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Water Power
in Birse
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Several types
of mill have been powered by water in Birse: meal mills,
threshing mills and wood mills. The only mills still in
operation are the three wood-working mills in Finzean: the
Sawmill, the Turning Mill and the Bucket Mill.
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Water power has been used at five
sites on the Feugh to generate electricity with the most extensive
scheme being associated with Birse Castle. Other sites included
the Bucket Mill, Sawmill, Eleanor Cottage and the Mill of Clinter.
Electricity is still generated at the Sawmill to provide lighting
in the Turning Mill.
Water power has also been used locally
to pump water. A hydraulic ram in the Feugh at Ennochie moved water
up to the farm, but it was abandoned c. 1965 as it was no longer
sufficient to cope with the needs of increased cattle numbers.
In total there have been over 40 water
wheels in Birse, the great majority of them working at the same
time. Twenty two of them were sited on the three miles of the Feugh
and its tributaries within Finzean.
(For further information, see "History
of Birse" by Robin Callander, published by BCT).
Hydro
Feasibility Study
The potential to
generate electricity using the power of the water in the Feugh
was recognised years ago when a DC generator was installed to
light up the mill and sawmill cottage across the road. Inspired
by this, BCT hoped that with modern technology it might be possible
to generate sufficient AC power at the Sawmill to provide a
modest income to fund the long term conservation of the mill
buildings and equipment.
Preliminary estimates
of flow and available head were sufficiently encouraging to
take things further and this year, with support from the Scottish
Community Renewables Initiative (SCRI), we commissioned a detailed
feasibility study. Unfortunately, the conclusion was negative
- there just isn't enough water available, particularly in the
summer months, to support a viable low head hydro scheme connected
to the grid. On the positive side, our thorough study produced
a number of useful lessons for similar projects elsewhere and
these were discussed in a workshop hosted for SCRI by BCT at
Finzean Hall in September.
The feasibility report
can be viewed by clicking on: Finzean
Study Combined.pdf
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