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Loch Libo is a freshwater loch in
East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire (; ) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It was formed in 1996, as a successor to the Eastwood (district), Eastwood district of the Strathclyde region. The northeastern part of the council area is close to Glasgow and ma ...
, Parish of Neilston, Scotland. The Lugton Water has its source from the southern end of loch, running 14 miles before reaching its confluence with the River Garnock near
Kilwinning Kilwinning (, ; ) is a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located on the banks of the River Garnock in Ayrshire, west/central Scotland, about southwest of Glasgow. Kilwinning's neighbours are the coastal towns of Stevenston to the west an ...
. The village of Uplawmoor and the hamlet of Shillford lie nearby. away to the northeast is the town of
Neilston Neilston (, , ) is a village and List of civil parishes in Scotland, parish in East Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is in the River Levern, Levern Valley, southwest of Barrhead, the last remaining town in greater Glas ...
.


History

The name is of great antiquity and 'Libo' may be pre-Gaelic in origin. The loch lies in a glen, with Caldwell Law to the north and Uplawmoor Wood to the south. In the 14th century was referred to as 'Loch le Bog Syde' in a charter, meaning the 'Bogside Loch'.Scottish Carper
Retrieved : 2012-12-23
The loch is now owned by the
Scottish Wildlife Trust The Scottish Wildlife Trust () is a registered charity dedicated to conserving the wildlife and natural environment of Scotland. Description The Scottish Wildlife Trust has well over 46,000 members. The Scottish Wildlife Trust acquired its fi ...
(SWT) and is managed as a nature reserve.


Usage


Transport

. The old turnpike, now the A736 Lochlibo Road (locally known as the 'Low Road'), ran for about a mile along the southern margin of the loch, later joined by the Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway that stands even closer to the loch's waters. Caldwell railway station, later renamed Uplawmoor was situated close by and was convenient for visitors, such as curlers, who used the loch. The station closed in 1966, the railway remaining open, although the track has been singled; pedestrians cross the line to access the loch at a dedicated railway crossing with trains passing every fifteen minutes on weekdays (datum 2012).


Angling

Loch Libo's waters are recorded to hold tench, eels, perch, pike, carp, and roach (braise in Scots); it is however the fishing preserve of the Scottish Carp Group members as is advertised by signs erected at the loch shore.Pride, Page 35Gazetteer of Scotland
Retrieved : 2012-12-23
The 1895 OS map shows a boat house on the northern side near where a burn feeds into the loch.6 inch OS map 1895
Retrieved : 2012-12-23


Curling

Curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...
matches began at Loch Libo in 1885 when a Curling-stone house was built. The club cancelled all matches ‘during the current emergency’ from 1915 to 1919 where the minutes also record that there were insufficient members to form a quorum at the AGM during these war years. In 1919 The club moved to Kirkton Dam and arrangements were put in hand to relocate the Curling-stone house from Loch Libo. The loch and its back drop The Neilston Pad form the Club Badge worn on Neilston CC sports wear, in the club colours of dark blue, light blue and white. The
Neilston Neilston (, , ) is a village and List of civil parishes in Scotland, parish in East Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is in the River Levern, Levern Valley, southwest of Barrhead, the last remaining town in greater Glas ...
Curling Club members enjoyed concessions granted by the Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway Company for members and their curling stones to travel between Neilston and Caldwell stations and return for the cost of the single journey. A key for the clubhouse was also kept at the then Caldwell station.Neilston CC
Retrieved : 20-12-12


Cartographic evidence

The loch is roughly oval in shape, generally shallow, but of considerable depth in the centre.
Timothy Pont Reverend Timothy Pont () was a Scottish minister, cartographer and topographer. He was the first to produce a detailed map of Scotland. Pont's maps are among the earliest surviving to show a European country in minute detail, from an actual surve ...
's map of circa 1601 records 'Loch Libo' with the present spelling, as does the 1654 map of Blaeu. John Ainslie's map renders the name as 'Loch Lebe'. The OS maps show a boat house until 1969.


Hydrology

The Lugton Water has its origins at the south-west end of the loch and the Thorter Burn was diverted to run into the loch following the construction of the Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway.Pride, Page 34 The Caldwell Law Burn runs into the loch on the northern side. A burn runs into the loch from Shillford and this is in addition to rainfall and drainage.


Coal mining

A coal seam dips down under the southern margin of the loch and a mine was dug in the 1780s. In 1793 the waters of the loch burst into the workings and at least six miners were drowned, their bodies never being recovered. A servant collecting coal was also drowned, having wandered into the pit out of curiosity. Several attempts were made to drain and re-open the mine, to no avail, however it was reopened around 1830 as the Loch Coal Co. with much deeper shafts and two seams being exploited, one Ell Coal and the other Craw Coal; both seams were about four feet thick. These workings were worked out many years ago. It was reported in ''
The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...
'', on 23 September 1843 that the original pit had been sealed and the water pumped out, exposing a skeleton of what may have been a young man, along with a pair of shoes and some buttons. The skeleton was subsequently buried at the Neilston Church cemetery.


Sand quarry

The 1895 and later map shows a large sand quarry off the lane leading to Westhead of Side Farm.


Natural history

The loch and part of Caldwell-Lawside Wood have been a Site of Scientific Interest (SSSI) since 1972, covering 17.82 ha as designated by
Scottish Natural Heritage NatureScot () is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for Scotland’s natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and scenic diversity. It advises the Scottish Government on nature conservati ...
(SNH) and a
Scottish Wildlife Trust The Scottish Wildlife Trust () is a registered charity dedicated to conserving the wildlife and natural environment of Scotland. Description The Scottish Wildlife Trust has well over 46,000 members. The Scottish Wildlife Trust acquired its fi ...
(SWT) wildlife site. The loch is owned by the SWT.Loch Libo SSSI
Retrieved : 2012-12-23
Loch Libo is the best example of a
eutrophic Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the s ...
in
East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire (; ) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It was formed in 1996, as a successor to the Eastwood (district), Eastwood district of the Strathclyde region. The northeastern part of the council area is close to Glasgow and ma ...
with aquatic and emergent vegetation. Significant plants include the Nationally Scarce cowbane '' Cicuta virosa'' and the locally uncommon greater tussock sedge ''
Carex paniculata ''Carex paniculata'', the greater tussock-sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family, Cyperaceae. It grows high and can be found in most of Europe (including Britain), Northwest Asia and North America North America is ...
'' and lesser pond sedge '' Carex acutiformis''. The nationally uncommon species lesser tussock sedge '' Carex diandra'', water sedge '' Carex aquatilis'', slender tufted sedge '' Carex acuta'' and water parsnip '' Berula erecta'' are also present. Birds recorded at the site include: jack snipe, common snipe,
grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more norther ...
,
whooper swan The whooper swan ( /ˈhuːpə(ɹ) swɒn/ "hooper swan"; ''Cygnus cygnus''), also known as the common swan, is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type species for the genu ...
,
mute swan The mute swan (''Cygnus olor'') is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurasia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home to ...
,
teal alt=American teal duck (male), Green-winged teal (male) Teal is a greenish-blue color. Its name comes from that of a bird—the Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca'')—which presents a similarly colored stripe on its head. The word is often used ...
, wigeon,
goldeneye ''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 agent James Bond (lit ...
,
tufted duck The tufted duck (or tufted pochard) (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of nearly one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. They are partially migratory. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek , an unide ...
,
mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...
,
coot Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus ''Fulica'', the name being the Latin term for "coot". Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usual ...
,
moorhen Moorhens—sometimes called marsh hens—are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family (Rallidae). Most species are placed in the genus ''Gallinula'', Latin for "little hen." They are close relatives of coots. They are ...
, buzzard,
wren Wrens are a family, Troglodytidae, of small brown passerine birds. The family includes 96 species and is divided into 19 genera. All species are restricted to the New World except for the Eurasian wren that is widely distributed in the Old Worl ...
,
coal tit The coal tit (''Periparus ater''), is a small passerine bird in the tit (bird), tit family (biology), family, Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder in forests throughout the temperate to subtropical Palearctic, including North ...
,
great tit The great tit (''Parus major'') is a small passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of No ...
,
blue tit The Eurasian blue tit (''Cyanistes caeruleus'') is a small passerine bird in the tit (bird), tit family, Paridae. It is easily recognizable by its blue and yellow plumage and small size. Eurasian blue tits, usually resident bird, resident a ...
,
long-tailed tit The long-tailed tit (''Aegithalos caudatus''), also named long-tailed bushtit, is a common bird found throughout Europe and the Palearctic. The genus name ''Aegithalos'' was a term used by Aristotle for some European tits, including the long-tail ...
, treecreeper,
great spotted woodpecker The great spotted woodpecker (''Dendrocopos major'') is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. This species is found acros ...
,
song thrush The song thrush (''Turdus philomelos'') is a Thrush (bird), thrush that breeds across the West Palearctic. It has brown upper-parts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts and has four recognised subspecies. Its distinctive Birdsong, song, w ...
, blackbird, robin,
dunnock The dunnock (''Prunella modularis'') is a small passerine, or perching bird, found throughout temperate Europe and into Asian Russia. Dunnocks have also been successfully introduced into New Zealand. It is the most widespread member of the acce ...
, chaffinch,
jackdaw Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus ''Coloeus'' closely related to, but generally smaller than, crows and ravens ('' Corvus''). They have a blackish crown, wings, and tail, with the rest of their plumage paler.Madge & Burn (1994) 136� ...
,
carrion crow The carrion crow (''Corvus corone'') is a passerine bird of the family Corvidae, native to western Europe and the eastern Palearctic. Taxonomy and systematics The carrion crow was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus ...
,
sparrowhawk Sparrowhawk (sometimes sparrow hawk) may refer to several species of small hawk in the subfamily Accipitrinae The Accipitrinae are the Family (biology), subfamily of the Accipitridae often known as the "true" hawks. The subfamily contains 73 s ...
,
water rail The water rail, western water rail or European water rail (''Rallus aquaticus'') is a bird of the rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this ...
, redshank,
pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Eura ...
,
owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
s, grasshopper warbler and reed bunting. Other animals are bats, deer, mice, otters, common frog, common toad, smooth and palmate newts and water vole.


Micro-history

A geocache is located in the Caldwell-Lawside Wood. By 1895 'targets' are marked below the Caldwell-Lawside Woods at the western end of the loch.6 inch OS Map
Retrieved : 2012-12-23


References

;Notes ;Sources # Johnson, William (1828). ''North and South Ayrshire Map''. Drawm from estate Plans. # Pride, David (1910).''A History of the Parish of Neilston''. Paisley : Alexander Gardner.


External links


Video footage of Loch Libo Nature Reserve
{{Portal, Scotland Curling venues in Scotland Lochs of East Renfrewshire