Pladda is an island off the west coast of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It is home to a lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 of the same name.

Geography

Pladda lies off the south coast of Arran

Isle of Arran

Arran or the Isle of Arran is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, and with an area of is the seventh largest Scottish island. It is in the unitary council area of North Ayrshire and the 2001 census had a resident population of 5,058...

 in the Firth of Clyde

Firth of Clyde

The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran.At...

 at .

The island is small, flat, teardrop-shaped island, less than a kilometre along its length and rising to just 27 metres (89 ft) above sea level. Unusually for such a small island it has its own source of fresh water.

The Lighthouse

Pladda Lighthouse dates from 1790 and was designed by Thomas Smith

Thomas Smith (engineer)

Thomas Smith was a Scottish businessman and early lighthouse engineer. Born in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, his father drowned in Dundee harbour when he was young...

. It was the first light on the Clyde to be commissioned by the Commissioners of the Northern Lights

Northern Lighthouse Board

The Northern Lighthouse Board is the General Lighthouse Authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is a non-departmental public body responsible for marine navigation aids around coastal areas.-History:...

. The lighthouse was automated in 1990.

Pladda and its lighthouse feature extensively in Peter Hill

Peter Hill (writer)

Peter Hill is the author of Stargazing: Memoirs of a Young Lighthouse Keeper, a book describing his time as a lighthouse-keeper at the Pladda, Ailsa Craig and Hyskeir lighthouses in 1973. The book was published in 2003 by Canongate Books.-References:...

's book Stargazing: Memoirs of a Young Lighthouse Keeper. The island is currently owned by Derek and Sally Morten from Derbyshire who purchased it in 1989.

Pladda shares its name with Pladda Island a tiny islet situated in the Lynn of Lorn between Lismore

Lismore, Scotland

Lismore is a partially Gaelic speaking island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. This fertile, low-lying island was once a major centre of Celtic Christianity, with a monastery founded by Saint Moluag and the seat of the Bishop of Argyll.-Geography:...

and Ardmucknish Bay.

External links

• Northern Lighthouse Board site on the history of Pladda Lighthouse