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 is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
''garbh'' meaning "rough stream". are two
reservoirs A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...
, known as Gryffe No. 1 and Gryffe No. 2, located in
Inverclyde Inverclyde ( sco, Inerclyde, gd, Inbhir Chluaidh, , "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 histo ...
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 t ...
of
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.


Description

The larger reservoir, Gryffe No. 1, is adjacent to
Loch Thom Loch Thom is a reservoir which since 1827 has provided a water supply to the town of Greenock in Inverclyde, Scotland. It is named after the civil engineer Robert Thom who designed the scheme which created the reservoir and delivered water ...
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 parish in the Inverclyde council area, and the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the northern slope of the Gryffe Valley, southeast of Greenock and aroun ...
.


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 (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...
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 exposure. ...
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 ...
.


Fishing

There is a fishery at the lower of the two reservoirs. Fishing is only allowed from the bank and the water is stocked with
farmed Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...
brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...
which are larger than the wild brown trout which can also be found in the loch.


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, north of Buckingham *Weston Turville Reservoir, between Weston Turville and Wendover Cambridgeshire *Grafham Water Cheshire * Bollinhurs ...


References


External links

{{authority control Reservoirs in Inverclyde Protected areas of Inverclyde