Loch Shin
Loch Shin is a loch in Sutherland, to the north-east of the small town of Lairg. The loch, which is the largest in the county runs from the north-west to the south-east for 17 miles.[1]
In the 1950s, the level of the loch was raised by over 30 feet by the construction of Lairg Dam[2] by Wimpey Construction as part of a hydro-electric scheme.[3]
Around the loch are some mountain ranges; the 3,273-foot Ben More Assynt in the west and Ben Klibreck (3,154 feet) to the east. The loch drains to the North Sea by way of the short River Shin that feeds into the Dornoch Firth.
Three miles to the north of Lairg is a monument to remember an early attempt to tame the Highlands. During the 1870s, the Duke of Sutherland ploughed up about 2,000 acres, but the industry never rewarded that. Today the area around the loch is one of the major farming centres for sheep in Scotland.
References
- ↑ "Shin, Loch". Gazetteer for Scotland. http://www.scottish-places.info/scotgaz/features/featurefirst2292.html. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ↑ "Lairg Power Station and Dam". RCAHMS. http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/5067/details/lairg+power+station+and+dam/. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ↑ White, p. 32
Sources
- White, Valerie (1980). Wimpey: The first hundred years. George Wimpey.
Outside links
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