Out & About …

… on the North York Moors, or wherever I happen to be.

Mull of Kintyre lighthouse

The road to the Mull of Kintyre is long and tortuous, finishing at a small public car park about 350m above sea level with super views across the North Channel to County Antrim in Northern Island. It’s easy to overlook how short a distance this is; up to the 1840s ferry boats plied the crossing, and it’s the route St. Columba himself would have taken in 563 AD.

Chinook Helicopter Crash 2 June 1994 Memorial

There are not many footpaths around, so most people arriving visit the memorial to the Chinook Helicopter crash on 2nd June 1994 in which 29 high ranking military, police and intelligence personnel died. Originally put down to pilot error, an independent review of the crash cleared the crew of negligence in 20111Wikipedia Contributors (2022). 1994 Scotland RAF Chinook crash. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Scotland_RAF_Chinook_crash [Accessed 10 May 2022]..

A steep winding road drops down to the lighthouse, only to find the gate padlocked when you get there. We turned south following barely existent paths to what is mapped as a ‘Fog Signal’ half expecting a fog horn. Just a small white utilitarian concrete building, but a proper horn did once exist2Canmore.org.uk. (2022). Mull Of Kintyre, Lighthouse, Lower Horn House | Canmore. [online] Available at: https://canmore.org.uk/site/38216/mull-of-kintyre-lighthouse-lower-horn-house [Accessed 10 May 2022]..

Ruins of a lookout building and a curious piece of rust.

Nearby the foundations of a building provided some interest. Clearly some sort of lookout but nothing is listed on the Scottish Heritage website Canmore.org.uk.

{Addendum 24 May 2022 — I have since discovered this was a semaphore signal station for ship to shore communications on the transatlantic routes and subsequent relaying to Lloyds of London3Maps.nls.uk. (2022). View map: Argyll and Bute sheet CCLXIV (includes: Southend) – Ordnance Survey Six-inch 2nd and later editions, Scotland, 1892-1960. [online] Available at: https://maps.nls.uk/view/75721327#zoom=5&lat=4761&lon=9667&layers=BT [Accessed 24 May 2022]..}

The return to the lighthouse followed a better path, with steps and a handrail — obviously the ‘official’ access.

And then the 300 metre trudge up the winding tarmac road back to the van. A 2½ hour round trip but a morning well spent.


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