Engineers were shocked to find the message inside the wall of a lighthouse in southern Scotland.
Engineers have found a bottle with a 132-year-old message deep within the walls of a marine lighthouse in southern Scotland.
The bottle was found inside the Corsewall lighthouse, at the northernmost point of the Galloway Rhine Peninsula.
Written in pen and ink, the letter dated September 4, 1892 reveals the names of three engineers who installed a new type of light in the 30-meter tower.
It also contains the names of the three lighthouse keepers.
The 20cm bottle was found by Ross Russell, a mechanical engineer with the Northern Lighthouse Council, during an inspection.
He found it after removing panels from a cabinet. The team recovered her using a contraption made from rope and a broomstick.
But they waited for the lighthouse keeper, Barry Miller, to arrive before opening it.
“My God, how grateful I am that they did this,” he says.
The bottle has an unusual convex base, which prevents it from standing upright, and is made of thick glass, full of small air bubbles. It is believed to have contained oil at one point. The cork had expanded over time, stuck to the glass, and the wire holding it in place had rusted and deteriorated.
The men had to cut the top of the cork and drill it very carefully.
The bill initially seemed too large to pull out of the neck of the bottle, so they created a tool using two pieces of wire to twist it through the narrow opening.
Miller, 77, told BBC Scotland his hands were shaking when he opened it.
“It was really exciting, it was like meeting our colleagues from the past. It was really as if they were there,” he says.
“It was like touching them. Like they were part of our team. Instead of just four of us, we were all there sharing what they had written because it was tangible and you could see the style of their handwriting.”
“You knew what they had done. You knew they had hidden her in a place where she wouldn’t be found for a long, long time.”
What does the message say?
Corsewall Fog and Signal Station, 4 September 1892.
This lantern was erected by James Wells, engineer, John Westwood, joiner, James Brodie, engineer, David Scott, labourer, of the firm of James Milne & Son Engineers, Milton House Works, Edinburgh, during the months of May to September and relit in the evening of Thursday 15 September 1892.
At that time in charge of the station were: John Wilson, principal, John B. Henderson, first assistant, John Lockhart, second assistant.
The lens and machine were supplied by James Dove & Co Engineers, Greenside, Edinburgh, and assembled by William Burness, John Harrower and James Dods, engineers of the company mentioned.
“I was completely amazed”
Ross Russell, who found the bottle together with his colleagues Morgan Dennison and Neil Armstrong, says it was an incredible discovery.
“The soundtrack was just sensational, I was completely amazed,” says Ross.
“Being the first person to touch the bottle after 132 years was just mind-blowing.”
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime discovery.”
Engineers went to the 209-year-old lighthouse for a year-long project to test the bearing on which the five-ton lens rotates.
They were trying to look under the floor to see if that section would be able to support the lens while it was out of reach when they found the bottle.
The men who wrote the note in 1892 were at the lighthouse to install a different type of lantern and stained glass window at the top of the tower.
“It was a strange coincidence that we found the note while we were working on the equipment described in the note itself,” Ross said.
The 36-year-old engineer said they plan to replace the note and bottle where they were found, as well as adding a message of their own.
The bottle and note are currently stored at the Northern Lighthouse Board headquarters in Edinburgh.
A descendant of one of the lighthouse keepers says he was delighted with the discovery.
Euan Murray, who grew up 10 miles from Stranraer lighthouse, is the great-grandson of Robert Murray, who worked alongside John Wilson at Corsewall.
“I think it’s really interesting to see a little bit of family history come out of nowhere like this,” he says.
The 32-year-old added: “It’s incredible to think that the work done back then is still very relevant today, even in the age of satellite navigation.”
The Royal Navy’s chief engineer says: “Ships still use these lighthouses for safe navigation on a daily basis.”
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
