Kinlochleven

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Kinlochleven ( Ceann Loch Lìobhann in Gaelic ) is a village in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland and lies at the eastern end of Loch Leven, a sea loch cutting into the western Scottish Highlands. To the north lies the Mamores ridge; to the south lie the mountains flanking Glen Coe. The village was dominated by an aluminium processing plant, powered by a hydroelectric scheme situated in the mountains above.

The hydroelectric scheme was constructed in the 1907 for the British Aluminium Company (later merged with Alcan) and was designed by engineer brothers Patrick and Charles Meik. Chief assistant resident engineer on the project was a young William Halcrow.

The scheme involved the construction of a gravity dam over 914 m long (the longest in the Highlands) and 27 m high, creating the Blackwater Reservoir. It was built at an elevation of over 305 m in rugged and almost inaccessible terrain, and involved the construction of some 6 km of concrete aqueduct and nearly 13 km of steel pipe. It has been described as the last major creation of the traditional 'navvy' whose activities in the construction of canals and railways left an indelible mark on the British countryside.

At its early days the Aluminium Reduction Plant employed some 700 people, but its small size in comparison to modern 'smelters (US)', led to its closure in 2000. The revamping of the power station saw the transfer of its output to the Lochaber Smelter at Fort William. The Kinlochleven Land Development Trust, a partnership consisting the local Community, Alcan, Lochaber Enterprise,The Highland Council and Scottish Natural Heritage, supported by other agencies in Scotland and the European Union and chaired by Highland Councillor Drew McFarlane-Slack led the economic revival of the village. To date environmental improvements, new business pavilions, extensive path works, decontamination works have contributed to successful stability and growth in the village and its surrounding area.

In 1991, the village (according to Annual Census returns) had just over 1000 inhabitants in some 420 households. It has a post office and a handful of hotels and hostels popular with walkers following the West Highland Way. A building, which was formerly a coke bunker for carbon production for the Reduction Works, has now (2004) been transformed into a climbing centre, known as the Ice Factor, and includes the world's highest indoor ice-wall.

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