Loch Eck
Loch Eck is a freshwater loch seven miles long located on the Cowal peninsula, north of Dunoon, Argyllshire.
Apart from Loch Lomond, Loch Eck is the only naturally occurring habitat of the powan, a kind of freshwater whitefish.[1]
Geography
- Location map: 56°4’46"N, 4°59’40"W
- Streetmap: NS13759145
Loch Eck is within the Argyll Forest Park which, is itself part of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.[2][3] Close by are the Benmore Botanic Garden and the Benmore Outdoor Centre, the latter of which uses the loch and its surrounding for outdoor learning.[4]
The A815 road bounds the east side. A pathway runs along the west side of the loch, and gives access to the Paper Caves, set in the steep hillside with caving access to a platform set above a steep scarp within the cave.[5] A legend holds that the Argyll family documents were hidden in the caves when Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll was arrested for involvement in Rye House Plot, in order to prevent his lands from being made forfeit.[4]
About the loch
The loch is also an impounding reservoir with a dam 285 feet high, completed in 1973: it supplies the freshwater to much of the south-east of Cowal, including Dunoon.
In July 2013, two dogs died due to algal bloom present in the loch. Warnings were then posted advising that people and animals should avoid contact with the water.[6][7] Recently, three further incidents have happened, one in June 2019 and two in July 2021.[8]
The actress Emma Thompson owns a house on the shore of the loch.[9]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Loch Eck) |
- Lock Eck on Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park
References
- ↑ Freyhof, J. & Kottelat, M. (2008) Coregonus clupeoides. In:IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.1. (Accessed 17 April 2010)
- ↑ "Argyll Forest Park - Forestry Commission Scotland". Scotland.forestry.gov.uk. http://scotland.forestry.gov.uk/forest-parks/argyll-forest-park.
- ↑ "Map of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park". https://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Downloadable-map-of-Loch-Lomond-and-the-Trossachs-National-Park.pdf.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Things to look out for: Benmore Centre for Outdoor Learning
- ↑ CANMORE (RCAHMS) record of Loch Eck, Paper Caves
- ↑ "Loch Eck water warning issued as two dogs die suddenly after swimming | Glasgow & West | News | STV". http://news.stv.tv/west-central/234643-loch-eck-water-warning-issued-as-two-dogs-die-suddenly-after-swimming/.
- ↑ "Argyll, Cowal and Dunoon News | Dunoon Observer and Argyllshire Standard". http://www.dunoon-observer.com/index.php/news/the-news/6289-loch-eck-dog-warning.
- ↑ "Our Dunoon surgery has recently seen 2 separate cases of suspected blue-green algae poisoning in dogs.". 19 July 2021. https://www.facebook.com/buteandcowalvets/posts/6481923795151845.
- ↑ Hattersley, Giles. "Emma Thompson On Playing Fashionable Villain Baroness Von Hellman In ‘Cruella’ | British Vogue". https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/emma-thompson-interview.
- Murray, Sir John; Pullar, Laurence (1910). Bathymetrical Survey of the Scottish Fresh Water Lochs. Edinburgh. https://archive.org/details/bathymetricalsur51910murr.</ref>
- Gazetteer for Scotland - Historical Perspective for Loch Eck