During 
the 19th century, up until about 1870, thousands of people were moved from their homes in the infamous Highland Clearances, t
o make room for sheep grazings. During the 19th century, up until about 1870, thousands of people were moved from their homes in the infamous Highland Clearances, to make room for sheep grazings. Almost 100 years later, a second round of clearances took place, this time to permit the flooding of highland glens for hydro–electric schemes to feed the demands of post-war cities to the south of the Highlands. This glen, a valley with hitherto good grazing land, was flooded in the 1950s as part of the Conon hydro scheme to provide cheap hydro-electricity for cities further south. Burns that would normally have flowed to the Atlantic were diverted into Loch Droma and thence to Loch Glas
carnoch, from where tunnels were blasted through the hills to Loch Luichart and from there to Loch Achonachie where the waters power turbines in Torr Achilty power station. Families that had lived here for generations were evicted: houses and farms were burned and blown up, roads and bridges were destroyed. The old road through the glen can still be seen dipping into the upper reaches of Loch Glascarnoch, only to reappear at the foot of the dam and then lead to the A
ultguish Inn half a mile away. It is a forlorn reminder of the lives that existed here before our incessant greed for power flooded the glen. Today this area is under renewed threat: there are plans for a windfarm on the hills to the south of the loch, and there is great debate on whether a line of pylons should march across Dirrie More, carrying yet more electricity from proposed windfarms in the Western Isles to the central belt.