03 The seven lochs: 1. Hogganfield Loch Part of the Hogganfield Park LNR, the loch is a fantastic site for wildfowl and is an accessible, well used amenity. Fed from Frankfield Loch and flows into Molendinar Burn. 2. Frankfield Loch Fringed with wet woodland, this proposed local nature reserve (LNR) is readily accessible to existing and new communities at Stepps and Cardowan. Flows into Hogganfield Loch. 3. Bishop Loch A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and the largest water body in the City of Glasgow. Fed by watercourses draining wetland area to the east and west the loch, and flows into the Bothlin Burn. 4. Lochend Loch With access all around the loch this is a well used amenity within Drumpellier Country Park. Water flow from Lochend Loch to Woodend Loch is controlled to support angling. 5. Woodend Loch Also within Drumpellier Country Park, and a designated SSSI, Woodend Loch retains natural vegetation at its margins. Flows into Bothlin Burn. 6. Johnston Loch An attractive loch on the edge of Gartcosh, Johnston Loch is accessible on two sides and supports a trout fishery. Drains to the south to join the Bothlin Burn. 7. Garnqueen Loch Part of Glenbiog Village Park, the loch is an important element of this well used amenity space. Drains west to join the Bothlin Burn.
Hydrology The site is generally low lying (below 100m), and water is a dominant feature within the landscape. A complex network of drainage ditches, lochs, wetlands, seasonal water bodies and ponds are associated with a range of wetland habitats, including reedbed, swamp and wet woodland. Large areas of peat are present at Commonhead Moss, Baillie Moss, Cardowan Moss, Heathfield / Garnkirk and Drumpellier. The seven main water bodies are shallow ‘kettle ponds’ of the Garnkirk chain, formed by glacial retreat after the last ice age. The area is the headwaters of four catchments, draining into 4 main watercourses which are tributaries of the River Kelvin and the River Clyde. Most of the site, including Bishop Loch, Lochend and Woodend Lochs, Johnston Loch and Garnqueen Loch, drains to the Bothlin Burn which flows N.E. to the River Kelvin. Hogganfield and Frankfield Lochs drain into the Molendinar Burn, which flows west from the site into the Clyde. Smaller areas in the S.E. of the site flow into the Tollcross and Bishop Burns, which flow south to the Clyde. The lochs vary significantly in terms of their use and modification by human activity. The banks of Hogganfield and Lochend Lochs are extensively modified for recreation / amenity, while other lochs range from the agricultural edges of the Gartloch pools and Bishop Loch, to the natural margins of Woodend Loch. Burns and drainage ditches also vary significantly in character. Watercourses are primarily open, with short culverts beneath major roads, and two longer culverts on the Bothlin Burn (at Gartcosh Business Park) and the Molindinar Burn at Hogganfield Park. While the Bothlin Burn remains open once it leaves the wetland park area the other burns are primarily culverted from where they leave the park to their outflow into the clyde. Some drainage ditches are now blocked, some deliberately, others through natural processes of siltation and vegetation growth.
UNDERSTANDING THE SITE
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