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May 2021

"Nestled on the western shores of Loch Lomond, Inveruglas is a charming hamlet well worth discovering", they say.

Argyll and Bute Coat of Arms

Nestled on the western shores of Loch Lomond, Inveruglas is a charming hamlet well worth discovering, alright, but more on that in a minute. It's a stop-worthy spot four-fifths of the way up but not just for the lavs that have been laid on for your convenience.

Nor for the waterbus, neither, which no longer seems to exist[1] and was a far more preferable way to Inversnaid than by road. No, it's worthy of a stop, perhaps, for an eye-catching item of construction that really is quite a piece of work.

[1] Or perhaps it always went from Tarbet?

There aren't too many spots to gaze down back at the loch but the promontory here is perfect so they've gone and stuck a wooden viewpoint on it.

They being the good folk behind the Scottish Scenic Routes initiative and An Ceann Mor[1], a structure in pyramidic form from up which there's a better sense of your surroundings.

Inveruglas - An Ceann Mor

That may be Lomond, the Ben, still smothered in snow in early May or Lomond, the Loch, and the near 20 miles of freshwater down to its base in Balloch.

From Inveruglas - Ben Lomond
From Inveruglas - Loch Lomond

[1] 'Large headland' is pushing it a bit, mind.

Impressive enough, for sure, but that was just a ruse to distract you from the main attraction, at least it is if you're a middle-aged man.

Inveruglas - Looking West
Inveruglas - Sloy Power Station

Look behind you and no, not there, further round to your right, where there's only the largest 'conventional' hydro-electric power station in the UK, whatever that means exactly.

Four large pipes and a 900-foot drop power the turbines all fed from a dam up at Loch Sloy, well into the hills and over two miles away. Some tunnelling was required at a cost of 21 lives before HRH Queen Mum cut the cable in 1950 following five years of construction.

That's one big phew for the fact fans and you can huff and puff your way up to it if you're that way inclined and this was indeed done in the pre-digital-snap past, honestly.

Just not today, have you seen the forecast? There's more rain on the horizon and this thing will soon be brimming enough to keep Glasgow fully lit for the foreseeable.

;