River Conon

The River Conon (Scottish Gaelic: Conann) is a river in the Highlands of Scotland. It begins at Loch Luichart, and flows in a south-easterly direction to be joined by the River Meig at Scatwell before passing through Loch Achonachie. It is joined by the Black Water at Moy Bridge, and the River Orrin at Urray, before flowing past Conon Bridge and into the Cromarty Firth (and thence the Moray Firth and North Sea). The river is part of the Conon hydro-electric power scheme, with dams at Loch Luichart, Loch Meig and Loch Achonachie, and power stations at Luichart and Torr Achilty. This major scheme was developed by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board between 1946 and 1961. Prior to that, a small power station had been built at the Falls of Conon in the 1920s, and a private scheme for the Brahan Estate was commissioned in 2015 at Dunglass Island. The river system is fished for trout and salmon, but populations of these fish have not always been as healthy as they now are. The use of traps and fixed nets in the river and in the Cromarty Firth has been the subject of legal action since 1828. The construction of hydro-electric schemes has resulted in some of the salmon spawning grounds being lost, but fish lifts at the dams and a fish pass at the Falls of Conon have enabled fish to reach the River Bran, which was previously inaccessible to them, and some 100 miles (160 km) of habitat suitable for young salmon has been developed. Although nets in the Firth have now gone, fish are predated by seals which live in the Firth, and hunt up river as far as Torr Achilty dam. There are several islands in the river, including Moy Island, Dunglass Island and Garrie Island. The river is said to have once been the home of a water horse. A medieval log boat was found in the River Conon near Dingwall. It was discovered in 1874 following a flood and change in the river's course. Three timbers from it were stored at the National Museums of Scotland, and subsequent radiocarbon dating…