A Apt Blip for Today in Aberdeen

Well the weather today has been minging to say the least. It has been foggy and rainy all day and I new there could only be one thing to blip today and that was the " Torry Coo". Below is a write up on the Foghorn itself.


Foghorn The current foghorn, known affectionately as the ?Torry Coo? (owing to its low sonorous tones) was completed in 1902 and replaced an earlier foghorn which was located to the east of the current structure. The foghorn, like the lighthouse, was once an invaluable aid to navigation.The siren itself is a cylindrical type.The Aberdeen Daily Journal published the following account on 25 March 1902 of how the horn worked.

?Compressed air escapes from tanks into the perforated syren while it rotates and there are thus produced every two minutes four blasts-two high and two low notes. For the purpose of producing the compressed air? three oil engines, each of 25 horse power, are used, and these are housed in a commodious stone erection within the grounds of the Lighthouse Commissioners surrounding the lighthouse. Each of the engines produces air up to a pressure of about 30lb per square inch, and it is conveyed to the tanks through pipes and there stored.Three of these tanks are situated within the engine-house, and are capable of containing 135 cubic feet. From the tanks to the feeders at the horn house the air is conveyed in pipes, and by an automatic arrangement is discharged in the syren with ear splitting effect??

The horn was worked by a man who was posted on outlook duty and its plant was supplied by James Dove and Co., contracting engineers from Edinburgh. Although it has not been used for many years it retains a special place in the hearts of people from Torry and is a striking addition to the rugged coastal landscape of this area.