Scottish Mountain Photo Gallery

The Southern Uplands of Scotland

Greylag geese, Loch Dee

River Doon and its feeders.
River Girvan and its feeders.
Glen Trool.
The Dee.
Water of Deugh.
Water of Ken.
Water of Minnoch.

River Doon and its feeders.

Loch Enoch Loch Enoch is the highest loch for its size in Britain.

Loch Enoch has been acidified by airborne pollution and possibly the earliest account of the effects of acidification on fish may be found in the book, THE MERRICK AND THE NEIGHBOURING HILLS. Tramps by Hill, Stream and Loch. Author J. McBain, published 1929 by Stephen and Pollock of Ayr. The author describes "a trout taken some years ago...... and bore the unmistakable marks of a Loch Enoch trout, i.e., it was minus the lower half of its tail and part of its ventral fins". McBain attributed these defects to abrasion by the sharp granite sand of the loch. The last recorded catch according to McBain was about 1899. Reports of fin defects in fish found in Scandinavian lakes appeared in the 1950's and "acid rain" made the headlines.

The Merrick and Loch Enoch are in an area of very high rainfall, so high that the level of the loch is maintained by seepage alone as there are no feeder burns. The Loch is held in a granite basin and there is little alkaline rock to neutralize the effects of acidification. The area is also surrounded by the cradle of the industrial revolution, Central Scotland, North East England, the Midlands of England and Belfast, so most directions the winds came from, they carried acidic pollutants into the hills. It is therefore not surprising that this apparently remote place, with a very fragile ecosystem, was one of the first to suffer.

On an encouraging note, in 1994 Loch Enoch was restocked by 3,000 yearling trout raised from Loch Grannoch stock. The most sensitive stage of trout development to acidification, is the fry stage, so the population may not yet be able to reproduce. http://www.marlab.ac.uk/PDF/Review9901.pdf

Loch Enoch Loch Enoch and The Merrick from Mulwharchar.

Galloway tinkers reputedly collected the sharp granite sand of Loch Enoch to sell for sharpening scythes.

Silver Strand, Loch Enoch.

Loch Doon Loch Doon. Early morning mist lingers over the loch; while the summits of the Galloway Hills rise into the January dawn. Two whooper swans, wintering from Iceland, flew south just below the mist. The beat of their wings was the only movement and sound, for miles around.

The Merrick Merrick from Craigmulloch Lodge, Loch Doon.

Loch Doon Loch Doon.

Loch Reicawr Loch Reicawr.

The Carrick Lane.

Carrick Lane Loch Doon The outflow of Carrick Lane into Loch Doon.

Merrick from Eglin Lane The Merrick from the Eglin Lane.

Craigmawhannel Mullwharchar and the Merrick from Craigmawhannal.

Gala Lane Gala Lane.

River Girvan and its feeders.

Cornish Loch.

The Merrick and Glen Trool.

Merrick from Benyellary Merrick from Benyellary.

SE from Benyellary SE from Benyellary.

SE from the Merrick From the Merrick.

The Spear of the Merrick The Spear of the Merrick.

The Merrick Merrick.

Benyellary, hill of the eagle.

The Grey Man of the Merrick.

Dungeon Hill from Craignaw The Dungeon from Craignaw.

The Merrick from Craignaw The Merrick from Craignaw.

Loch Neldricken Loch Neldricken.

The Buchan Falls. Glen Trool The Buchan Falls.

These can be found on the Buchan Burn at NX417806.

Loch Trool Loch Trool.

The Source of the Dee

Loch Dee.

The view from the Southern Upland Way, looking towards Glen Trool which lies over the watershed beyond the Loch.

Loch Dee Loch Dee with Craiglee behind.

The trees on the small islet are native Scots Pine, survivors from the original Caledonian Forest which covered most of Scotland. The Forest was cleared for grazing animals which prevented the regeneration by their close cropping of saplings. Only in exceptional winters is the Loch frozen, so sheep, goats, deer and hill cattle cannot access the island. I was pleased to see that a Scots Pine sapling had established itself since I first visited here in 1971, (despite the death of two of the mature trees). Much of the area surrounding Loch Dee was planted in 1974 with non native species such as Sitka spruce. These are now (2002) being harvested and I hope that this exceptional place will be replanted more sympathetically. Fortunately the granite bulk of Craiglee behind the Loch was never planted but its bare slopes would also have been covered by the Caledonian Forest. The peat bogs of Galloway are full of the hundreds of years old roots of the original trees.

Loch Dee Loch Dee.

This sunset of Loch Dee needs several high pressure days to build up a haze for the golden colours to really show. The sun sets in the watershed at the end of March. These shots were taken on 29/3/2002. The last time conditions were like this was on 30/3/1974 so you might need to wait a while for a similar shot.

In 1974 the Loch Dee sunset was even more spectacular because the heather was being burned and the air was heavy with smoke.

Sadly Loch Dee is subject to acidification. Measurements in a stream flowing into the Loch have shown that depending on the wind direction, the acidy can increase 100 fold (2 pH units) within a few hours of a rain storm: Burns, J.C., Coy, J.S., Tervet, D.J., Harriman, R., Morrison, B.R.S. & Quine C.P. 1984. The Loch Dee project: a study of the ecological effects of acid precipitation and forest management on an upland catchment in South West Scotland. 1. preliminary investigations. Fisheries Management, 15(4): 145-167.

Greylag geese, Loch Dee Loch Dee.

As sunset approached, the flight songs of skylarks and meadow pipits, which had accompanied our approach, faded and the only sound was the occasional honking of a solitary pair of greylag geese.

Panorama of Loch Dee.

Showing SE to Curleywee, Whitehill, Lamachan Hill, W to Muldonnach and the setting Sun, Craiglee, Craignaw, Snibe Hill, Dungeon Hill, N to the valley of the Cooran Lane, Meikle Craigtarson and Corserine.

Loch Dee from the air, photo © David Campbell.