Foyers, Highland

Foyers (Scottish Gaelic: Foithir, meaning "shelving slope")^[1] is a village in the Highland council area of Scotland,^[2] lying on the east shore of Loch Ness. The village is situated on the B852, part of the Military Road built by General George Wade, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Fort Augustus. Foyers is also the name of the river which runs nearby into the Loch, which has two waterfalls, the upper one of 14 metres (46 ft) and the lower one of 30 metres (98 ft), known as the Falls of Foyers.^[3]

Foyers Scottish Gaelic: Foithir
Looking upstream on the River Foyers
Foyers Location within the Inverness area
Population	276
OS grid reference	NH496209
Council area	Highland
Lieutenancy area	Inverness
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	INVERNESS
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
Scottish Parliament	Highlands and Islands Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch
List of places UK Scotland 57.2539°N 4.4947°W / 57.2539; -4.4947

Foyers village

The village is divided into Upper Foyers and Lower Foyers. Upper Foyers was originally a traditional crofting township. Lower Foyers came later after the British Aluminium Company built houses for those employed in the aluminium works. The two are separated by the two waterfalls known as the Falls of Foyers.

Since the late 19th century, water courses near Foyers have been harnessed to provide hydroelectricity. The British Aluminium Company built its first hydro-powered aluminium smelter at Foyers in 1896 - the first in the UK - and it operated until 1967, powered by water captured in Loch Mhòr. The power station element of the plant was then purchased by Scotland's Hydro Board and redeveloped using a 5MW turbine. Subsequently, a new pumped storage power station, with additional capacity of 300MW, was added, becoming fully operational in 1975.^[4]

Foyers is the location of Boleskine House, two miles east of the main town, which was the home of author and occultist Aleister Crowley. The house was once owned by guitarist and Crowley collector Jimmy Page.

Foyers was historically a strong Gaelic-speaking area, with 84.1% reporting as Gaelic-speaking in the 1881 census.^[5] However, only 4.9% of residents reported as Gaelic-speaking in the 2011 census.^[6]

Luftwaffe Raid

At 12pm on 13 February 1941, the Aluminium Works at Foyers was bombed by the Luftwaffe, causing Furnaceman, Murdo MacLeod, a fatal heart attack, and killing Fitter, Archibald MacDonald, as he walked along the adjacent tramway which took a near direct hit. MacDonald was initially reported missing at 3pm, before his body was discovered 3 hours later inside the Turbine Pit. While initially speculated that he had drowned as a result, it was later determined that he had died instantaneously. The factory was later visited by HRH Prince George, Duke of Kent, who was killed the following year in the Dunbeath air crash.^[7] MacLeod and MacDonald were the only people to be killed in a bombing raid on the Highlands during WWII.

References

1. "Foyers". Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland. Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
2. "Foyers". The Gazetteer for Scotland. School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh and The Royal Scottish Geographical Society. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
3. "Falls of Foyers, Great Glen: The Smoking Falls". Scottish Geology Trust. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022.
4. Foyers Hydro-Electric Power Scheme, Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved: 13 November 2015.
5. Duwe, Kurt K. (2012). Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic) Local Studies Vol. 23: Inbhir Nis & Taobh Loch Nis (PDF). p. 10. Archived from the original on 22 September 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
6. Output areas S00117730 and S00117729. 2011 Scottish Census.
7. "Local Occurrences During WW2 from Police Files | The South Loch Ness Heritage Group". southlochnessheritage.co.uk. Retrieved 16 December 2024.