Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Compensation Reservoir


You can see this Inverclyde reservoir in the map above (click to see a larger size), to the west of Loch Thom. In October we walked up the long western side of the reservoir to the dam at the top, where the waters of Loch Thom feed from its north-western end into the reservoir below. It was a raining for much of the time so not the best conditions for photography yet again!

Looking towards the narrowest point of the reservoir

ItalicLoch Thom Cottage standing alone at the top of the reservoir, half hidden in the trees (and some blue sky making an appearance for a very short while!)


One of the muddy paths we followed, looking back towards Cornalees, where we started out

At the north end of the reservoir, showing the channel which carries the water down from Loch Thom. On the left (above) you can just see the two pillars shown below:

Rather corroded and difficult to read in parts, but it was good to see something there in recognition of Robert Thom who designed the whole scheme back in the 19th century

Edward Wilson (I can't find out anything about him but I'm still searching)





The walls of the channel with a small footbridge over the top...

...and Geoffrey sheltering from the rain underneath while I went off with the camera!

The small dam at the top of the reservoir. The video below shows the top end of Loch Thom. Once again it was difficult to hold the camera steady in the strong winds up there that day!





1 comment:

Denis Bell said...

Excellent Jane, thanks ..I have run around this lot but much earlier this year..it's great open country.
I have workmate whom I've forwarded your blog link to..His Dad / uncle worked *(and even lived in the cottages?)up there years ago and I'm sure it might be a vein of knowledge for you.

Very gentle moorland, the kind of territory I find so enjoyable for the open vistas and wind borne sounds, even if not spectacular like the mountains. Reminds me of the grassy slopes and reservoirs of East Lothian/ the Borders.
All the best, Denis.