scheme's "Amenities Committee". This committee was set up to "make to the Company such recommendations as they may think are reasonable and proper for the preservation of the beauty of the scenery" (from the 1929 Galloway water power act). Tarbolton was designer of the Pitlochry power station which bears some striking similarities to the Galloway turbine halls. Whilst no direct credit for the design work can be given to him, it is unlikely that he had no influence on the outcome. In their book Power from water (1960), two partners of Alexander Gibb and Partners, A.O.L. Paton, and J Guthrie Brown (the latter of whom is known to have worked on the Galloway scheme), write that "The architecture of the power stations, under the watchful eye of the amenity committee...was given the most careful attention." Parts of the scheme are now listed buildings, specifically the Glenlee Power Station and Bridge and the Tongland Power Station, Surge Tower and Valve House. In great contrast to the bright pristine nature of the stations, the dams are organic and entwined with the natural rock. They are generally arch dams, curved in plan, bearing onto the side walls of the valleys except in those dams where only one side of the valley is suitable for bearing. In these latter cases, the end of the dam straightens out, and the last section of gravity dam (where the weight of the dam itself resists the force of the water) then acts like a buttress to the more efficient arch dam. Perceptions of the scheme Today the dams are well liked and a source of pride to the people of Galloway and of course are still generating environmentally friendly electricity. However they were not universally admired when they were first built, as local poet W.G.M. Dobie wrote: A raider comes today who kills The glories of our glens and hills With unheroic acts and bills and "Private Legislation" The Company promoters pen Will Dam the Deugh and dam the Ken and Dam the Dee - oh Dam the men Who Plan such desecration! Generating stations The six generating stations, from north to south, are: References Notes Sources Hill, George (1984). Tunnel and Dam: The Story of the Galloway Hydros. South of Scotland Electricity Board. External links Visit Tongland Power Station - Drax Power Power From Scotland's Lochs An account of the Galloway Scheme from 1937 Hydroelectric power