PICTURES: From ‘sad state’ to picture postcard perfection – Lybster lighthouse beams again after paint job
The lighthouse at Lybster Harbour is beaming bright thanks to local organisations proactively working together to freshen it up with a lick of paint.
Lybster, Latheron and Clyth Community Development Company (LLCCDC) worked with Lybster Harbour Society (LHS) to source funds to have the landmark lighthouse revamped. The total cost for the project being around £18,500.
Alex Henderson, the centre and development manager for LLCCDC said: “The chair of LLCCDC, Andrew Gunn, and myself worked on the funding application and applied to Foundation Scotland’s Camster fund and we were awarded the full amount for the repairs.
“It had started to look shabby and there were comments on social media about the state of it, so it’s lovely to see the lighthouse painted.”
Alex said that GMR Henderson had been awarded the contract to carry out the work. Scaffolding was erected around the structure and the team repointed the walls as well as applying the specialist paint needed to guard against the weather and constant pounding of waves. It took around two weeks to complete.
Chris Flatt, treasurer of LHS, said that the committee had to look into ways of sourcing external funding opportunities without using its own money. “We’re now looking to do more improvements around the harbour in the future,” he added.
“That’s going to be very expensive and we need to get a structural survey done. Hopefully, we’ll be able to secure funding for that as well.”
The harbour was the scene of great activity in 2019 when it was used as the backdrop for a scene in the hit Netflix series The Crown. Set-builders created façades on the quayside to transform the scenic location into Port Leith in the Falklands where Argentinians were discovered salvaging scrap metal in 1982 – an incident that proved to be a precursor to the Falklands War.
Chris noted how photogenic the harbour is and is even more so now after the recent work. “People like to take photographs in very stormy weather with waves going over the top of the lighthouse. It will be protected with the new paint now.”
More specialist paint had to be sourced to rework the red aspects of the lighthouse and great care taken as it is a protected building.
In March this year, the paper highlighted the “sorry state” of the lighthouse for its 140th anniversary year. An anonymous post on Lybster Community Group’s Facebook page lamented the sorry state of its paintwork and attracted many negative comments.
The original poster wrote: “The Light House at Lybster was built in 1884 and sadly, it’s looking its age! Wouldn’t it be nice if LLCDC, Waterlines Trust and The Harbour Committee joined ranks to repair and repaint the Light House in this its 140th Anniversary Year.”
It is hoped that the work carried out will help preserve the lighthouse for many years to come and provide a good focal point for the many tourists who visit the iconic location next to the NC500 route.
Chris said that LHS is “always looking for new committee members” and is in desperate need of a secretary at the moment.
