Museum Of Scottish Lighthouses

JANE WHYTE
As you know our Jane Whyte exhibition opens on Sunday afternoon (30th June).
Today we received this interesting mural which depicts Jane Whyte’s bravery.
... It was made by the boys and girls at New Aberdour Primary School...back in 2009! The school is now closed, and we reckon the budding young artists must now be aged between 15-21!
We wonder if they ever thought their magnificent mural would hang in a museum some day?!
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JANE WHYTE EXHIBITION
This afternoon, with just a week to go before the Jane Whyte exhibition opens, we were delighted to welcome Brayden and Logan to our Museum from Canada. The brothers, great great great grandsons of Jane Whyte of Aberdour Bay, had been touring Europe and made one last stop in Scotland before travelling home.
Unfortunately they will miss the exhibition opening by just one week! That being the case we were pleased to show them our plans for the exhibition a...s well as the objects that will be featured - some of which belonged to their brave ancestor. Among the items viewed was a painting of Jane made by the brothers' grandmother, which arrived at the museum yesterday (kindly sent from Canada by mother Dawn).
We then arranged for the brothers to visit New Aberdour Bay, the site of their ancestor's home and of her bravery. When they arrived at Jane's 'hoose' they were welcomed by distant Scottish cousin Robbie Kelman, who was there by chance! A family reunion in beautiful weather!
We hope Logan and Brayden enjoyed the visit to their ancestral home!
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A great day for a tour of Kinnaird Head Lighthouse! Would you believe our visitors from the continent this morning didn’t believe the guide when he said the weather is always like this!
The Museum is open 7 days a week 10am-5pm. Tours of the lighthouse run at 11am, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm.

LONGEST DAY
Beautiful weather at Kinnaird Head as we officially enter summer!
This being the longest day it was fractionally the easiest shift of the year for light keepers. Especially those at Muckle Flugga, Scotland’s most northerly light!

TOURISM
Tourism is more and more becoming an important part of the economy in the North East of Scotland and we at the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses are proud to do our bit in promoting the area!
It was great to see our Manager in the business pages of the Press and Journal earlier this week promoting what is available in our local area. Did you know that as well as being Museum Manager, Lynda is also the Chair of Discover Fraserburgh - a local tourism group which is going from strength to strength!

Today we borrowed a bell from St. Andrew’s Primary School in Fraserburgh! The bell was held in the bell-tower for over 100 years until it was taken down about 10 years ago. (Bad luck boys and girls, the school bell will still ring in the morning!)
It will feature in a supporting case for our Jane Whyte exhibition which will launch on Sunday, 30th June.
So why might we want to feature an old school bell in our upcoming exhibition? 🤔

It’s never far away...

We were delighted to welcome Lee from Hadfield, Manchester to the Museum today!
Lee is travelling the #NE250 route which takes in Fraserburgh and the Buchan coast! We hope you enjoy visiting our north east corner.
#DiscoverFraserburgh #Fraserburgh48 #NorthEast250

HILLSIDE PRIMARY SCHOOL
‘Mrs Grinling’ and the Collections Manager were delighted to be invited to Hillside Primary School to see the P1/2 assembly yesterday morning.
The children played out ’The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch’ and told us about their recent trip to the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses.
... All the P1s and P2s in the assembly hall were thrilled to see Mrs Grinling again who had read them a story when they visited our Museum.
All the boys and girls did very well, with both guests from Fraserburgh thoroughly enjoying their morning! Well done P1/2!
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The historic Kinnaird Head Lighthouse as seen from Fraserburgh’s glorious beach! So much to see and do in this bonnie wee toon! #DiscoverFraserburgh #Fraserburgh48

We were saddened to learn of the death of well known quizzer Hamish Cameron.
The last time Mr Cameron made the Mastermind final in 2014 his specialist subject was Scottish Lighthouses. As part of that programme he switched on the light at Kinnaird Head during his finalist interview piece. The Museum had to switch the light on...while trying to keep it a secret!
We send our condolences to Mr Cameron’s family. We will be rooting for him on tonight’s Mastermind Grand Final.

We are delighted to be hosting Visit Scotland’s Coo-Van at the Museum today!

While I am sure we can all agree that lighthouses are amazing, there are a number of other interesting things to see in our area.
This blog tells of just 10 mystical and magical sites to visit in and around Fraserburgh!
#VisitScotland #VisitAberdeenshire #DiscoverFraserburgh #NE250 #Scotland

When you come to visit us, don’t forget to bring a camera. 😀
Who knows what they have seen!

As part of our Jane Whyte exhibition we will also feature the story of the 'Veteran', a vessel which was lost in 1874 close to Kinnaird Head Lighthouse. It was another wreck which could not have been prevented by lighthouses, and one which left the crew dependant on the bravery of others.
While Jane Whyte was the only witness to the grounding of SS Wiliam Hope in 1884, practically the entire town of Fraserburgh saw the Veteran wrecked.
Sadly 11 of the Veteran's 21 crew were lost with the vessel. Controversially they may have survived had some been more willing to act! They are commemorated on this 10ft headstone at the Kirkton of Fraserburgh funded by the townspeople of Fraserburgh.

CONGRATULATIONS!
The Manager and all staff at the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses wish to congratulate our Chairman Ron Morrice who was recently recognised at the Aberdeenshire Council Volunteering Awards for 49 years of volunteering!
Since 1970 Ron (centre) has volunteered with various agencies including coaching in swimming and lifesaving, being senior coach of Fraserburgh Swimming Team, Convener of Banff and Buchan's Children's Panel and Director of Crossroads Care Service.... Ron has also been a Trustee here at the Museum for ten years, nearly five of which he has served as Chairman of the Board.
And before all that he was even a light-keeper!
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You may remember a few weeks back we sent our inkwell from the Bell Rock Lighthouse to the Scottish Maritime Museum?
Well this is the result: a very detailed 3D model of the object. Click on the link to see the inkwell from every angle!
Thanks to Marta Pilarska at the Scottish Maritime Museum for all her hard work and #GoIndustrial for providing the opportunity!
... Let us know what you think!
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JANE WHYTE OF ABERDOUR BAY
On Sunday 30th June we open another new exhibition focused on saving life at sea. The exhibition centres on Jane Whyte's story of heroism and explore her motives for risking her own life for the lives of strangers.
The exhibition opens on the 30th June, being accessible to general visitors from the 1st July.