache is a 500 ml cliplock container with logbook and pen with room for swaps and trackables.

Take a guided tour of the tallest land-based lighthouse in the British Isles on North Ronaldsay.

Dennis Head, in the northeast of the island, is home to an historic lighthouse known as the Old Beacon. The light was first established in 1789 by Thomas Smith. It was to be the first of many island lighthouses for Smith (he had previously worked on the lights at Kinnaird Head and Mull of Kintyre). Smith received assistance with the North Ronaldsay light from  Ezekiel Walker and from his stepson Robert Stevenson. In 1809 with the construction of other nearby lighthouses it was decided that the North Ronaldsay light was no longer required and it was extinguished. The round stone tower was retained as a sea-mark, however, and the original beacon chamber at the top replaced by a vaulted roof capped by a remarkable ball finial. The stone spiral staircase which once led to the beacon was demolished. The original keepers' houses, roofless but largely complete, survive below the tower. In 2006, it was one of the neglected buildings selected for the Restoration TV series. However a new lighthouse was built nearby just 43 years later in 1852. The modern lighthouse lies at the north of the island at Point of Sinsoss and boasts Britain's tallest land-based lighthouse tower. The old fog siren with notable red trumpet was replaced by an electric diaphragm type horn. That horn was discontinued in favour of a Tyfon horn consisting of 8 mini-trumpets installed on the building that once housed the fog siren. The Tyfon horn gives three blasts every 60 seconds. The electric beeper horn is now lying flat on the ground next to the fog signal building. The fog signal is still in service today.The North Ronaldsay Lighthouse was built in 1854 by Alan Steven and is still in operation. Measuring 139 ft in height, visitor can climb the 176 steps to the top and see the massive Fresnel lens at the top that concentrates the beam emitted by the lighthouse over the North Atlantic. Take in the breathtaking views which on a fine day stretch over the other north isles of Orkney and sometimes as far as the Fair Isle in Shetland. Nearby is the Old Beacon, a ruined lighthouse located at Kirk Taing on Dennis Head. Restored in 2006 by the BBC television series Restoration Village, the building dates from 1789 and was the first lighthouse in Orkney.

For more information click on the following links: -
Lighthouse Visitor Centre
Getting to North Ronaldsay
North Ronaldsay Trust
 Flag Counter

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Pnpuref Pnvea pybfr gb ubyr va jnyy.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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