The Tarsan Dam

The Tarsan Dam sits at the west end of a three pronged artificial loch called Loch Tarsan , which lies between Dunoon and Glendaruel and which was created in 1951 for the hydro scheme at Loch Striven, just below it on the coast. Like many of these flooded glens , its creation meant the abandonment of homes and steadings - in this case, allegedly, a small hamlet. It may just be psychological, but to me such places still have a melancholy atmosphere , increased for most of last year when the water level was very low (work was being done on the dam at the other end of the loch) and the shapes visible on the exposed shore line well up the loch looked, in the distance, very much like ruined houses.