River Dee

Today's the day ........................ for an action sequence

Following on from yesterday's view over the fence, I just happened to be standing in almost the same place this afternoon (with my camera) - when they started making electricity upstream at the Tongland Hydro Electric Power Station.

This involves opening the sluice gates up at the reservoir and letting water flow down an enormous pipe, into the Turbine Hall of the Power Station.  The magic happens with the turbines and electricity is generated.  And then the water is released back into the River Dee, where it proceeds downstream on its way to the Solway Firth.  

It only happens a couple of times a day for about an hour - when the demand for electricity is at its peak.  But it does involve a fair amount of water which suddenly finds itself joining the normally quite sedate River Dee - and if it happens at low tide, the effect is pretty dramatic.

 So, the picture above, is the normal state of the river - the lull before the torrent - and the extras are in sequence from then on.  If I say that the time difference between the first and the last, is about four minutes - you'll get the general idea ..........................!