Gryffe Reservoir
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The Gryffe Reservoirs, also spelled 'Gryfe', take their name from the
River Gryffe The River Gryfe (or Gryffe) is a river and tributary of the Black Cart Water, running through the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It gives its name to the surrounding Gryffe Valley, also known as Strathgryfe. Flow The Gryfe emerges ...
, name deriving from the
Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...
''garbh'' meaning "rough stream". are two
reservoirs A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of water, interrup ...
, known as Gryffe No. 1 and Gryffe No. 2, located in
Inverclyde Inverclyde (, , , "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire, which ...
in the west
central Lowlands The Central Lowlands, sometimes called the Midland Valley or Central Valley, is a geologically defined area of relatively low-lying land in southern Scotland. It consists of a rift valley between the Highland Boundary Fault to the north and ...
of
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.


Description

The larger reservoir, Gryffe No. 1, is adjacent to Loch Thom with Gryffe No. 2 connecting immediately to the east. Together, they are occasionally known as Loch Gryffe. Both reservoirs are impounded by earthwork dams, No.1 has a surface area of and No.2's area is . The average depth of Gryffe No.2 is , the deepest point being near the wall of the dam where it is . The reservoirs are fed from a stream rising on Creuch Hill. Their outflow, the Gryffe Water flows east into the valley of Strath Gryffe, joins with the Green Water to form the
River Gryffe The River Gryfe (or Gryffe) is a river and tributary of the Black Cart Water, running through the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It gives its name to the surrounding Gryffe Valley, also known as Strathgryfe. Flow The Gryfe emerges ...
near
Kilmacolm Kilmacolm () is a village and Civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in the Inverclyde council area, and the Counties of Scotland, historic county of Renfrewshire (historic), Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on th ...
.


History

The Gryffe Reservoirs were constructed following an Act of Parliament in 1866 to improve the drinking water supply for the town of
Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...
and its environs, the impetus for this was a
typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...
epidemic in 1864 that had resulted in the deaths of thousands of people in Greenock. Construction of the Gryffe Reservoir was completed in 1872 and it is still primarily used to provide Greenock with drinking water. The water is conveyed to Greenock in a tunnel, the route of which is marked with air shafts, which ends at the Whinhill Water Treatment Works. The reservoirs were originally run by the Greenock Water Trust but are now owned and managed by
Scottish Water Scottish Water is a statutory corporation that provides water and sewerage services across Scotland. It is accountable to the public through the Scottish Government. Operations Scottish Water provides drinking water to 2.46 million households a ...
.


Fishing

There are fisheries on both reservoirs. One the lower reservoir, Gryfe No2. Fishing is only allowed from the bank and the water is stocked with farmed
brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...
which are larger than the wild brown trout which can also be found in the loch. On the upper reservoir, Gryfe No1, fishing is controlled by the Dunrod Angling Club. The water has a head of natural brown trout which is occasionally supplemented by stocking.


See also

*
List of reservoirs and dams in the United Kingdom This is a list of dams and reservoirs in the United Kingdom. England Buckinghamshire *Foxcote Reservoir and Wood, Foxcote Reservoir, north of Buckingham *Weston Turville Reservoir, between Weston Turville and Wendover Cambridgeshire *Grafham Wat ...


References


External links

{{authority control Reservoirs in Inverclyde Protected areas of Inverclyde