power in the making

still struggling with water shots, but quite pleased with this one, as it was just taken on auto as a quick shot between the rain showers. Down at New Lanark for my weekly volunteering stint, planned to wander round and see what came into view, but -yet again - was partly defeated by the weather.

The mill lade runs through the centre of the village, originally to power the water wheels in the basement of each of the mills. In the 1930s a water turbine was added in the old wheel pit of Mill Three, now the visitor centre, and this was restored in the 1980s to generate hydro electricity. the photo is of the water being pulled through a sluice gate down to the turbine, and after it does its job it is then released back into the Clyde.

there are also water source heat pumps in the mill lade to generate power to heat the mills, but that's another story!