A day trip to Cruachan - part 2
We were heading to Cruachan where, a generation ago, some spectacular engineering made what could be described as one of the world's biggest batteries. The power station pumps water up to the dam when electricity is in surplus (usually overnight) and within a minute can turn back to power generation when demand exceeds supply. The water is released back through the tunnels from the loch above to turn the turbines and produce power.
The main turbine halls are 1km in the mountain and we took the tour to see them. It's well worth the trip and the staff are knowledgable and friendly. It starts with a bus ride through the access tunnel and ends overlooking the huge turbine hall, packed with information the whole way through. The cakes in the cafe at the end are worth grabbing too, and you can sit and look out over the water and try and spot the friendly pine marten coming to the feeding station.
With a mantra of supporting local businesses, we also called in at Loch Fyne brewery at the topmost point of the loch its named after. A small brewery with some great ales made locally, they have a nice tap room and shop. A case of 12 for later was chucked in the boot, along with some local honey and a bar of lovely handmade soap!
After turning back down Loch Fyne we also took in a short walk from the main road to the ruined castle across a beautiful boardwalk at Lachlan. Old Castle Lachlan is midway through some work to stabilise and preserve it and is a lovely little walk hugging the edge of the loch, through wildflowers to the ruin. After exploring the little castle we sat on the rocks overlooking the water and watched the cute little oyster catchers zipping past with their shrill calls. The walk in the warmth of the sunshine, back to the car was just stunning.
Then a short drive (10 miles) back to home. We were driving considerately along our single track road (6 miles in length - and our house halfway along it) as there are sheep literally everywhere. We're also mindful that, particularly at dusk, there are larger things on the road (deer) that would make a right mess! The farmers, we guess, have given up trying to keep the sheep in the fields and in fairness, there isn't much traffic (and most of it is local so know that there are sheep everywhere!).
Liz slowed right down to let a mum and lamb get out of the way and saw the mum run and hop up the embankment off the road. The lamb followed suit, but after the hop, skip and jump it ...disappeared! She jumped out of the car only to see the lamb, bleating pathetically, at the bottom of a gully. The lamb had misjudged the jump and fallen into the stream and was in danger of running, or getting washed, into the culvert under the road. So John hopped down, with dad assisting from the bank to catch, and lifted the lamb up and out. It's really strange going from being townies to quite country in such a short space of time! We were so happy to be able to make sure mum and lamb were reunited safely.
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