Winter was easing and - more importantly - the lengthening of daylight hours made the prospect of a leisurely weekend walk a distinct possibility. Nicole and I undertook the short journey to Gartmorn Dam - a former reservoir just outside Alloa that now forms part of a country park and nature reserve. It was a bright sunny afternoon and we decided to tackle the three-mile circular trail that mostly hugs the water's edge.
Popular with local families and dog walkers, we had previously visited Gartmorn Dam a couple of times and were surprised to find the café and toilets closed on this occasion in the middle of a Saturday afternoon. Perhaps they only function during the warmer months. We set off in a clockwise direction and spotted a number of small birds flitting about in the branches overhead. In a woodland clearing beside the path, we noticed the isolated trunk of a dead tree that had a line of round holes bored near the top. Nicole informed me it was known as a Spechtflöte in Germany - literally woodpecker's flute. I hope the facility had been deliberately left in place to enhance the habitat of these flying percussionists. The flora and fauna had been impressive so far and it was nice to encounter an industrial relic a bit further on. The ruins of Sheriffyards Colliery stood by the footpath, which itself ran along the route of an old mineral railway. The tracks originally connected to the Devon Valley main line and coal wagons were towed down to the rail-served Port of Alloa on the Firth of Forth for onward export. The pit closed in the early 1920s and the mineral railway had vanished from the Ordnance Survey maps published in the post-war period. Several iron roads once radiated from the Clackmannanshire county town but all passenger services were lost by the end of the 1960s. Thankfully a connection to Stirling (for Glasgow) was reopened in 2008.
Continuing the trail, we rounded the eastern end of the dam, where the path diverged from the water and offered a tantalising glimpse of the nearby Ochil Hills. We swung back to the shoreline and paused to observe a variety of ducks through our binoculars. The artificial lake was created in 1712 by bringing water along a two-mile lade from the Black Devon river. The purpose of the dam was to power the pumping machinery that drained the coal pits in the vicinity. For many years, Gartmorn was the largest man-made loch in Scotland and also functioned as a freshwater supply for Alloa and its surrounding settlements. The modern country park is devoted to leisure usage but it was fascinating to learn about the civil engineering origins. We completed our circuit, having, observed a group of long-tailed tits on the final stretch. They were buzzing around and this frequent movement, coupled with fading light, meant it was nigh on impossible to take a decent photograph. Nicole remarked she had not seen a tree creeper in many months and suddenly - as if by magic - we spotted one scaling a nearby trunk. Imagine if it were this easy to conjure up a Big Mac and fries!
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