Foyers, Highland
{{Short description|Village in Highland, Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name = Foyers
| gaelic_name = Foithir
| scots_name =
| country = Scotland
| map_type = Inverness
| population = 276
| population_ref =
| static_image = River Foyers - geograph.org.uk - 170547.jpg
| static_image_caption =Looking upstream on the River Foyers
| static_image_width =
| os_grid_reference = NH496209
| edinburgh_distance =
| london_distance =
| coordinates = {{coord|57.2539|-4.4947|display=inline,title}}
| post_town = INVERNESS
| postcode_area =
| postcode_district =
| dial_code =
| constituency_westminster = Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
| unitary_scotland = Highland
| lieutenancy_scotland = Inverness
| constituency_scottish_parliament = Highlands and Islands
| constituency_scottish_parliament1 = Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch
| website =
}}
Foyers ({{langx|gd|Foithir}}, meaning "shelving slope"){{cite web| url=https://www.ainmean-aite.scot/placename/foyers/| title=Foyers | publisher=Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba | work=Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland | accessdate=6 September 2022}} is a village in the Highland council area of Scotland,{{cite web |title=Foyers |url=http://www.scottish-places.info/towns/townfirst2112.html |website=The Gazetteer for Scotland |publisher=School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh and The Royal Scottish Geographical Society |accessdate=19 June 2018}} 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, {{convert|10|mi|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 {{convert|14|m|ft}} and the lower one of {{convert|30|m|ft}}, known as the Falls of Foyers.{{cite web |url=https://www.scottishgeology.com/best-places/falls-of-foyers/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518201008/https://www.scottishgeology.com/best-places/falls-of-foyers/ |archive-date=18 May 2022 |url-status=live |title=Falls of Foyers, Great Glen: The Smoking Falls |publisher=Scottish Geology Trust}}
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.[http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst3852.html Foyers Hydro-Electric Power Scheme], Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved: 13 November 2015.
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.{{cite book |last1=Duwe |first1=Kurt K. |title=Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic) Local Studies Vol. 23: Inbhir Nis & Taobh Loch Nis |date=2012 |pages=10 |url=http://www.linguae-celticae.org/dateien/Gaidhlig_Local_Studies_Vol_23_Inbhirnis_Ed_II.pdf |access-date=21 May 2020 |archive-date=22 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140922020501/http://www.linguae-celticae.org/dateien/Gaidhlig_Local_Studies_Vol_23_Inbhirnis_Ed_II.pdf |url-status=usurped }} However, only 4.9% of residents reported as Gaelic-speaking in the 2011 census.{{cite book |title=Output areas S00117730 and S00117729 |publisher=2011 Scottish Census |url=https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/}}
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.{{Cite web |title=Local Occurrences During WW2 from Police Files {{!}} The South Loch Ness Heritage Group |url=https://southlochnessheritage.co.uk/local-occurrences-during-ww2-from-police-files/ |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=southlochnessheritage.co.uk}} MacLeod and MacDonald were the only people to be killed in a bombing raid on the Highlands during WWII.