COVESEA lighthouse in Moray defied attempts by the Soviet Union to use it as a spy post in the Cold War.
Now, two decades after the fall of the Iron Curtain, an observation platform may be built which would allow tourists a bird's eye view of RAF Lossiemouth.
It is one of the plans put forward by members of a community buyout of the 167-year-old lighthouse, which moved a step closer after the Scottish Government gave the go-ahead for the bid.
They now have six months to raise £270,000 before the lighthouse – which was switched off this year after a review by the Northern Lighthouse Board – goes back on the market.
Built by Alan Stevenson, uncle of Robert Louis Stevenson, Covesea sits on a prominent position on the southern shore of the Moray Firth and is seen from all around.
But as well as a panoramic seaward aspect, it enjoys views over the RAF fast jet base, which locals believe could be exploited.
RAF Lossiemouth, saved from closure last year, houses three Tornado GR4 squadrons and a Sea King Search & Rescue Flight.
It will be Scotland's only RAF base when Leuchars in Fife becomes an army base, with its Typhoons leaving for Lossiemouth next year.
Tony Rook of the Lossiemouth Business Association said: "Because of its position we want to incorporate a viewing platform."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article