WHEN the Invergordon aluminium smelter closed at Christmas 1981 with the loss of 890 jobs, the Easter Ross community's name became another symbol of a failed industrial strategy in response to Highland depopulation.
Now it is mentioned in the same breath as the Corpach pulp mill and Dounreay.
But it hides another tale of aluminium smelting; one of genuine progress in stark contrast to the long narrative of an area deemed unproductive. It provided significant employment, created communities with model housing for its workforce, and prefaced the coming of hydroelectric schemes to the glens.
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