Water Resources in the Scottish Highlands

1
The Trossachs
Duke of Edinburgh Assessment Expedition
Starring(in no particular order)
2
Edward Bishop
Due to the undoubted pleasure of spending four
days in the unspoilt countryside, surviving
without help as part of a stalwart team, and the
slightly more dubious pleasure of having a
companion fall ill, this expedition was one I
will honestly never forget.
I will always regard those four days fondly. Even
the more difficult parts of the expedition were,
in hindsight, truly enjoyable all our toils were
more than compensated for by the thrill of
burying myself in Krolls muscular shoulders at
the end.
Sam Boaden
3
Luke Bramwell (in the flesh)
Mmm fresh
Definitely the best of all our D of E
expeditions, mostly due to the location, the
great group and the fact that I didnt get
sunburnt. If anything, Simon Krolls mysterious
illness brought the whole team together, and made
our reunion with him all the more sweet. However,
let it not be forgotten that the first night was
actual hell (we had to pick our way across
highland rivers, only for the heavens to open as
night fell on the decidedly unimpressive wild
campsite!).
Our assessor Tom Shannon made the whole thing
very enjoyable with his laid-back attitude, and
of course the entire experience was masterminded
by Mr Gray, to whom we all owe a lot of
thanks. THANKS MR GRAY!
4
Jonny Hartley

I loved it, one of those experiences you will
never forget, filled with stories to tell. And
Kroll.

5
Its only in the aftermath of Duke of Edinburgh
that you truly begin to appreciate it. I cannot
imagine another opportunity to have so much fun
with such great friends, with such an amazing
sense of achievement at the end!
Tom Hyatt
Tom Hyatt
6
John Waller
It was a minty fresh experience. I loved it.
7
KROLL
8
WaterResourcesintheScottishHighlands

• A report on the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Expedition
  to the Trossachs, 2006

Jonathan Hartley/Luke Bramwell/Tom Hyatt/Edd
Bishop/Sam Boaden/John Waller
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Angling is popular in the Scottish Highlands.
Within a few minutes of the final nights camp on
the shore of Loch Achray, we saw these anglers
enjoying the excellent trout fishing on this
particular body of water. Technically, they might
be fishing rather naughtily since only fly
fishing from boats is allowed on this loch. All
permits for fishing are tightly controlled by the
Conservation Association. This helps ensure that
stocks remain stable in order to maintain
biodiversity and ensure the return of anglers.
The nearby Loch Venachar offers salmon, trout and
pike fishing, and elsewhere in the Trossachs
perch, roach and char can be found, in addition
to Loch Lomonds unique species, the powan (a
type of herring). Whilst anglers contribute
greatly to the local economy, the accidental and
deliberate introduction of non-native species
into Trossachs lochs can pose a risk to local
ecosystems.
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A picture from the centres website
This is a view of Lochearnhead Watersports
Centre. The watersports centre offers a slipway
for the launching of private fishing boats, ski
boats, windsurfers, canoes and sailing boats onto
Loch Earn. In addition, there is a waterski
school known as Charlies. The provision of
this type of facility is key in utilising the
many bodies of water in the Highlands to attract
tourists and many people choose to holiday here
specifically because they can enjoy watersports
in an environment comparable to the best in the
UK (overall, 288m was spent from 2001-3 by
tourists on watersports). In recognition of the
lucrative nature of watersports provision,
VisitScotland has introduced a Watersports
Welcome scheme and Tourist Board Training offers
courses in extending the tourist season through
watersports.
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This is a view across Loch Earn towards the
Drummond Estates Fish Farm. Anglers. According to
fishing.co.uk, their stocking policy over the
last 9 years has made the Loch into a great place
to fish for brown trout some of the largest in
Scotland. Before the fish farm became involved in
stocking the Loch for angling, the average size
of a brown trout was 5oz now they can reach
10lb. Fish farms and estate managers have an
important role to play in ensuring continuing
trade, although their approach differs from the
conservation methods employed on Loch Achray.
Fish farms can pose problems non-local strains
of brown trout and Atlantic salmon have been
introduced to some Lochs through escapes from
fish farms, and these present difficulties in
maintaining a healthy and natural ecosystem.
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Loch Earn is also home to Lochearn Water
Aerodrome, and we spotted their Christen Aviat
A-1 Husky amphibian taking a spin (or hopefully
not!) over the loch. The centre caters for
novices to experienced pilots, and contributes to
bringing tourists to the Trossachs.
www.neils-seaplanes.com
13
Altitudometer
A local history site informs us that,
originally, a water supply to replace the
traditional wells and burns about the town of
Callander was taken from the River Leny just
above the Falls of Leny in 1872 (this supply is
still used by a certain part of the town). The
insufficiency of this was soon realised, though,
and over the coming years there were many
complaints about the pressure of the water
supply. However, on the 18th May, 1932, the Earl
of Ancaster opened the new reservoir north of the
town, at Arivurichardich. The new scheme cost
33,000. It was near to this reservoir that we
camped on the first night and its outlet rivers
were the ones that posed terrible difficulty in
crossing, owing to the bridges having been washed
away in a previous flood. Fortunately, we were
warned of this by a man in a farmhouse lower down
the valley, and given some good advice on how to
cross keep left, and you might want to take your
trousers and shoes off! This particular farmhouse
took water straight from the outlet burn no
need for treatment with that pure Scottish water
14
Basil? This beverage tastes like bogwater. It
is bogwater, John.
Boadens seal of approval
as we soon discovered! Where we could see
livestock grazing, we boiled and used
purification tablets, for lower-level springs we
used purification tablets and for higher-level
springs, as John exemplifies here, we drank the
water as God intended. In a sports bottle.
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Geographical background Frost shattering
occurs when water enters a crack in a rock it
freezes and expands by 9-10. Frost shattering
slowly widens the joints and, in time, causes
pieces of rock to shatter from the main body,
leaving angular rocks. Abrasion is the
sandpapering action caused by particles being
carried in the rivers load rubbing against the
channel sides and bed, breaking pieces of rock
off. This is only effective when the particles in
the load are at least as hard as the bedrock and
is most effective when the river is fast and
turbulent. The amount of load is also an
important factor. These processes contribute to
the formation of waterfalls such as the Little
Fawn. These spectacular natural features then
attract tourists to the Trossachs, who come to
see their beauty. Canyoning is also popular in
the area, and it is these waterfalls and gorges
that make it possible.
The Waterfall of the Little Fawn
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Luke Bramwells thumb
There is a dam situated on the south end of Glen
Finglas Reservoir with a hydroelectric power
station. Hydropower produces essentially no
carbon dioxide or other harmful emissions, in
contrast to burning fossil fuels or gas, and so
is not a significant contributor to global
warming through CO2. Recent reports have linked
reservoir construction to methane, which forms
out of decaying submerged plants which grow in
the dried up parts of the basis in times of
drought. Methane is a greenhouse
gas. Hydroelectric power can be far less
expensive than electricity generated from fossil
fuel or nuclear energy. Areas with abundant
hydroelectric power attract industry with low
cost electricity. However, environmental concerns
with the effects of hydropower reservoirs may
prohibit development of otherwise economic
hydropower sources. The chief advantage of
hydroelectric dams is their ability to handle
seasonal (as well as daily) high peak loads. When
the electricity demands drop, the dam simply
stores more water. Some electricity generators
use water dams to store excess energy (often
during the night), by using the electricity to
pump water up into a basin. The electricity can
be re-generated when demand increases. In
practice the utilization of stored water in river
dams is sometimes complicated by demands for
irrigation, which may occur out of phase with
peak electrical demands.
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18
This charming, informative display on the shore
of The Horned Loch describes how the Loch
provides a great opportunity for bird watching!
Thered be no bird watching for our group,
however, as we were all far too busy worrying
about one Simon Kroll
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The Story of Simon Kroll

• After the halfway point of day 2, it became
  alarmingly apparent that Simon Kroll was not at
  all well. Having uncharacteristically struggled
  with the first major climb, his conversation
  decayed into little more than grunts. Anyone who
  knows Simon Kroll may not see this as odd, but it
  prompted us to stop and force him to drink some
  water, eat and generally get better. When his
  water bottle slipped from his ever-weakening grip
  without a glimmer of realisation, we knew we were
  in trouble!

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• After the rest of the group exhausted themselves
  sharing Krolls legendary JAGUAR VI rucksack
  suspended from walking poles, a hasty camp was
  made (somewhat illegally) just off the road in a
  patch of woodland. The consensus from the group
  was to review at dawn, and unfortunately Kroll
  decided to drop out for the greater benefit of
  his friends. He never left their hearts and upon
  arrival at the finish he was greatly hugged.

Luke breaking the news of Krolls need to drop
out to Tom Shannon, our assessor.
21
Until next time Thanks of unimaginable
proportions to Mr Gray, without whom the entirety
of our experiences with Duke of Edinburgh could
never have happened. We are all indebted to him
for providing the opportunity to create such
happy memories!
THANK YOU MR GRAY!