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93-430: In the 1930s several schemes were proposed to develop hydro-electric power in the north of Scotland. These met with opposition by landowners, sporting interest and the coal mining industry on the grounds of competition. There was also opposition from official sources. Plans to build a power station at Kinlochleven for the benefit of the aluminium industry were shelved when Inverness County Council refused to allow water from

186-486: A Ministry of Health ; after the election he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (an unpaid assistant to a minister, a traditional first rung on the political ladder) to the first Minister of Health, Christopher Addison . After the collapse of the coalition government in 1922, Wood was offered no post in the Conservative government formed by Bonar Law . As a backbencher, Wood successfully introduced

279-649: A privy councillor in 1928. In 1930 he was elected as the first chairman of the executive committee of the National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations . When the National Government was formed by Ramsay MacDonald in 1931, Wood was made Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education . After the general election of November 1931 he was promoted to the office of Postmaster General . The position did not entail automatic membership of

372-448: A quango , and he set up an independent committee to advise him on this. The committee recommended that the GPO should remain a department of state, but adopt a more commercial approach. Under Wood the GPO introduced reply paid arrangements for businesses, and set up a national teleprinter service. For the telephone service, still mostly dependent on manual operators, the GPO introduced

465-671: A cabinet committee … The Treasury's main jobs were to finance the war with as little inflation as possible, to conduct external financial policy so as to secure overseas supplies on the best possible terms, and to take part in planning for the post-war period." Wood was Chancellor, as Jenkins notes, "for the forty key months of the Second World War". He presented four budgets to Parliament . His first, in July 1940, passed with little notice, and brought into effect some minor changes planned by his predecessor. Of more long-lasting impact

558-599: A capacity of 7.1 GWh. There were two steam power stations in 1958. There were nine diesel fuelled power stations in 1958. The supply of electricity was through the Highland Grid operating at 132 kV. In 1958 this comprised 1,630 circuit miles with 31 substations. The total length of all mains was 17,369 circuit miles. By April 1989 there were 1,053 miles (1,694 km) of 275 kV lines; 2,115 miles (3,403 km) of 132 kV lines; and 27,550 miles (44,340 km) of lines operating at less than 132 kV. Supply to customers

651-482: A capacity of four million units (kilowatt-hours per year) to huge schemes such as that at Glen Affric, with a capacity of 440 million units. The capacity of all the schemes combined was estimated to be 6,274 million units, which was considerably more than the 4,000 million units suggested by the Cooper Committee. MacColl wanted to ensure that no scheme could later be rejected because it had not been included in

744-713: A civil engineer who had been involved with hydro-electric schemes in Galloway in the 1930s; and John A. Cameron of the Scottish Land Court . Prior to the committee meeting, Cooper was sceptical of its aims, believing that most of the feasible hydro-electric schemes in Scotland had been explored by the Snell Committee, which met between 1918 and 1921. With the exception of the Glen Affric scheme and

837-646: A few weeks; the downfall of Chamberlain affected Wood in an unexpected way. In May 1940, as a trusted friend, Wood told Chamberlain "affectionately but firmly" that after the debacle of the British defeat in Norway and the ensuing Commons debate , his position as Prime Minister was impossible and he must resign. He also advised Winston Churchill to ignore pressure from those who wanted Lord Halifax , not Churchill, as Chamberlain's successor. Chamberlain agreed to resign on 9 May, but considered going back on his decision

930-572: A member of Parliament since the 1920s, was appointed as Regional Commissioner for Civil Defence for Scotland. In 1941, Winston Churchill , who was by then Prime Minister, having failed to convince Johnston to accept a post in London, asked him to be Secretary of State for Scotland. He agreed, providing that he could form a Council of State consisting of all five of the former Secretaries of State who were still alive. If they could agree on an issue affecting Scotland, Johnston would look to Churchill to support

1023-799: A member of the London County Council (LCC) at a by-election on 22 November 1911, representing the Borough of Woolwich for the Municipal Reform Party . His importance in the field of insurance grew over the next few years; his biographer Roy Jenkins has called him "the legal panjandrum of industrial insurance". He chaired the London Old Age Pension Authority in 1915 and the London Insurance Committee from 1917 to 1918,

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1116-503: A mile long linked the pier and the smelter. The Kinlochleven area is home to many protected species, including tawny owls , barn owls , European pine martens , pipistrelle bats and otters . A hybrid wildcat was captured on film in 2018. White-tailed eagles are regularly seen, while stags regularly walk through the village. Golden eagles have been seen in the mountains surrounding the village. Kingsley Wood Sir Howard Kingsley Wood (19 August 1881 – 21 September 1943)

1209-549: A mountaineers' cafe and a shop stocking gifts and mountaineering and camping equipment. Due to its contribution to the local economy it secured several awards, including Visit Scotland Thistle Awards for Tourism Excellence and a Green Apple Award as Best Environmental Business Europe. Ice Factor was the base for the Skyline Scotland races in 2016. Ice Factor closed in March 2023 following an unpaid rent dispute, but

1302-470: A new Giant Outdoor Aerial Adventure Course was added. Throughout the year Ice Factor also offers bespoke guided days on the local mountains of Glen Coe and Ben Nevis ; each winter it ran specialist winter skills and mountaineering courses. The centre was also an important staging post on the West Highland Way, providing facilities for walkers, including a bar, sauna and steam room. It also had

1395-503: A partnership consisting of the local community, (Rio Tinto) Alcan , Lochaber Enterprise, 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 and decontamination works have contributed to growth in

1488-499: A programme of building new automated exchanges. For the postal service, the GPO built up a large fleet of motor vehicles to speed delivery, with 3,000 vans and 1,200 motor-cycles. Wood was a strong believer in publicity; he set up an advertising campaign for the telephone system which dramatically increased the number of subscribers, and he established the GPO Film Unit which gained a high aesthetic reputation as well as raising

1581-508: A rock, inadvertently hitting a buried explosive charge which drove his pick into his neck and killed him. This incident was recorded as happening to an Inverness man in April 1908. The British Aluminium Company was merged in 1982 with the Canadian company Alcan to form British Alcan. In November 2007, British Alcan was acquired by Rio Tinto and became Rio Tinto Alcan . In its early days

1674-442: A store, banking and post office facilities. A visitor centre, "The Aluminium Story", tells the story of the creation of the village to serve the aluminium smelting facility. There is a hostel, microlodge facility and campsite close to the river. It has eight microlodges comprising a mixture of two and four berth accommodation. There are toilets, showers and dishwashing facilities. The refurbished hostel building, located on Lab Road,

1767-639: A wide range of organisations, including the Central Electricity Board , the Electricity Commission , fishery boards, local authorities, estate owners and even the Royal Scottish Automobile Club. The committee published their report on 15 December 1942, and it was quite remarkable, not least for its clarity and lack of ambiguity. It was systematic, analytical and realistic, causing Johnson to tell

1860-813: Is a coastal village located in Lochaber , in the Scottish Highlands and lies at the eastern end of Loch Leven . To the north lie the Mamores ridge; to the south lie the mountains flanking Glen Coe . The village was formed from two previously separate small communities – Kinlochmore to the north of the River Leven in Inverness-shire and Kinlochbeg to the south of the Leven in Argyll – following

1953-478: Is a notable tourist destination and centre for mountain pursuits. Work on the dam and water supply system began in 1905 and was completed in 1907. The hydro-electric scheme was constructed for the British Aluminium Company and was designed by engineer brothers Patrick and Charles Meik . The chief assistant resident engineer on the project was a young William Halcrow . The scheme involved

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2046-618: Is a significant network of mountain biking and hiking trails, and the Ice Factor National Ice Climbing Centre, one of the top five visitor attractions in the highlands. The West Highland Way attracts over 85,000 walkers each year and plays a vital role in the Kinlochleven economy. An economic impact assessment of Mountaineering confirms the value to the highlands to be £163.7m each year, and because of this there has been continued support to expand

2139-468: The Ministry of Health from 11 November 1924 to 4 June 1929, becoming friends and firm political allies. They worked closely together on local government reform, including a radical updating of local taxation, the " rates ", based on property values. Wood's political standing was marked by his appointment as a civil commissioner during the general strike of 1926, and, unusually for a junior minister, as

2232-462: The National Trust for Scotland , to make the Board's job more difficult. The final report acknowledged the serious objections to the scheme, and examined them against the public interest. It stated that the scheme must stand or fall as a whole, and that despite some possible damage to amenities, the project should proceed. Following the decision of the tribunal, an order to confirm the scheme

2325-564: The Phoney War , and during this time he limited RAF activity to dropping propaganda leaflets rather than strategic bombing . When Leo Amery urged him to destroy the Black Forest with incendiary bombs in reaction to the invasion of Poland , he is said to have replied "Are you aware it is private property ?... Why, you will be asking me bomb Essen next!" By early 1940, Wood was worn out by his efforts, and Chamberlain moved him to

2418-593: The Scottish Highlands . The village lies at the head of the fjord-like Loch Leven and is surrounded on three sides by steep mountains. There are 10 Munro mountains (mountains over 3,000 feet or 914.4 metres) in the Mamores above Kinlochleven with Binnein Mor the highest. Indeed, the area around and above Kinlochleven contains more wild mountain land than all of the mountain national parks in England and Wales combined. There

2511-597: The UK electricity supply industry was nationalised in 1948, the board took over the assets of the Grampian Electricity Supply Company and other bodies producing electricity in the northern part of Scotland, these were: Campbeltown and Mid-Argyll, Crieff, Dunoon and District, Loch Leven, North of Scotland, Peterhead, Stornoway, Thurso and District, Dundee, Aberdeen, Perth, Inverness, Buckie, Lossiemouth, Branderburgh and Oban Corporations. One of

2604-569: The 1943 act because its scope was too limited. The deputy chairman and chief executive was Edward MacColl , an engineer with wide experience of hydro-electric projects and electrical distribution networks. His was the only full-time post. Neil Beaton had previously been a member of the Cooper Committee, Hugh Mackenzie was the Provost of Inverness, and the final member was the Central Electricity Board nominee, Walter Whigham, who

2697-480: The 1960s. By 1968 the installed capacity of all conventional hydro-electric power stations operated by North of Scotland Board was 1047.06 MW, and the total average annual output was 2911.4 GWh. See main article: Cruachan Power Station The Cruachan power station (also known as the Cruachan Dam) is a pumped-storage hydroelectric power station commissioned in 1965. It can provide 440 MW of power and has

2790-808: The Amenity Committee, the Fishery Committee and the Electricity Commissioners, the Loch Sloy scheme was opposed by several county councils and some private individuals, raising the same issues that had prevented development of hydro-electric power in the Highlands for many years. An inquiry, chaired by John Cameron KC, was held in Edinburgh, which lasted for six days. The Board had done themselves no favours by moving

2883-568: The Board to do its job, then they should not set it up in the first place. His amendment was later withdrawn when the Lord Advocate agreed to amend the bill at its committee stage, based on the objections raised during the debate. The bill was received enthusiastically in the House of Lords, where it was presented by Lord Alness. There was widespread support for the measures, and particular praise for Tom Johnson. Lord Airlie stated that speed

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2976-537: The Development Scheme. Guthrie Brown, one of the Panel of Technical Advisers, later wrote of his amazement at MacColl's detailed knowledge of so vast an area and its potential for water power. While Johnston was still fighting the political battle to save the Board from Lloyd George's reorganisations, MacColl wanted to begin building a scheme to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Board. He chose Loch Sloy as

3069-530: The Electricity Commissioners approved the scheme on 7 February 1945, but the Amenity Committee and the Fisheries Committee both wanted parts of it omitted. When it was published by the Secretary of State, there were 25 formal objections, with Perthshire County Council, riparian owners and the residents of Pitlochry leading the opposition. Johnston decided that a tribunal was necessary to consider

3162-693: The Exchequer , Sir John Simon , whom Churchill detested. Another may have been Wood's record of working well with politicians from other parties. In peacetime, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is often the most important member of the cabinet after the Prime Minister, but the exigencies of the war reduced the Chancellor's precedence. The Treasury temporarily ceased to be the core department of government. In Peden's words, "Non-military aspects of policy, including economic policy , were co-ordinated by

3255-522: The GPO's profile. Most importantly, Wood transformed the senior management of the GPO and negotiated a practical financial deal with HM Treasury . The civil service post of Secretary to the Post Office was replaced by a director general with an expert board of management. The old financial rules, by which all the GPO's surplus revenue was surrendered to the Treasury had long prevented reinvestment in

3348-492: The Highlands. Despite the clear vision of the original report, large numbers of checks were added to the bill, requiring parliamentary approval at every stage of implementation, to the extent that James Henderson-Stewart of East Fife, who represented the Liberal National Party, moved an amendment to attempt to free the Board from such bureaucratic interference, arguing that if Parliament was not going to trust

3441-571: The Highlands. In October, the Committee on Hydro-Electric Development in Scotland was set up, although it was generally known as the Cooper Committee, after its chairman Lord Cooper . Other members of the committee were William Douglas Weir , an engineer who had helped to plan Britain's national power grid in the 1920s; Neil Beaton , chairman of the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society ; James Williamson,

3534-410: The House of Commons that it was 'by common consent, a masterly production and a model of terse, constructive and courageous draftsmanship.' It argued that state policy had for over twenty years discouraged or prohibited private enterprise from developing the water resources of the Highlands, and had failed to produce its own strategy, resulting in deepening depression gripping the region. It suggested that

3627-419: The House of Commons, Johnson stated that the bill was a 'partial remedy' for the malaise of the Highlands, which was 'rapidly bleeding to death' as a result of outward migration. He emphasised that surplus power would be sold to the national grid, to defray the costs of distribution in remote rural areas, and that the new Board would be responsible for economic development and social improvement of large swathes of

3720-740: The Hydro-Electric Board was excluded from them. Some initial work under the act was carried out by civil servants, but the board took office in January 1944, and moved into a permanent office in Rothesay Terrace, Edinburgh a few weeks later. MacColl knew how to build up new organisations, and assembled a group of enthusiastic engineers around him, all of whom were relatively young. It was a fairly small team, and they were always over-worked. MacColl then invited five engineers, drawn from major engineering consultancies, to consider how

3813-714: The River Spey and River Laggan to cross the county border into Argyllshire . In 1938, the Caledonian Water Power bill was defeated in Parliament. This would have allowed a private company to build hydro-electric schemes in the Highlands, and its defeat was welcomed by the Inverness Courier , whose editorial proclaimed: The opponents of [the Bill] have been falsely represented as being opposed to

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3906-553: The Scottish Office also worked to understand potential opposition to the scheme, noting that the most likely group to oppose it would be the Coal Owners Association, who had a powerful influence in Parliament. By the time it was put before Parliament, Johnson had obtained cross party support from eight Cabinet Ministers, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Kingsley Wood . At its second reading in

3999-590: The Summer Time Bill of 1924. This measure, passed in the teeth of opposition from the agricultural lobby, provided for a permanent annual summer time period of six months from the first Sunday in April to the first Sunday in October. When Baldwin succeeded Law in 1924, Wood was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health , as junior minister to Neville Chamberlain . The two served at

4092-490: The West Highland scheme, both of which had failed to gain parliamentary approval, the only schemes left to pursue were small and unlikely to be viable. He initially dismissed the subsequent Hilleary Report as amateurish, but careful study of it convinced him that some action could be taken. Despite the wartime conditions, the committee devoted the first half of 1942 to researching existing documentation and consulting with

4185-657: The aims of the act could be implemented. This constituted the Panel of Technical Advisers, and they became an important and permanent part of the board's activities for fifteen years. The headquarters of the board in Rothesay Terrace, Edinburgh were located outside the board's operating area. The 1943 act specified the management board was to comprise a chairman and not less than four and not more than eight members. The board in 1958 comprised Thomas Johnston (chairman), Sir Hugh Mackenzie (deputy chairman), Sir John Erskine, Sir George McGlashan, A. I. Mackenzie, A. Macrae, I. A. Duncan Millar, William Hughes, and John Jardine. When

4278-604: The aluminium reduction plant employed some 700 people. Although producing some of the highest grade aluminium, its small size in comparison to modern US smelters led to its closure in June 2000. The associated hydro-electric plant was converted into a general purpose power station connected to the National Grid. Kinlochleven is the penultimate stop on the West Highland Way and an important tourism destination in

4371-650: The board was first constituted it owned only two power stations: the oil-fired stations at Kirkwall on Orkney and Rothesay on the Isle of Bute . The following hydro-electric stations were operational prior to nationalisation. Some were transferred to the South of Scotland Board. The principal schemes constructed by the board were: In 1958 the following hydro-electric stations were in operation: Hydro-electric power stations under construction in 1958 were: The following additional hydro-electric stations were commissioned in

4464-597: The bridge across the river. A major mountain activity centre, the Ice Factor, opened to the public in 2003. It was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on 5 June 2005. It includes the biggest indoor ice climbing wall in the world, the UK's highest indoor articulated rock climbing wall and a competition bouldering wall voted the best in the UK. Ice Factor catered for climbers and adventure seekers of all ages and abilities, from beginner to expert. In 2010

4557-548: The business; Wood negotiated a new arrangement under which the GPO would pay an agreed annual sum to the Treasury and keep the remainder of its revenue for investment. When MacDonald was succeeded as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by Baldwin in 1935, Wood was appointed Minister of Health . Despite its title, the Ministry was at that time at least as concerned with housing as with health. Under Wood, his biographer G. C. Peden writes, "the slum clearance programme

4650-504: The cabinet, but Wood was made a cabinet member in 1933. As minister in charge of the General Post Office (GPO), Wood inherited an old-fashioned organisation, not equipped to meet the needs of the 1930s. In particular its management of the national telephone system, a GPO monopoly, was widely criticised. Wood considered reconstituting the whole of the GPO, changing it from a government department to what would later be called

4743-476: The case for the Tummel–;Garry scheme and to explain the way in which the board operated. There were some who felt that there was no need for hydro-electric power at all, because it would soon be superseded by atomic power. In summary, Lord Westwood, the leader of the house, spoke in favour of the Board and Lord Kinnaird's motion was rejected, allowing the Board to continue. Lord Westwood also stated during

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4836-554: 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

4929-444: The construction of an aluminium smelter and associated housing for its employees. The processing plant was powered by a hydroelectric scheme situated in the mountains above, and made Kinlochleven the first village in the world to have every house connected to electricity, coining the phrase "The Electric Village". In 1991, the village (according to annual census returns) had just over 1000 inhabitants in some 420 households. Today it

5022-426: The construction of canals and railways left an indelible mark on the British countryside. The construction of the Blackwater Dam and the associated aluminium smelter featured in the novel Children of the Dead End by Patrick MacGill who worked on the project as a navvie. Some incidents in the book were based on actual characters and events on the Blackwater site; for example, one morning a worker drove his pick into

5115-460: The construction of three dams, the first near Trinafour to create Loch Errochty along the course of a stream called Errochty Water, a tributary of the River Garry . This would feed a power station near the head of Loch Tummel . The second dam would be built across the River Tummel upstream of the Falls of Tummel, and would feed Clunie power station, located below the falls. The level of Loch Tummel would be 17 feet (5.2 m) higher. The third dam

5208-418: The debate that all objections to the Fannich scheme, on the River Conon in Ross-shire , had been withdrawn, and the scheme would therefore proceed. The board's generating capacity was mainly provided by the construction of "schemes" of linked hydro-electric stations, with multiple generators located across one or more catchment area . There were also steam driven and diesel engine driven power stations. When

5301-449: The development of water power and the introduction of industry in every shape and form. Nothing could be further from the truth. What we ... maintain is that there shall be no further development of the water power resources of the Highlands until a Committee is set up by the Government to enquire into [how] ... these water resources should be developed for the benefit of the Highlands. When World War II broke out, Tom Johnston , who had been

5394-410: The existing long-distance hiking and biking trails. This has seen new developments, such as the Great Glen Way and the Stevenson Way, which follows the route of Alan Breck Stewart and Jamie Balfour as they flee pursuing redcoats in the Kidnapped novel. There are various accommodation options including hotels, guest houses, bed and breakfast, bunkhouses and campsites in the village, which also has

5487-549: The first constructional scheme. The loch had been the proposed site of a 360 MegaWatt pumped storage scheme in 1935, which had been rejected by Parliament, and the new scheme was for a conventional hydro-electric station with a lower capacity of 130 MW. The plans included two smaller projects, at Loch Morar and Kyle of Lochalsh , which were probably included to demonstrate the Board's commitment to providing power to remote communities, even though on their own these two projects would not have been economically viable. Despite approval by

5580-430: The first responsibilities was to produce a Development Scheme. This would detail the available water resources in their area of operation, which had the potential to later become 'constructional schemes'. MacColl pressed on at breakneck speed, and within three months they had a list of 102 sites with potential for development. These ranged in size from small, such as one utilising Loch nan Gillean (Plockton) and streams, with

5673-425: The majority of the population was liable to income tax . Keynes convinced Wood that he should abandon the orthodox Treasury doctrine that Chancellors' budgets were purely to regulate governmental revenue and expenditure; Wood, despite some misgivings on Churchill's part, adopted Keynes's conception of using national income accounting to control the economy. With the hugely increased public expenditure necessitated by

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5766-416: The marriage, but the couple adopted a daughter. Wood established his own law firm in the City of London , specialising in industrial insurance law. He represented the industrial insurance companies in their negotiations with the Liberal government before the introduction of Lloyd George 's National Insurance Bill in 1911, gaining valuable concessions for his clients. Wood was first elected to office as

5859-561: The name was later changed to Scottish Hydro-Electric plc . The board was dissolved in March 1990 and privatised in June 1991. The company's head office was moved from Edinburgh to Perth. A further name change to Scottish and Southern Energy plc was made in December 1998 after the merger with Southern Electric plc . The brand name "Scottish Hydro-Electric" continues to be used for the company's Scottish business. Kinlochleven Kinlochleven ( / ˌ k ɪ n l ɒ x ˈ l iː v ən / ) ( Scottish Gaelic : Ceann Loch Lìobhann )

5952-419: The next day as the German attack on the Western Front had begun; Wood told him that he had to go through with his resignation. Both men acted on Wood's advice. Churchill became Prime Minister on 10 May 1940; Wood was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer on 12 May. One of the reasons for Wood's appointment to the Treasury seems to have been Churchill's urgent desire to be rid of the incumbent Chancellor of

6045-435: The non-departmental office of Lord Privy Seal , switching the incumbent, Sir Samuel Hoare , to the Air Ministry in Wood's place. Wood's job was to chair both the Home Policy Committee of the cabinet, which considered "all social service and other domestic questions and reviews proposals for legislation" and the Food Policy Committee, overseeing "the problems of food policy and home agriculture". He held this position for only

6138-432: The north-west. There was no road along the south side of Loch Leven until c.1918. Kinlochleven was never connected to the railway network, however the station in nearby South Ballachulish was renamed in 1908 as Ballachulish (Glencoe) for Kinlochleven . A pier was constructed on the southern shore of Loch Leven for the construction of the hydroelectric scheme and aluminium smelter. A narrow-gauge railway approximately

6231-459: The objections, and John Cameron was joined by Sir Robert Bryce Walker and Major G H M Brown Lindsay. It began on 25 May 1945 and lasted for ten days, with the transcript of the proceedings running to 1,188 pages. MacColl was unable to speak, as he was ill, and Lord Airlie was savaged by those opposing the scheme. In desperation, he asked the question, "Do the people of this country want electricity or do they not?" Lord Airlie recovered his composure for

6324-418: The only realistic solution was a new public body called the North of Scotland Hydro-electric Board to initiate and develop schemes, including the distribution of power in areas where there was no existing supply network. Johnson worked hard to ensure that the report would be well received. He talked to many people across the political spectrum, attempting to disarm potential opponents. Civil servants working for

6417-449: The plan. He also did not want to receive any payment for the post, while the war lasted. Like the Inverness Courier, Johnston did not want private enterprise to be managing national resources, and had voted against the Caledonian Water Power bill in 1938. When another bill for a hydro-electric scheme in Glen Affric was put forward in September 1941, it was defeated, and Johnston announced that the government had its own plans for water power in

6510-411: The reason for the conferring of an honour, but Jenkins writes that Wood's knighthood was essentially for his work in the insurance field. Wood was elected to Parliament as a Conservative in the " khaki election " of 1918. His constituency, Woolwich West , was marginal , but he represented it for the rest of his life. Before being elected, he had attracted notice by advocating the establishment of

6603-435: The role of HM Treasury from custodian of government income and expenditure to steering the entire British economy. One of Wood's last innovations was the creation of Pay As You Earn , under which income tax is deducted from employees' current pay, rather than being collected retrospectively. This system remains in force in Britain. Wood died suddenly on the day on which the new system was to be announced to Parliament. Wood

6696-466: The scheme was in the public interest. He stated that the Secretary of State should approve the scheme, and Tom Johnston as Secretary of State did so. No further objections were received while it was before Parliament, and the Loch Sloy scheme was authorised on 28 March 1945. The second constructional scheme was the Tummel–Garry scheme, which included a much smaller project for a power station at Kerry Falls near Gairloch. The main scheme would involve

6789-538: The scheme, and Colonel Errol, the member for Althincham and Sale , was particularly lucid as he proclaimed that the Scottish Lowlands and England were going to pay for cheap power for the Highlands. He also wondered whether those who would no longer visit the River Tummel might be outnumbered by those who came to see the engineering works, and he reminded the house that everyone connected with the scheme

6882-447: The second day of the hearing, and was followed by technical experts, including Thomas Lawrie, who spoke in place of MacColl, and J Guthrie Brown, who spoke eloquently on every aspect of the civil engineering works. The objectors had their say from the end of day six onwards, and predicted that the amenities of the area would be destroyed by the scheme. It also became clear on day nine that a number of riparian owners had donated waterfalls to

6975-433: The site of the dam after the original plans were published, but Cameron was sympathetic to their cause, and handled attempts to scuttle the plans skillfully. Some of the county councils withdrew their opposition during the hearing, but Dumbarton Council persisted with their claim that they needed Loch Sloy for domestic water supply. Cameron decided that their development plans were too optimistic to be achievable, and ruled that

7068-482: The village and surrounding area. The biggest recent development was a new campus, consisting of Kinlochleven High School, Primary School and Nursery which opened in August 2008. A local library is shared with the school. It has books, local information and computer internet access. The B863 road runs round the head of Loch Leven through Kinlochleven, connecting to Glencoe to the south-west and North Ballachulish to

7161-519: The war – it increased sixfold between 1938 and 1943 – inflation was always a danger. Wood sought to head off inflationary wage claims by subsidising essential rationed goods , while imposing heavy taxes on goods classed as non-essential. The last change he pioneered as Chancellor was the system of Pay As You Earn (PAYE), by which income tax is deducted from current pay rather than paid retrospectively on past years' earnings. He did not live to see it come into effect; he died suddenly at his London home on

7254-537: Was Postmaster General , in which he transformed the British Post Office from a bureaucracy to a business. As Secretary of State for Air in the months before the Second World War he oversaw a huge increase in the production of warplanes to bring Britain up to parity with Germany. When Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940, Wood was made Chancellor of the Exchequer , in which post he adopted policies propounded by John Maynard Keynes , changing

7347-492: Was Scottish. When a vote was taken, annulment of the order was rejected by 248 votes to 63. Lord Kinnaird was persuaded not to introduce a similar motion to annul the order in the House of Lords, and so the Tummel–Garry scheme was authorised on 19 November 1945. However, Lord Kinnaird introduced a debate on the operation of the Hydro-Electric Development Act, at which Lord Airlie was able to put

7440-416: Was a British Conservative politician. The son of a Wesleyan Methodist minister, he qualified as a solicitor, and successfully specialised in industrial insurance. He became a member of the London County Council and then a Member of Parliament . Wood served as junior minister to Neville Chamberlain at the Ministry of Health , establishing a close personal and political alliance. His first cabinet post

7533-616: Was a member of the National Insurance Advisory Committee from 1911 to 1919, chairman of the Faculty of Insurance from 1916 to 1919 and president of the faculty in 1920, 1922 and 1923. At the LCC he was a member of the council committees on insurance , pensions and housing . He was knighted in 1918 at the unusually early age of 36. It was not then, as it later became, the practice to state in honours lists

7626-523: Was after the Great Depression . When Anthony Eden resigned from Chamberlain's government in March 1938, Wood moved to be Secretary of State for Air in the ensuing reshuffle. The UK was then producing 80 new warplanes a month. Within two years under Wood the figure had risen to 546 a month. By the outbreak of the Second World War, Britain was producing as many new warplanes as Germany. Wood's tenure as Secretary of State for Air coincided with

7719-599: Was also a director of the Bank of England . Ill health led to him being replaced by the engineer Sir Duncan Watson soon afterwards. Shortly after the conception of the board, Major Gwilym Lloyd George , the Minister for Fuel and Power, led a committee which considered how electricity supply could be rationalised in Britain. Johnson argued that his proposals would destroy the principles of the 1943 act, and eventually ensured that

7812-580: Was born in Hull , eldest of three children of the Rev. Arthur Wood, a Wesleyan Methodist minister, and his wife, Harriett Siddons, née Howard. His father was appointed to be minister of Wesley's Chapel in London, where Wood grew up, attending nearby Central Foundation Boys' School . He was articled to a solicitor , qualifying in 1903 with honours in his law examinations. In 1905 Wood married Agnes Lilian Fawcett (d. 1955); there were no biological children of

7905-485: Was his creation in the same month of a council of economic advisers, the most notable of whom, John Maynard Keynes , was quickly recruited as a full-time adviser at the Treasury. Jenkins detects Keynes's influence in Wood's second budget, in April 1941. It brought in a top income tax rate of 19s 6d (97½ pence in decimal currency ) and added two million to the number of income tax payers; for the first time in Britain's history

7998-571: Was important, as residents were unlikely to remain content with the economic depression of the region for long. Finally, Lord Lovat appealed that when projects were implemented, they should use Scottish workers from the Highland Division when they returned from war, rather than Irish navvies. The necessary legal powers were granted by the Hydro-Electric Development (Scotland) Act 1943 ( 6 & 7 Geo. 6 . c. 32), which

8091-626: Was passed on 5 August 1943. In September 1943, the names of the five board members were announced. Four were jointly appointed by the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Minister of Fuel and Power . The fifth was a nominee of the Central Electricity Board , and a member of that board. The chairman was to be David Ogilvy, the Earl of Airlie . He had worked with Johnson when they had been in charge of civil defence, and had initially been critical of

8184-418: Was placed before Parliament, but unlike previous schemes, there were attempts to annul the order. William Snadden, the member for Perth and Kinross lead the attack, claiming that "the beauty of the heart of Scotland will be forever broken." All of the issues that had been aired at the tribunal were raised again, and there were savage attacks on both the Board and on Lord Airlie. There were however supporters for

8277-399: Was previously used as the research and testing facility for British Aluminium. The Tailrace Inn opened in 1995 and provides accommodation, food and beverages for walkers, visitors and locals alike. It is located centrally in the village and is named after the fast flowing water outlet that enters the River Leven from the power house of the old aluminium factory. The Tailrace can be viewed from

8370-488: Was pursued with energy, and overcrowding was greatly reduced. There was also a marked improvement in maternal mortality, mainly due to the discovery of antibiotics able to counteract septicaemia , but also because a full-time, salaried midwifery service was created under the Midwives Act of 1936." Jenkins comments that the housing boom of the 1930s was one of the two main contributors to such economic recovery as there

8463-581: Was reported to be set to reopen in September 2023. A smaller part of the former coke bunker - for carbon production - for the aluminium reduction works, was transformed in 2002 into Atlas Brewery which, together with Orkney Brewery , was taken over in 2006 to form Sinclair Brewery Ltd. Atlas was closed in July 2010 and its production transferred to Orkney. The micro-brewery was re-opened in 2011 by Harry Heskey (former head brewer for Atlas) and now provides River Leven Ales. The Kinlochleven Community Trust,

8556-501: Was through 13 distribution areas. The areas' supply capacity and key data for 1956 were as follows: Key operating data for the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board is summarised in the table. The amount of electricity supplied by the board, in GWh, is shown on the graph. North of Scotland Electricity plc was formed in 1989 to acquire the board's assets ahead of privatisation , however

8649-495: Was to be built across the Tummel above Pitlochry , which would supply compensation water to maintain the flow in the river downstream as well as generating power. The Hydro-Electric Board were unsure whether to proceed at the time, because of the opposition to their previous scheme, but MacColl was adamant that they should fight to ensure the principles of the original Act of Parliament were not eroded. The Central Electricity Board and

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