On The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomon’
I couldn’t resist using the first line of one of the most famous Scottish traditional songs, as the title of this post.
But a very significant power station project, is to be undertaken in the area.
These are the opening few sentences of the Wikipedia entry for the Loch Sloy Hydro-Electric Scheme.
The Loch Sloy Hydro-Electric Scheme is a hydro-electric facility situated between Loch Sloy and Inveruglas on the west bank of Loch Lomond in Scotland. It is also within the Arrochar Alps. The site was originally suggested as the location of a huge pumped-storage scheme in 1936 by Edward MacColl, but this was rejected as being uneconomic. After the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board was created in 1943, it became the first of their proposed schemes.
This Google Map shows Loch Lomond and Loch Sloy.
Note.
- Loch Sloy is in the North-West corner of the map.
- Loch Lomond is on the Eastern side of the map.
- The red arrow indicates the main buildings of the LochSloy Hydro-Electric Power Station.
- Loch Sloy is eight-hundred feet above Loch Lomond.
- The total generating capacity of the power station is 152.5 MW.
The facility is operated by Scottish and Southern Energy, and is normally in standby mode, ready to generate electricity to meet sudden peaks in demand. It can reach full capacity within 5 minutes from a standing start.
This second Google Map shows the power station to a larger scale.
Note.
- Loch Sloy is to the North-West of the North-West corner of the map.
- Loch Lomond is on the Eastern side of the map.
- The red arrow indicates the main buildings of the Loch Sloy Hydro-Electric Power Station.
- The four pipes carry water from Loch Sloy to the actual power station.
- The single-track West Highland Line crosses over the four pipes at their South-Eastern end.
The design of Loch Sloy Hydro-Electric Power Station is typical of many hydro-electric stations all over the world.
This third map is an OpenRailwayMap of the area.
Note.
- Loch Sloy is on the Western side of the map.
- Loch Lomond is on the Eastern side of the map.
- The yellow track is the single-track West Highland Line between Glasgow and Mallaig via Fort William
- The blue arrow indicates Ardlui station.
The railway goes close to the power station.
A Platinum Celebration for Sloy Power Station!
The title of this section is the same as this must-read web page on the SSE web site, which dates from 2020.
Sloy Power Station Development Plans
This second must read web page on the SSE web site is entitled Sloy Power Station.
This is the sub-heading.
We’re Proposing To Convert Our Iconic 1950s Hydro Station To Pumped Storage Hydro
This is the introduction to the development.
In April 2025, we submitted a planning application to the Scottish Government to convert the iconic Sloy Power Station into a pumped storage hydro scheme.
Our proposals would bolster energy security and help provide the large-scale and flexible renewable energy back-up needed in a future UK net zero power system, helping meet the UK Government’s ambition of Clean Power by 2030.
If approved for delivery, the converted Sloy scheme would be capable of delivering up to 16GWh of long-duration electricity storage capacity.
It could provide firm, flexible renewable energy for up to 100 hours non-stop.
It appears that the upgraded power station will effectively become a 160 MW/16 GWh long duration energy store.
Currently, the UK’s largest pumped storage power station is the 1727 MW/9.1 GWh Electric Mountain in North Wales.
The updated Sloy power station will have less output, but more storage capacity, than Electric Mountain.
Should There Be A Railway Station At Loch Sloy Power Station?
Google AI gives this answer in reply to “Loch Sloy Railway Station”.
There was never a permanent public railway station called Loch Sloy, but temporary private platforms like Inveruglas railway station and Faslane Platform railway station served the area. These stops were built in 1945 by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) to haul materials and workers—including prisoners of war—for the construction of the Loch Sloy Hydro-Electric Scheme.
Note.
- Surely, similar reasons to those in 1945 could apply to the development of the power station. Materials and workers could be brought in by rail.
- Given, the power station’s historic significance, I believe that it could become a tourist attraction and/or education centre.It could be a stop for the Caledonian Sleeper.
I believe that as time passes, the power station’s historic significance will increase.
Are There Any Other Hydro Power Stations, That Can Be Upgraded To Pumped Storage Hydro?
Google AI can’t find anything at present.
COP26 And Lumo Branding At King’s Cross Station
I took these pictures as I passed through King’s Cross station today.
Note.
- Wilston Samuel Jackson was the first black train driver in the UK.
- Lumo seem to have taken over all of the branding at the station.
There was a generally upbeat atmosphere at the station.
Tips For American Servicemen In Britain During The Second World War
The title of this post, is the same as this page on the Imperial War Museum web site.
These are the first two introductory paragraphs.
In 1942, the first of over 1.5 million American servicemen arrived on British shores in preparation for the Allied offensives against Germany during the Second World War.
That year, the United States’ War Department published Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain to help soldiers, sailors and airmen – many of whom had never travelled abroad before – adjust to life in a new country.
The whole area of the web site is well-worth exploring.
The book, which is entitled Instructions For American Servicemen In Britain 1942 can be purchased from the museum.
History And Future Of The Compressed Air Economy
A reader in Canada has sent me a link to this article on Low Tech Magazine, which has the same title as this post.
This is the introductory sub-title.
Historical compressed air systems hold the key to the design of a low-tech, low-cost, robust, sustainable and relatively energy efficient energy storage medium.
As regular readers of this blog, will have noticed, I regularly post about a company called Highview Power.
This is the introduction from the Wikipedia entry for Highview Power.
Highview Power is a long-duration energy storage pioneer, specialising in cryogenic energy storage. It is based in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has permission for a commercial-scale 50 Megawatt/250 Megawatt-hour plant in England, building upon its earlier 5 Megawatt and 350 Kilowatt pilot plants. It plans to develop a 50MW plant/400MWh (eight hours of storage) in Vermont.
It has over 30 patents developed in partnership with British universities and has won technology funding from the British Government.
In February 2020 Sumitomo Heavy Industries invested $46m in the company.
The article on Low Tech Magazine gives the history of compressed air energy storage (CAES) and is a good background to the subject.
The IRA Bombing Campaign In England Of 1939-1940
When most people think of bombings by the Irish Republican Army, they think of the bombings like 1993 Bishopsgate, 1984 Brighton, 1992 Manchester and 1996 Manchester by the Provisional Irish Republican Army of recent memory.
But there was another campaign in 1939-1940 called S-Plan.
There were three hundred mainly small bombs, seven fatalities and ninety-six injured.
The Tailor Of Bexley
When I had my family traced, the earliest ancestor of mine that could be found was Robert Miller, who was a tailor in Bexley in 1837.
He was found to have had one son; Edward, who was born about 1816 in Bexley, Kent and died in 1871 at Shoreditch.
Linking backwards from the modern day.
My father was Wilfred Ewart born in 1904
My paternal grandfather was Herbert born in 1878 and died in 1929
My paternal great-grandfather was William born in 1853 and died in 1911.
My paternal great-great-grandfather was Edward born in 1816 and died in 1871.
So the tailor of Bexley was my paternal great-great-great grandfather.
My father once told me, that his grandfather, who must have been William, once told him, of a first hand account of Robert the tailor of Bexley, who was his grandfather.
He said that he was German and that he didn’t speak any English. Because of my coeliac disease, which is quite common in East European Jews and his profession, we can probably assume that Robert; the tailor of Bexley was Jewish. My father also told me that the family name was Müller, which had been Anglicised.
Robert Winder in his excellent book; Bloody Foreigners, talks about how many poor Germans came over to London in the early days of the nineteenth century and lived in terrible conditions in the East End of London.
So was Robert one of those poor Germans?
When you dig into your family history, you find professions that are no longer PC. Some of my ancestors were ivory turners and skin dressers in the fur trade.
Uncovering The Past On Thameslink
The definition of archaeology according to the Oxford English Dictionary is.
The study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artefacts and other physical remains.
So perhaps calling digging up an old nineteenth century station is stretching the definition a bit far.
But this report on the BBC web site about the uncovering of the disused Southwark Park station is fascinating none-the-less. This is an extract from the report.
The station was discovered as engineers constructed the Bermondsey Dive Under, which will see two Victorian viaducts partially-demolished and rebuilt to allow trains from south east London and Kent to dive down, under a new route carrying Thameslink services from Croydon.
There’s more here on the Ian Visits site and here on the Thameslink web site. This is a Google Earth image of the area.
Bermondsey Dive-Under
Note The New Den, which is Millwall’s ground and SELCHP incinerator to its right. The image highlights the complicated nature of the lines into London Bridge station. The line that runs between the football ground and the incinerator in a south-easterly direction is the Thameslink line between London Bridge and New Cross Gate. The smaller line that crosses this line at right angles is the Overground line between Surrey Quays and Clapham Junction.
Where this Overground line crosses Surrey Canal Road just off the bottom of this image, construction should start on the new New Bermondsey station later this year.
Southwark Park station was under the tracks , where Rotherhithe New Road crosses underneath.
Snippets From 1862
I’ve just bought a reprint of Bradshaw’s Illustrated Hand Book to London, which was originally published in 1862.
It was bought in Waterstone’s in Islington, as a present for a friend’s birthday, but I spent most of my lunch in Carluccio’s round the corner reading it. It is full of interesting information and some very surprising differences and facts.
1. Nelson’s Column is known as The Nelson Column.
2. The Houses of Parliament is known as the New Houses of Parliament, as it has just been built.
3. The Crystal Palace gets a lot of pages.
4. There is a lot of description of places anyone familiar with London would recognise.
5. Under rules for railway travellers, it says that passengers are forbidden to smoke on trains or in stations. But obviously, it was acceptable for the engines to do this!
6.They also have a table of money of all nations. As Germany wasn’t yet united, they have separate rates for Hamburg, Prussia and the German States. The Swiss rate is given against one of their coins, which was a thirty-two franc.
More details on the book are given here.
Two Blue Plaques In Cable Street
I generally note the blue plaques I pass, as I walk around. This morning, I was on the way to pick something up in the area and passed two.
The Angel Of Cable Street
Hannah Billig seems to have been a remarkable doctor. But then she was awarded a George Medal for courage and bravery in the Blitz and she was called the Angel of Cable Street.
Jack Kid Berg
This plaque to Jack Kid Berg was a hundred metres or so further on. He seemed to have had an good and long life.
I also seem to remember that along with Ted Kid Lewis he was one of my father’s sporting heroes.
Hull Is The New City Of Culture
It has been announced that Hull is going to be the new UK City of Culture.
I’ve only been a couple of times and in everything I’ve read about Hull recently, there is nothing about one thing that impressed me.
And that is the display of Roman mosaic floors in the Museum.
They are in better condition, than most I’ve seen in Europe and North Africa.
The Anonymous Widower 