By: Blonde One
There has always been much debate over the industrialisation of our pastoral landscape. Opinions are usually quite strong, whether for or against. Whatever we feel, adding mans handiwork to a beautiful landscape is here to stay. We will always have to either put up with or enjoy the benefits of some kind of attempt to harness nature.
In Scotland this harnessing sometimes takes the form of using the power of water. The small town of Kinlochleven has had a history of aluminium smelting since 1909. Water is drawn from the Blackwater Reservoir and carried 5 miles over open moorland through pipes which were constructed by a combination of British soldiers and German prisoners of war during the first world war. The aluminium smelting plant was closed in 2000 when it had the claim of being the oldest and smallest smelter. The pipes are magnificent up close but even more impressive when seen from a distance.
The electricity that is generated today is used by the aluminium smelting plant in Fort William or sold to the National Grid. Whether we like it or not, these pipes are a very important part of Scottish history and current economic status. I, for one, love their majesty and am impressed by the feat of engineering that went into their construction and still goes into their maintenance.
D’accord! Here is a snippet from my Welsh boundary walk log about Milford Haven:
“Interesting walking today with the petro-chemical import industry slapped onto an area of outstanding beauty, within the huge natural harbour of Milford Haven. I crossed, on strange metal bridges, series of huge pipes running in elegant lines leading from tankers moored at jetties. The pipes lead to huge cylindrical storage tanks. As a failed plumber, I have respect for anybody who can make pipes go where they want, and there is a symmetry to all this which I appreciate, but others may not”
I’m always fascinated by the projects that were carried out by P.O.W.s, both WW1 & WW2. Years ago I was chatting to an Italian radio ham in morse and found that he had been part of the group who dug and built the beautiful open drainage ditches that carry the stream through Willoughby, a village close to where I was living. They give the village a character all its own and are an important flood defence.
We have ‘Conchies Road’ on Dartmoor which was built by conscientious objectors during WW1 (many were housed in Dartmoor Prison). French prisoners of war worked on the Devonport Leat in the 1800s … all that Dartmoor history again!