Pow Burn, a name used in Scotland for small watercourses, is a long

burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ionizing radiation (such as sunburn, caused by ultraviolet radiation). Most burns are due to heat from hot fluids (called scalding), soli ...

located in South Ayrshire, Scotland. The name "Pow" or "Poll" refers to a slow-moving ditch-like stream.

Location

The Pow Burn is fed by a small

loch ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or "inlet, sea inlet" in Scottish Gaelic, Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes calle ...

near the estate of Coodham and is narrow until it reaches

Prestwick Prestwick () is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, and the small vi ...

, where it starts to widen. The Burn separates Prestwick and Monkton. It crosses Prestwick Airport and flows through Prestwick Golf Course, where is serves as a natural obstacle. Prestwick Holiday Park overlooks the mouth of the burn, where it flows into the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...

. The Ayrshire Cycle Track, Route 7 and Ayrshire Coastal Path, Route7 cross over the burn by a bridge not far from the estuary.

Mills

At one time there were four mills operating on the Pow Burn. Near the mouth was Prestwick Mill, later called Monkton Mill. Upstream were Powbank, situated near Monkton, Adamton Mill and, ¾ mile east of Symington, Helenton Mill. The small tributary from Barnweil Loch had also the Heugh Mill. Powbank Mill closed at the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when it was requisitioned as a Canteen/

Naafi The Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI ) is a company created by the United Kingdom, British government on 9 December 1920 to run recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces, and to sell goods to servicemen and their fam ...

. After the war, the mill never returned to the family, being the home of the Scottish Aviation Club, before they moved into the St Cuthbert's site on Kirk Street.

Wildlife

Ayrshire Coastal Path bridge over Pow Burn

The Burn is one of the last coastal wildlife havens in

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire (; , ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. South Ayrshire had an estimated population in 2021 of 112,45 ...

. Parts are designated as a Wildlife Corridor and as a Wildlife Site. It has locally rare habitats and nationally rare species. Plants and animals been sighted at the Pow include

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

s, red admiral, rare

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threat ...

species and

songbirds A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passerine, Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes co ...

such as

thrush Thrush may refer to: Birds * Thrush (bird), any of the birds in the family Turdidae ** List of thrush species * Antthrushes, the Formicariidae family of birds * Dohrn's warbler, or Dohrn's thrush-babbler, a species ''Sylvia dohrni'' in the famil ...

and

nightingale The common nightingale, rufous nightingale or simply nightingale (''Luscinia megarhynchos''), is a small passerine bird which is best known for its powerful and beautiful song. It was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, ...

. There has been a decline in the number of waxwings migrating to the area. The Pow Burn is managed by the local council for conservation and recreation. It provides an area where families can picnic beside the burn and play on the sand dunes west of the burn. The dunes were once a sand quarry.

Footnotes

External links

* {{authority control Rivers of South Ayrshire Protected areas of South Ayrshire