Its art innit?

The standard quote from the much parodied stereo-typical page 3 girl in mitigation of criticism of her job from some quarters.

I'm using the same defence for this image of the rusty winch mechanism.
This is next to a small hydro electric intake and the winch is used to open a crude wooden sluice gate to divert captured water back in in to its natural water course, presumably to allow maintenance at the structure. The intake structure is modest and gives scant clue to the significant and large scale engineering beneath our feet. Deep down in the mountain, though still about 200 metres above sea level, runs a 15 mile long tunnel berween Loch Treig and the aluminium smelter power house in Fort William.
The water at Intake 2 tumbles down a shaft to the tunnel and a parallel ventilation shaft simultaneously allows purged air to escape back to the surface. The purged air re-enters the atmosphere with a right blast We walked past intake 1 earlier in our walk. While the main source of water is Loch Treig reservoir there are eleven additional intakes trapping water from Inverlair, the Glen Spean slopes above Insse, the Lairig, the Grey Corries, Aonach Mor, and 11 traps the water draining off the north side of Ben Nevis and adjacent Carn Mor Dearg. Above Treig Dam there is Laggan Dam and above that there is Spey Dam. The rusty winch is therefore a tiny part of the jigsaw.
This weekend we have been hearing worrying rumours about the future viability of the aluminium smelter, now operated by Rio Tinto Alcan a vast multi national operation. The smelter has operated since 1929 and has been one of the biggest employers in the Lochaber area. As an employer it comes second to salmon farming but this industry has just announced a hundred job losses many of which are bound to be in our area.