Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Bogton Loch

This view of Bogton Loch was taken from approximately the same position as the view of Craigengillan House, but looking downstream towards Dalmellington.
Before the dam-building activities up at Loch Doon, the area around Bogton Loch and further down the river was very boggy. Now Bogton Loch is a protected site of special scientific interest and supports significant populations of birds.

2 comments:

Katya said...

I commented on this photo earlier, but, Blogger gave me an error comment. Grr!

In opening this photo to a larger size, it was FABULOUS! It reminded me of a painting and I was able to see some things missed in its small size.

The brown grass in the front provides an interesting contrast to the rest of the photo. And, seeing what looks like a small town at the lower left kind of "draws one in". And I, being the starry-eyed dreamer, could linger there for a very long time!

An Honest Man said...

Well spotted.

The two tall chimneys are part of what used to be the Dunaskin Iron works and the village is Waterside.

The Dunaskin Experience (NOW CLOSED), also called Dunaskin Open Air Museum are large grounds in the Doon Valley, with numerous building from the second half of the 19th century. Numerous sights including an iron foundry and the "artificial" Craigton Mine tell much about the history of this place.

The Doon Valley had abundant deposits of coal, blackband ironstone, and limestone. All three are needed for the production of pig iron. The Houldsworth family, the proprietors of the Coltness Iron Works, came to the Doon Valley to exploit its resources. The Dalmellington Iron Company was founded.

The peak of the Dalmellington Iron Company was at the end of the 19th century, when eight furnaces were in blast. But soon the local supplies of blackband ironstone were running out and ore had to be imported from Spain. There was still sufficient coal, so when iron melting ended, the coals was still mined and used for brick making.