Glenbuck

Glenbuck (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Buic) is a small, remote village in East Ayrshire. Historically part of Ayrshire, it nestles in the hills 3 miles east of Muirkirk, East Ayrshire, Scotland.

The site of the village was slightly to the north-west of Glenbuck "Loch", on the River Ayr, and was surrounded on three sides by South Lanarkshire. The Ayrshire/Lanarkshire border runs north to south across the Loch. The "Loch" is in fact a dam created in 1802 by James Finlay for his Catrine cotton works. Much of the dam banks were created by French prisoners of war. The dam was situated so that the water to power the mill took exactly 12 hours to reach Catrine. The Tenant of West Glenbuck Farm had his rent paid by James Findlay to open the sluice at 18.00 and close it at 06.00, mirroring exactly the working hours of the Mill. The water turned the famous Catrine Wheel which powered the Mill. The double wheel was 15.24 metres in diameter and revolved three times per minute, using 240 tonnes of water whilst generating 500 horse power. [2] The water also powered a dozen other water mills downstream. The dam's creation largely drained the valley downstream and thus allowed the road to be relocated into the valley floor along the route of the modern A70 and paved the way for the adjacent railway line around 1839. Previously the land was a dense bog with the old coach road higher up on the opposite side of valley running below Wee Darnhunch then west across the fields along to Darnhunch Farm where gaps in the stone walls (dykes) shows the old Toll Route.

Railway enthusiasts considered the loch - dissected by the 1830 line - to be an exceptional place to photograph trains with still-water either side of the line and many photos, well known to steam buffs, exist. The last local train through Glenbuck station and over this dam was in 1964. The first steam railway in Scotland was between Troon and Kilmarnock, and its iron rails were made in Glenbuck Iron works.

Glenbuck was once a thriving coal mining community, but the last mine closed in 1931. The village was unable to provide jobs for the unemployed miners and suffered economic decline as a result. There is an informative collection of memories of Glenbuck here.

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Wikipedia