Engineer Finds Bottle with 130-Year-Old Message in Scottish Lighthouse

In Scotland, a bottle with a message left there in 1892 was found in the wall of the 209-year-old Corsewall Lighthouse, the BBC reports.

The discovery was made by engineer Ross Russell while inspecting the lighthouse. The team of engineers had to check the support on which the five-tonne lens of the lighthouse rotated. The specialists removed several panels of the wall to make sure it was strong enough. Then Russell caught sight of a bottle, but he couldn't reach it.

He and his colleagues made a device out of a rope and a broom handle that helped them reach the bottle.

It turned out that the glass vessel had an unusual convex base, which made it impossible to stand upright. It was also made of rough glass, full of tiny air bubbles.

The bottle's stopper was cork, so it expanded over time and stuck to the glass. So the team of engineers, together with lighthouse keeper Barry Miller, had to cut off the top of the cork and carefully drill it out.

The letter inside the bottle seemed too large to be pulled through the neck. He managed to get the message out by scrolling through two pieces of cable.

Barry Miller, 77, admitted that his hands were shaking as he unwrapped the message.

The letter was dated 4 September 1892. It was written 132 years ago in pen and ink to tell the names of three engineers who installed a new type of light in the lighthouse's 30-metre-high tower.

The authors also mention the names of the three guards who were in the lighthouse during the work.

‘It was so exciting and like meeting our colleagues from the past,’ Barry Miller shared his memories.

The people who wrote the message in 1892 were at the lighthouse to install a different type of lantern and glazing on top of the tower.

‘It was an amazing coincidence to find the note while working with the equipment described in the note,’ said Ross Russell.

Now the team of engineers plans to write their own message and hide it in the lighthouse in a new bottle next to the previous one.

The 1892 note is currently stored at the Northern Lighthouse Board's headquarters in Edinburgh.

Euan Murray, 32, a descendant of a former lighthouse keeper, found out about the historic message.

‘It's really interesting to see a part of family history suddenly coming to light. It's amazing to know that the work they (the lighthouse keepers - ed.) did back then is still relevant even in the age of satellite navigation,’ he said.

According to the Chief Engineer of the Royal Navy, ships still use lighthouses for safe navigation.