Irvin Clifford says

Hey Steven,

You cannot own a loch in Scotland you can own the land around it and under it but not the water in the loch itself, Kilbirnie Loch has many and various people, farms and businesses who all own the land around the loch, the Kilbirnie Loch Management Group controls the loch access, for example, number of boats allowed on the loch and who gets access to use the loch.

So to answer your question no one owns the loch but a few people own the land around it as well as the access to it.

Hope this helps.

John Crawford says

Irvin is perfectly correct. I understand the people who own the land round the Loch (or indeed any waterway) are known as 'riparian owners' and have certain duties and obligations as well as rights!

Roger Griffith says

The NAC Ranger Service regularly patrols and monitors Kilbirnie Loch and organises the access to the loch through the boat registration procedures, etc.

Elizabeth Steele says

Hi Steven,

A little bit of past history:Around 1628 shown in the title of the lands and barony of Glengarnock was "et loch de Loch Thankart". It belonged to the Cunninghames of Glengarnock but the Craufurds of Kilbirnie disputed their right and in the spirit of the times, these families called out their tenants and retainers, and broke one anothers' boats.Both parties had the loch included in their titles. This dispute lasted until Glengarnock was taken over by Kilbirnie when they became one.

Elizabeth Steele

Billy Long says

Interesting topic here. Is Glengarnock not separated from Kilbirnie by the Garnock Burn at the junction where there is traffic lights on a weak bridge and the turn off for Glengarnock Primary School.

Is the castle up past Logan's farm in The Kilbirnie Hills (road up past the Milton Scheme) not known as Glengarnock Castle?

Is true that parts of Glengarnock also belong to both Beith and Dalry coming under the postcodes of those Garnock Valley towns as well as Kilbirnie

I believe the burn at Glengarnock Railway Station underneath the platform is the boundary line between Glengarnock and Dalry? Is this true or can someone tell me if this wrong?

I tried to reach Glengarnock Castle earlier in the year but the road past the farm had large potholes due to the bad wintry weather that my wee car could not get past there. Is this the proper access road towards the castle?

Irvin Clifford says

Hey Billy yes Glengarnock is separated from Kilbirnie by the Garnock,

Glengarnock Castle is the other side of the burn from Logans Farm you have to go up past Redheugh for the most direct route,first left after Redheugh,down the hill and immediately right at the bottom brings you onto the Black Barn road way,you cannot get your car any further than that point but the castle is only a 5 minute walk from there,all uphill though,there is no direct road you can drive on to get you up to the castle all privately owned ground.And at this time of year still full of lambs and young livestock so ensure all gates are closed and no dogs are off the leash.

We also have Garnock Castle which is the one beside the Largs road at the top end of the golf course.

The Powgree burn at the station is part of the boundary between Kilbirnie and Beith and yes Dalry parish does stretch all the way to just behind the Glendale pub in Glengarnock.

Billy Long says

Thank you Irvin for that. I never knew there was also a Garnock Castle. You learn something new every day!

Roger Griffith says

Have a look at this Wikipedia article to learn everything about Glengarnock Castle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glengarnock_Castle