Muckle Flugga Lighthouse

P4

The Muckle Flugga Lighthouse, formerly North Unst Lighthouse, German Muckle- Flugga Lighthouse, is a lighthouse on the Scottish island of Shetland Muckle Flugga. 1971, the lighthouse in the Scottish lists of monuments has been listed in the highest category A. It is the northern-most lighthouse in Scotland. By the lighthouse keeper Muckle Flugga was the northernmost populated point in Britain.

The lighthouse is located at a height of 66 m above sea level, resulting in a range of 22 nautical miles ( 40 km ). The identifier of the tower are two white flashes every 20 seconds.

History

Since 1851 there were plans to build a lighthouse in the area. However, it was initially no agreement as to the precise location. With the outbreak of the Crimean War a lighthouse for the protection of naval vessels was of military significance. For this reason, a temporary beacon was erected within 26 days, that on October 11, 1854 into operation. The approximately 15 -meter-high structure was designed to meet the heavy Atlantic storms and heavy rainfall. The occurrence of a strong surf during storms but was not planned and the lighthouse keepers reported water ingress into the interior. This made the establishment of a full-fledged lighthouse necessary.

Following further discussions regarding the location was again decided in favor of Muckle Flugga and started in June 1855 with the Bauarbeitren. Being engineers, the famous lighthouse architect Thomas and David Stevenson were responsible for planning. The foundation of the 20 m high brick tower reaches about 3.5 m into the rock. The total cost was £ 32,000. On January 1, 1858 the lighthouse under the name " North Unst Lighthouse " was put into operation. During the Second World War, the former radio station on Muckle Flugga was needed again. It was the task of the rotating lingering on shore lighthouse keeper to send messages for forwarding to the station on Muckle Flugga.

1964 was the lighthouse named " Muckle Flugga ", he carries to this day. From 1968 to 1969 new residential areas for the crew inside the tower were established. The space required for this purpose was obtained by the electrification of the beacon. The crew included six lighthouse keeper, of which three at any time the system being monitored, while the remaining three stayed on land. Later they were treated biweekly from a helicopter with food, whereby the connection lost by a boat in importance. In 1995, the Muckle- Flugga - lighthouse was fully automated, making the island lost its status as the most northerly permanently populated place in Britain.