Lighthouse of the Week, March 18-24, 2018: Ailsa Craig, Scotland

This week the Lighthouse of the Week was inspired by an Image of the Day from the NASA Earth Observatory.  I like taking a look at that site frequently, because it has a lot of different images, a new one each day (as you might be able to guess).

So, this one showed a small island off the coast of Scotland, named Ailsa Craig.  I fully admit I had never heard of this place before.  It appears that every four years, it briefly becomes noted, because the granite from this island is the stone from which curling stones are made, and every four years the world pays attention to curling in the Winter Olympics.  (By the way, that's not fair to curling, which is a fascinating sport.  But hey, hardly anyone plays it.)

Curling stone









From Scottish magma to Sochi ice: the geologic history of curling stones


So, here's an article about Ailsa Craig and the curling stones.  Sochi 2014:  the island providing Olympic stones of destiny

Here's a picture of the barge being loaded with the granite used for the curling stones.  They do this about every ten years or so, getting 2,000 tons at a time.

Now, it is not the reason Ailsa Craig is famous (obviously), but the island also has a lighthouse, and the lighthouse still has a Fresnel lens.

So, here are pictures of the lighthouse on Ailsa Craig, island of curling stones.