Berwick Lighthouse gets a face-lift - local businesses pitch in to titivate Northumberland landmark

Work on the structure, which stands at the end of the pier on the River Tweed estuary, is expected to be finished in early July.

The lighthouse is privately owned by Berwick Harbour Commissioners and funding for the project has been provided by the town’s Preservation Trust.

But their budget failed to cover the overall costs and so a group of local businesses pooled their resources to bring the job in on target.

Berwick (Borders) Scaffolding provided the scaffolding which currently engulfs the 44ft high structure.

Builder Phil Brown is carrying out pointing on the stonework and is also providing security. Vital Signs are providing the signage. And the painting is being carried out by local painter and decorator, Iain A Grieve, whose other business, the Berwick Decorating Centre, is donating the materials.

The lighthouse, which has stood on the site since 1826, is well known to Iain, as he has twice painted it before, first of all in the mid 1990s and again in 2010.

“It’s an unusual job but when the offer came along to do the job for a third time I couldn’t turn down the opportunity,” he said.

The lighthouse is constantly bashed by high winter waves off the North Sea, but remarkably the paintwork has stood up well over the intervening years.

“The white paint in particular has stood the test of time,” Iain added. “Some of the red paint, particularly around the base, has eroded away, but overall it was not in too bad a condition.

“This has in effect been a community project as a lot of people have come together to get the work done, which is particularly pleasing in the current situation with the coronavirus pandemic. It’s a way of giving something back to this great town of ours.”

Painters Marco Lambert and Kyle Brodie said: “It’s an unusual job for us and is fine if the weather is ok, but it can get a bit windy up there. I don’t suppose there are too many people who have stood on top of the lighthouse roof, and on a good day the views are amazing.”

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