Dams to darnley country park

With the weather still being quite clement but with Storm Betty fast approaching, we thought we'd get an outdoors outing in before it dumped a deluge of rain on us.

So, after a nice breakfast in the church hall, 12 of us headed over to Balgraystone Car Park for the walk.

Balgray Reservoir is the topmost and largest body of water in the group of reservoirs fed by the Brock Burn and originally built to supply Govan with water. Next downstream is Ryat Linn, then Littleton and finally Walkmill Glen reservoir. But we're not planning on doing the full five reservoirs walk today, just a wander down to the waterfall at the head of Ryat Linn Reservoir.

We had a nice walk there and back again - just under three miles long, which was a good wee bit of exercise without being too much given that some of the lads are octogenarians. There were quite a lot of waterfowl on the dam, Geese I think but they were a bit far away to be sure - certainly larger than ducks.

The lower reservoirs were built between 1853 and 1854 then later extended by adding Balgray in 1860 to 1865 to supply Barrhead with water as well.

The water level in Balgray Reservoir is currently very low and has been since April, 2022 when Scottish Water dropped the reservoir level by almost seven metres. They need to carry out vital maintenance work ahead of a £19.5 million transformation of the Dams to Darnley Country Park in East Renfrewshire. That'll let the council create a safe walking and cycling path from Newton Mearns to Barrhead, including a promenade boardwalk along the banks of the water, from Newton Mearns to Barrhead. The new active travel route is also part of a larger project to improve Aurs Road.

The Neilston Men's Group is a group of local men who get together regularly to socialise and participate in activities. They're committed to making a positive contribution to the local community, and believe that visiting Balgray Reservoir was a valuable way to learn about some of the outdoor amenities available within a short drive from Neilston while taking advantage of the good weather.

Again, many thanks to our leader Raymond for organizing the breakfast and the outing.

If you’re interested in visiting the Dams to Darnley Country Park, then here are some more details:

• The park is located just above Barrhead and you can park in the Balgraystone Car Park at the top and the Corselet Road Car Park at the bottom.

• There's a wide variety of waterfowl on the reservoirs. I've seen Mute Swans, Great Crested Grebes, Mallards, Tufted and Goldeneye ducks there.

• There used to be a picnic area beside Balgray Reservoir but housing scheme building works have taken over the location for now.

For more information, please visit the website:

https://www.damstodarnley.org/