Year of the Light

Although it was built 200 years ago, the Bell Rock Lighthouse is still considered one of the seven wonders of the Industrial World.

As part of Arbroath's year-long programme of bicentenary celebrations for the lighthouse that is so closely linked to the town, one of the UK's top civil engineers shared his views on the design and construction of the Bellrock Lighthouse at the Year of the Light Lecture, which was held at Angus College, Arbroath, tonight.

It was quite a cosy affair, with around 70 in the audience. The lecture attracted many engineers, architects and design specialists as Prof Paxton is the leading expert in the Stevenson dynasty of engineers.

It attracted me because I'm fascinated by lighthouses and I can see the Bell Rock Lighthouse clearly from my house.

A warm welcome and yummy refreshments greeted us on arrive and this magnificent cake. It was baked by the catering students at the college and is being raffled off. (I so hope I win it, I know just the organisation to give it to)

I had a really great night, and I don't mind admitting that I'm a geek and that I loved learning about the finer points of lighthouse construction, including the importance of cycloidal curves.

It was an amazing feat to engineer such a structure on a reef in the North Sea with little or no technology in 1811. Hats off to Stevenson and Rennie.

The celebrations of the 200th Anniversary of the Bell Rock Lighthouse carry on throughout the year with an Art Exhibition, a Blues Festival and a Regatta. All of which I hope to attend.

I'm also looking to organise a blipper's boat trip to the Bell Rock Lighthouse so if anyone is interested in joining me, let me know.