Loch Libo is a freshwater loch in

East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire ( sco, Aest Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù an Ear) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975, it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas of ...

, Parish of Neilston, Scotland. The

Lugton Water The Lugton Water, the largest tributary of the River Garnock, runs from Loch Libo (395 feet above sea-level) in Uplawmoor, through Lugton and the parishes of Neilston, Beith, Dunlop, Stewarton and Kilwinning. The Lugton joins the Garnock belo ...

has its source from the southern end of loch, running 14 miles before reaching its confluence with the

River Garnock The River Garnock ( gd, Gairneag / Abhainn Ghairneig), the smallest of Ayrshire's six principal rivers, has its source on the southerly side of the Hill of Stake in the heart of the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. About a mile and a half south of t ...

near

Kilwinning Kilwinning (, sco, Kilwinnin; gd, Cill D’Fhinnein) is a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is on the River Garnock, north of Irvine, about southwest of Glasgow. It is known as "The Crossroads of Ayrshire". Kilwinning was also a Civil Pa ...

. The village of

Uplawmoor Uplawmoor is a village in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. Its population was 700 as of 2016. Historic Uplawmoor, associated for centuries with the Barony of Caldwell and the Mure family, is still a vibrant community today, although bereft of the sh ...

and the hamlet of Shillford lie nearby. away to the northeast is the town of

Neilston Neilston ( sco, Neilstoun, gd, Baile Nèill, ) is a village and parish in East Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is in the Levern Valley, southwest of Barrhead, south of Paisley, and south-southwest of Renfrew, at t ...

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 Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, registered charity dedicated to conserving the Natural history of Scotland, wildlife and natural environment of Scotland. Description The Scottish Wildlife Trust has well ...

(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 The Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway was a railway jointly owned by the Caledonian Railway and the Glasgow and South Western Railway, completed in 1873, and giving the latter a shorter access to its Carlisle main line. A branch t ...

that stands even closer to the loch's waters. Caldwell railway station, later renamed

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 stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

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

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 Rev Timothy Pont (c. 1560–c.1627) 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 a ...

's map of circa 1601 records 'Loch Libo' with the present spelling, as does the 1654 map of Blaeu.

John Ainslie A plaque in Castlegate in Jedburgh John Ainslie (22 April 1745 – 29 February 1828) was a Scottish surveyor and cartographer. Life Ainslie was born in Jedburgh, the youngest son of John Ainslie, a druggist, Writer to the Signet and burgess of ...

's map renders the name as 'Loch Lebe'. The OS maps show a boat house until 1969.

Hydrology

The

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

.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 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 August 2004. Its par ...

'', 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 ( gd, NàdarAlba), which was formerly known as Scottish Natural Heritage, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for the country's natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and ...

(SNH) and a

(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 the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytoplank ...

with aquatic and emergent vegetation. Significant plants include the Nationally Scarce cowbane ''

Cicuta virosa ''Cicuta virosa'', the cowbane or northern water hemlock, is a poisonous species of ''Cicuta'', native to northern and central Europe, northern Asia and northwestern North America. Description It is a perennial herbaceous plant which grows up ...

'' and the locally uncommon greater tussock sedge '' Carex paniculata'' and lesser pond sedge ''

Carex acutiformis ''Carex acutiformis'', the lesser pond-sedge, is a species of sedge. Description It grows up to tall, with leaves up to long and wide. Ecology It is native to parts of northern and western Europe, where it grows in moist spots in a number of ...

''. The nationally uncommon species lesser tussock sedge '' Carex diandra'', water sedge ''

Carex aquatilis ''Carex aquatilis'' is a species of Carex, sedge known as water sedge and leafy tussock sedge. It has a Circumboreal Region, circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout the northern reaches of the Northern Hemisphere. It grows in many types o ...

'', slender tufted sedge ''

Carex acuta ''Carex acuta'', the acute sedge, slender tufted-sedge, or slim sedge, can be found growing on the margins of rivers and lakes in the Palaearctic terrestrial ecoregions in beds of wet, alkaline or slightly acid depressions with mineral soil. ...

'' and water parsnip ''

Berula erecta ''Berula erecta'', known as lesser water-parsnip or cutleaf waterparsnip or narrow-leaved water-parsnip, is a member of the Apiaceae, carrot family. Growing to around tall, it is found in or by water. It is widespread across much of Europe, Asia ...

'' are also present. Birds recorded at the site include:

jack snipe The jack snipe or jacksnipe (''Lymnocryptes minimus'') is a small stocky wader. It is the smallest snipe, and the only member of the genus ''Lymnocryptes''. Features such as its sternum make it quite distinct from other snipes or woodcocks. Et ...

common snipe The common snipe (''Gallinago gallinago'') is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World. The breeding habitats are marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows throughout the Palearctic. In the north, the distribution limit extends from Iceland ...

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 northern ...

whooper swan The whooper swan ( /ˈhuːpə(ɹ) swɒn/) (''Cygnus cygnus''), also known as the common swan, pronounced ''hooper swan'', is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type specie ...

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 Eurosiberia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home ...

teal alt=American teal duck (male), Green-winged teal (male) Teal is a greenish-blue colour. Its name comes from that of a bird — the Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca'') — which presents a similarly coloured stripe on its head. The word is oft ...

wigeon The wigeons or widgeons are a group of birds, dabbling ducks currently classified in the genus ''Mareca'' along with two other species. There are three extant species of wigeon, in addition to one recently extinct species. Biology There are ...

goldeneye ''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Martin Campbell, it was the first in the ser ...

tufted duck The tufted duck or tufted pochard (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of close to one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek '' aithuia'', an unidentified seabird ment ...

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and 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 usually ...

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 of ...

buzzard Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey. ''Buteo'' species * Archer's buzzard (''Buteo archeri'') * Augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'') * Broad-winged hawk (''Buteo platypterus'') * Common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') * Eastern ...

, wren,

coal tit The coal tit or cole tit, (''Periparus ater''), is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder in forests throughout the temperate to subtropical Palearctic, including North Africa. The b ...

great tit The great tit (''Parus major'') is a 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 North Af ...

blue tit The Eurasian blue tit (''Cyanistes caeruleus'') is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is easily recognisable by its blue and yellow plumage and small size. Eurasian blue tits, usually resident and non-migratory birds, are ...

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 The treecreepers are a family, Certhiidae, of small passerine birds, widespread in wooded regions of the Northern Hemisphere and sub-Saharan Africa. The family contains eleven species in two genera, '' Certhia'' and '' Salpornis''. Their plumage ...

, great spotted woodpecker,

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 three recognised subspecies. Its distinctive Birdsong, song, ...

, 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 by far the most widespread member of th ...

chaffinch The common chaffinch or simply the chaffinch (''Fringilla coelebs'') is a common and widespread small passerine bird in the finch family. The male is brightly coloured with a blue-grey cap and rust-red underparts. The female is more subdued in ...

jackdaw Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus ''Coloeus'' closely related to, but generally smaller than, the crows and ravens (''Corvus''). ''Coloeus'' is sometimes treated as a subgenus of ''Corvus'', including by the IUCN.Madge & Burn (1994) ...

carrion crow The carrion crow (''Corvus corone'') is a passerine bird of the family Corvidae and the genus ''Corvus'' which is native to western Europe and the eastern Palearctic. Taxonomy and systematics The carrion crow was one of the many species origi ...

sparrowhawk Sparrowhawk (sometimes sparrow hawk) may refer to several species of small hawk in the genus ''Accipiter''. "Sparrow-hawk" or sparhawk originally referred to ''Accipiter nisus'', now called "Eurasian" or "northern" sparrowhawk to distinguish it f ...

water rail The water rail (''Rallus aquaticus'') is a bird of the Rallidae, rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are bird migration, migratory, but this species is a perma ...

, redshank,

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family (biology), family Phasianidae in the order (biology), order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera na ...

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 ...

grasshopper warbler The grass warblers are small passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Locustella''. Formerly placed in the paraphyletic "Old World warbler" assemblage, they are now considered the northernmost representatives of a largely Gondwanan family, the ...

and

reed bunting The common reed bunting (''Emberiza schoeniclus'') is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is from Old German ''Embritz'', a ...

. Other animals are bats, deer, mice, otters, common frog, common toad, smooth and palmate newts and water vole.

Micro-history

geocache Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific l ...

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