This afternoon, after a bit of research into the lighthouses in Ayr, we took a quick spin over to the town while in the area. I had previously been to Ayr on my 2012 tour. On that trip I had walked out to the lighthouse on the pier and seen the two lights on the north of the river from the south bank. I had also taken a picture of the structure on the end of the breakwater, which appeared at that point to have a small enclosed section on top of the framework base.

Discussion about access to the two range lighthouses north of the river had brought about our visit. While I had said that the area in which the two lighthouses are located is private, Bob (though not disagreeing with me) felt that it was possible to get to them. I think this says a lot about our different approaches to “bagging”. Maybe it has something to do with my being from England where “private” means private, and Bob’s Scottish heritage – in Scotland the freedom to roam means you can go almost anywhere. Anyway, there was only one way to settle this particular debate!

So that is how we came to be in Ayr. With regards to the lights on the north bank, it wasn’t quite as easy to prove Bob wrong than I had anticipated. They currently have roadworks, meaning that there is no way of accessing the lighthouses anyway at the moment, regardless of what the usual arrangement is.

We then headed over to the south bank and I took a stroll out to the lighthouse on the end of the south pier. It quickly became apparent that there had been changes afoot on the breakwater as the light structure no longer features an enclosed area. It is now simply a framework tower with a light on a post on top.

Since my 2012 visit, the light on the end of the south pier has had a bit of attention and is looking good. The tower contains two lights, one near the top as you would expect, and another half way up. When you stand in front of the lighthouse you can get a picture of it alongside the much-debated range lights. Goes very nicely with blue skies!

After I’d returned to the car near the south pier Bob had another try at accessing the range lights via an alternative route. This was where we finally managed to come to some sort of agreement about getting close to the lighthouses. A large sign further north at the other entrance to the port states clearly that there is no unauthorised access. So that settled that then – or so I thought. Not wanting to entirely admit I was right, Bob had to get the last word: “I’m sure you could arrange to get in there with the port authority.” The annoying thing is he may well be right! 🙂