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Shira Hydro-Electric Scheme

Commons category link is locally definedHydroelectric power stations in ScotlandPumped-storage hydroelectric power stations in the United KingdomUnderground power stations
Sron Mor Power Station geograph.org.uk 278797
Sron Mor Power Station geograph.org.uk 278797

The Shira Hydro-Electric Scheme is a project initiated by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board to use the waters of the River Shira, the River Fyne and other small streams to generate hydroelectricity. It is located between Loch Fyne and Loch Awe in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland. It consists of three power stations and three impounding dams. The remoteness of the area in which the scheme was built required 15 miles (24 km) of access roads to be built before the main works could begin. The three dams were all of different types; a round headed buttress dam; a concrete gravity and earth fill dam; and the first ever use of a prestressed gravity dam. The construction of the earth fill dam was hindered by four months of extremely wet weather. Clachan was the first large underground power station that the Board built, while Sron Mor was the first implementation of a pumped storage scheme, built in anticipation of the arrival of nuclear power generation. The power stations were commissioned in 1953, 1955 and 1957, in advance of the completion of work on the dams.

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Shira Hydro-Electric Scheme
Manson View,

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N 56.2776 ° E -4.922 °
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PA26 8AB
Scotland, United Kingdom
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Sron Mor Power Station geograph.org.uk 278797
Sron Mor Power Station geograph.org.uk 278797
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Glen Shira
Glen Shira

Glen Shira (Gaelic: Gleann Siara, "Glen of the eternal river") is a glen in Argyll, Scotland at the northern end of Loch Fyne, just to the north of Inveraray. It is a Special Area of Conservation within the UK, bordered by Beinn Bhuidhe on the Glen Fyne side. Glen Shira is named after the River Shira, which runs through the centre of the glen. The river starts in north-east at 350 meter altitude, near the start of the River Fyne. Shira runs into the 5 MW Sron Mor (Big Nose) power station dam, and then for about 7 miles down to and through Loch Dubh (Black Lake) at the base. From there, the waters flow into Loch Shira, a small inlet on Loch Fyne that, in turn, lends its name to the MV Loch Shira ferry. The glen is mostly taken up by a resident's sheep farm, but there are numerous houses within the glen, including Elrigbeg (Eileirig Beag), Elrig More (Eileirig Mór), Kilblaan and Drimlee (at the northern end). There is one single-track road which leads up the glen to the dam. This road splits into an access road (connected across the River Shira by a bridge) which leads to Drimlee.Rob Roy MacGregor lived in Glen Shira for a short time under the protection of John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, also known as Red John of the Battles (Iain Ruaidh nan Cath). Argyll negotiated an amnesty and protection for Rob in 1716, and granted him permission to build a house in upper Glen Shira after disarmament. Records suggest that Rob Roy also constructed a fank for sheep or cattle in the Glen. However, some time after the 1719 Jacobite Rebellion — likely around 1720 — Rob moved to Monachyle Tuarach by Loch Doine, abandoning the structures. Nevertheless, ruins remain extant. Asda also once produced a whisky called Glen Shira, although this had no connection to the actual glen.