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View Full Version : Archived: The trail to Laggan Dam, Scotland 2008



Gorecki
25-06-2009, 09:21 AM
Something a bit different...

Laggan Dam is a dam located on the River Spean south west of Loch Laggan in the Scottish Highlands.
The dam is 700 feet (213 metres) long and rises 170 feet (52 metres) above its foundations.
The structure was built by Balfour Beatty for the British Aluminium Company and construction was finished in 1934.

I seen pictures of this and was like WOW ... I HAVE to go take a look.
It's like something James Bond would slide down.

So off I went with Lost & Kate Nash soundtrack to investigate.
Alir147 joined us for the "Massive Release of Water"!!

The drive up to the dam is about 2 - 3 hours from Aberdeen.
It was most spectacular, we passed Waltzing Waters with Carole Vorderman and coach loads of OAP's.

You get to a point, where the scenery changes and you could be in a totally different country, like Norway!
Anyway, we passed what looked like an abandoned petrol station.
Yassssss. So we stopped and it was actually quite cool.
I thought i'd seen it somewhere before, in my dreams perhaps, but then I remembered it was on a band's CD cover. For the life of me I couldn't remember. Thanks to my workboys for doing reserarch, Teenage Fan Club, Song's for Northern Britain :thumb
OK, back to the petrol station. It looked out onto Loch Laggan.
No sign of the dam.

The Black and white photo is mine, I was using my ma's digital camera at the time and thought I was an expert with photoshop, hence B&W....

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg95/Gorecki01/ue1/DSC01722.jpg

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg95/Gorecki01/ue1/DSC01719.jpg

Behind the petrol station was a large house, few smashed windows.
BINGO! Turned out to be an old youth hostel.
In we went and it was all stripped out, and had been painted recently, some tins of paint still lying about.
But one room still had things in it. I called it the Weird room. Old magazine cuttings and newspaper cuttings all over the wall.

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg95/Gorecki01/ue1/1422599201_298131c7a9_o.jpg

Oh, Freezer chest of Death!

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg95/Gorecki01/ue1/1423484794_db251eda29_o.jpg

We went round the back, and there was a HUGE white shed thing.
Hmmmmm..... opened the door and WTF!

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg95/Gorecki01/ue1/1422597871_b125b6f808_o.jpg

Quick snap then get the hell out!

On to the Dam.....

View from the road.
Nice and peaceful.

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg95/Gorecki01/ue1/1424344999_c67cbba7fe_o.jpg

There is a viewing point, quite far back from the dam itself, which is fenced off, but that doesn't stop us!

Steep drop :/

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg95/Gorecki01/ue1/1424343141_f7bbffbcb2_o.jpg

And the massive release of water :D

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg95/Gorecki01/ue1/2292240182_5ea45140d5_o.jpg

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg95/Gorecki01/ue1/2291452747_5678865ed5_o.jpg

What a fun day!