Loch Lomond
Encyclopedia
Loch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch
Loch
Loch is the Irish and Scottish Gaelic word for a lake or a sea inlet. It has been anglicised as lough, although this is pronounced the same way as loch. Some lochs could also be called a firth, fjord, estuary, strait or bay...

, lying on the Highland Boundary Fault
Highland Boundary Fault
The Highland Boundary Fault is a geological fault that traverses Scotland from Arran and Helensburgh on the west coast to Stonehaven in the east...

. It is the largest lake in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 by surface area. The lake contains many islands, including Inchmurrin
Inchmurrin
Inchmurrin is an island in Loch Lomond in Scotland. It is the largest fresh water island in the British Isles.- Geography and geology :...

, the largest fresh-water island in the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

, although the lake itself is smaller than many Irish loughs. Loch Lomond is a popular leisure destination and is featured in song
The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond
"The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond", or simply "Loch Lomond" for short, is a well-known traditional Scottish song . It was first published in 1841 in Vocal Melodies of Scotland....

.

Geography

Loch Lomond is a freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...

 loch lying on the Highland Boundary Fault
Highland Boundary Fault
The Highland Boundary Fault is a geological fault that traverses Scotland from Arran and Helensburgh on the west coast to Stonehaven in the east...

, the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands. It is 39 kilometres (24.2 mi) long and between 1.21 kilometre (0.751861011346266 mi) and 8 kilometres (5 mi) wide. It has an average depth of about 37 metres (121.4 ft), and a maximum depth of about 190 metres (623.4 ft). Its surface area measures 71 km² (27.4 sq mi), and it has a volume of 2.6 km³ (0.623773172371145 cu mi). Of all lakes in Great Britain, it is the largest by surface area, and the second largest (after Loch Ness
Loch Ness
Loch Ness is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. Its surface is above sea level. Loch Ness is best known for the alleged sightings of the cryptozoological Loch Ness Monster, also known affectionately as "Nessie"...

) by water volume. Within the United Kingdom, it is surpassed only by Lough Neagh
Lough Neagh
Lough Neagh, sometimes Loch Neagh, is a large freshwater lake in Northern Ireland. Its name comes .-Geography:With an area of , it is the largest lake in the British Isles and ranks among the forty largest lakes of Europe. Located twenty miles to the west of Belfast, it is approximately twenty...

 and Lower Lough Erne in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

.

Traditionally a boundary of Stirlingshire
Stirlingshire
Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling is a registration county of Scotland, based around Stirling, the former county town. It borders Perthshire to the north, Clackmannanshire and West Lothian to the east, Lanarkshire to the south, and Dunbartonshire to the south-west.Until 1975 it was a county...

 and Dunbartonshire
Dunbartonshire
Dunbartonshire or the County of Dumbarton is a lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Until 1975 it was a county used as a primary unit of local government with its county town and administrative centre at the town...

, Loch Lomond is located in the current council areas of Stirling
Stirling
Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...

, Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute is both one of 32 unitary council areas; and a Lieutenancy area in Scotland. The administrative centre for the council area is located in Lochgilphead.Argyll and Bute covers the second largest administrative area of any Scottish council...

, and West Dunbartonshire
West Dunbartonshire
West Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. Bordering onto the west of the City of Glasgow, containing many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages as well as the city's suburbs, West Dunbartonshire also borders onto Argyll and Bute, Stirling, East...

, and its southern shores lie approximately 23 kilometres (14.3 mi) north of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Scotland’s largest city.

Loch Lomond is now part of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park is a national park in Scotland centred on Loch Lomond, and includes several ranges of hills, the Trossachs being the most famous...

. Ben Lomond
Ben Lomond
Ben Lomond , , is a distinctive mountain in the Scottish Highlands. Situated on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, it is the most southerly of the Munros...

 is on the eastern shore: 974 m (3,195 ft) in height and the most southerly of the Scottish Munro
Munro
A Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over . They are named after Sir Hugh Munro, 4th Baronet , who produced the first list of such hills, known as Munros Tables, in 1891. A Munro top is a summit over 3,000 ft which is not regarded as a separate mountain...

 peaks. A 2005 poll
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...

 of Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...

readers named Loch Lomond as the 6th greatest natural wonder in Britain.

The main arterial route along the loch is the A82 road
A82 road
The A82 is a trunk road in Scotland. It is the principal route from Lowland Scotland to the western Scottish Highlands, running from Glasgow to Inverness, going by Loch Lomond, Glen Coe and Fort William. It is the second longest primary A-road in Scotland after the A9, which is the other...

 which runs the length of its western shore. For a long time this was a notorious bottleneck, with the route clogged with tourists during the summer months. It was upgraded in the 1980s and 1990s, although the stretch north of Tarbet remains unimproved.

Islands


The loch contains thirty or more other islands. depending on the water level. Several of them are large by the standards of British bodies of freshwater. Inchmurrin
Inchmurrin
Inchmurrin is an island in Loch Lomond in Scotland. It is the largest fresh water island in the British Isles.- Geography and geology :...

, for example, is the largest island in a body of freshwater in the British Isles. As in Loch Tay
Loch Tay
Loch Tay is a freshwater loch in the central highlands of Scotland, in the district of Perthshire.It is a long narrow loch of around 14 miles long, and typically around 1 to 1½ miles wide, following the line of the valley from the south west to north east...

, several of the islands appear to be crannog
Crannog
A crannog is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes, rivers and estuarine waters of Scotland and Ireland. Crannogs were used as dwellings over five millennia from the European Neolithic Period, to as late as the 17th/early 18th century although in Scotland,...

s, artificial islands built in prehistoric periods.

English travel writer, H.V. Morton
Henry Vollam Morton
Henry Canova Vollam Morton, was a journalist and pioneering travel writer from Lancashire, England, best known for his prolific and popular books on Britain and the Holy Land...

 wrote:
What a large part of Loch Lomond's beauty is due to its islands, those beautiful green tangled islands, that lie like jewels upon its surface.


One of the loch's islands, Inchconnachan
Inchconnachan
Inchconnachan is an island in Loch Lomond in Scotland.The 1920s wooden bungalow near to the narrows was the holiday home of Lady Arran Colquhoun.Capercaillie nest here.-Wallabies:...

 is home to a colony of wallaby
Wallaby
A wallaby is any of about thirty species of macropod . It is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or wallaroo that has not been given some other name.-Overview:...

.

Leisure activities

The Loch Lomond Golf Club
Loch Lomond Golf Club
Loch Lomond Golf Club is located in Luss, Argyll & Bute, Scotland on the shore of Loch Lomond. The course occupies land previously held by Clan Colquhoun and includes the clan's seat of Rossdhu Mansion as its clubhouse.-History:...

 is situated on the south western shore. It has hosted many international events including the Scottish Open
Scottish Open (golf)
The Scottish Open, which has been sponsored by Barclays Capital since 2002, is one of the richer golf tournaments on the European Tour. It is currently played at Castle Stuart Golf Links in Inverness in the North of Scotland...

. Another golf club, "The Carrick" has opened on the banks of the Loch adjacent to the Loch Lomond Club.
The West Highland Way
West Highland Way
The West Highland Way is a linear long distance footpath in Scotland, with the official status of Long Distance Route. It is 154.5km long, running from Milngavie north of Glasgow to Fort William in the Scottish Highlands, with an element of hill walking in the route...

 runs along the eastern bank of the loch. The West Loch Lomond Cycle Path
West Loch Lomond Cycle Path
The West Loch Lomond Cycle Path is a cycle path that runs from Arrochar and Tarbet railway station, at the upper end of Loch Lomond in Scotland, to Balloch railway station, at the bottom of the loch. It was officially opened on 2006-06-20 by Tavish Scott....

 runs from Arrochar and Tarbet railway station
Arrochar and Tarbet railway station
Arrochar and Tarbet railway station is a railway station on the West Highland Line in Scotland. It stands between the villages of Arrochar and Tarbet.- History :...

, at the upper end of the loch, to Balloch railway station
Balloch railway station
Balloch railway station is a railway station serving the town of Balloch in Scotland. The station is a terminus on the North Clyde Line, 31 km north west of Glasgow Queen Street railway station...

, at the south end. The 28 kilometres (17.4 mi) long cycle path runs along the west bank.

At the south end of the loch near Balloch is a large visitor and shopping complex named Loch Lomond Shores.

Air crash

On the 22 April 1940 a British Overseas Airways Corporation
British Overseas Airways Corporation
The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...

 Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra
Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Francillon, René J. Lockheed Aircraft since 1913. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-835-6.-External links:*...

 (Registration: G-AFKD named Loch Invar) flying from Perth Airport (Scotland)
Perth Airport (Scotland)
Perth Airport is a general aviation airport located at New Scone, northeast of Perth, Scotland. The airport used by private and business aircraft, and for pilot training...

 to Heston Aerodrome
Heston Aerodrome
Heston Aerodrome was a 1930s airfield located to the west of London, UK, operational between 1929 and 1947. It was situated on the border of the Heston and Cranford areas of Hounslow, Middlesex...

 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 crashed at Loch Lomond, killing all five passengers and crew.

Boating and watersports

Loch Lomond is one of Scotland's premier boating and watersports venues and the scenery draws people from all over Scotland and beyond. The loch is open to every kind of watercraft including kayaks, canoes, wind-surfers, jetskis, speedboats and cruisers and they are all very well represented. Loch Lomond Rescue Boat provides 24-hour safety cover on the loch. The Rescue Boat is a Volunteer Organisation and a Registered Charity. The National Park Authority also have other boats on the Loch such as The Brigadier. Strathclyde Police also operate on the Loch using RIBs and Jet Skis and work in conjunction with the National Park Authority.
The National Park Authority has tried to achieve a balance between land-based tourists and loch users, with environmentally sensitive areas subject to a strictly enforced 10 km per hour speed limit, but the rest of the loch open to speeds of up to 90 km per hour.

Other leisure activities on the loch include cruises from the town of Balloch
Balloch, West Dunbartonshire
Balloch is a small town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, at the foot of Loch Lomond. The name comes from the Gaelic for "the pass".Balloch is at the north end of the Vale of Leven, straddling the River Leven itself. It connects to the larger town of Alexandria and to the smaller village of...

, operated by Sweeney's Cruises.

The Maid of the Loch
PS Maid of the Loch
PS Maid of the Loch is the last paddle steamer built in Britain. She operated on Loch Lomond for 29 years and is now being restored at Balloch pier.-Construction:...

 was the last paddle steamer
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...

 built in Britain. Built on the Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....

 in 1953, she operated on Loch Lomond for 29 years. She is now being restored at Balloch
Balloch, West Dunbartonshire
Balloch is a small town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, at the foot of Loch Lomond. The name comes from the Gaelic for "the pass".Balloch is at the north end of the Vale of Leven, straddling the River Leven itself. It connects to the larger town of Alexandria and to the smaller village of...

 pier by the Loch Lomond Steamship Company, a charitable organisation, supported by Dumbarton District Council.

Guided canoeing and canoe hire is available through some small companies such as S D Adventures

Popular culture

The song

The loch is featured in a well-known song which was first published around 1841. The chorus is:
Oh, ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road,
And I'll be in Scotland afore ye;
But me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond.


The song has been recorded by many performers over the years, including jazz singer Maxine Sullivan
Maxine Sullivan
Maxine Sullivan , born Marietta Williams, was an American blues and jazz singer.She was born in Homestead, Pennsylvania, and married jazz musician John Kirby in 1938 , and stride pianist Cliff Jackson in 1956...

 (for whom it was a career-defining hit), the Mudmen
Mudmen
Mudmen are a Canadian rock band that formed in Toronto, Ontario in 2000. Initially comprising vocalist Zoy Nicoles, guitarist Lonny Knapp, bassist Tommy Skilton, drummer Ryan McCaffrey and bagpipe-playing brothers Robby and Sandy Campbell...

, and Scottish-Canadian punk band The Real McKenzies. Both Runrig
Runrig
Runrig are a Scottish Celtic rock group formed in Skye, in 1973 under the name 'The Run Rig Dance Band'. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included songwriters Rory Macdonald and Calum Macdonald. The current line-up also includes longtime members Malcolm Jones, Iain Bayne, and more...

 and Quadriga Consort
Quadriga Consort
Quadriga Consort aka Quadriga Early Music Band is an early music ensemble from Austria. Founded in 2001 by harpsichordist Nikolaus Newerkla, the ensemble plays rearranged early British and Irish traditional music....

 used to perform Loch Lomond as their concert's final song. The original author is unknown. One story is that the song was written by a Scottish soldier who awaited death in enemy captivity; in his final letter home, he wrote this song, portraying his home and how much he would miss it. Another tale is that during the 1745 Rebellion
Jacobite rising
The Jacobite Risings were a series of uprisings, rebellions, and wars in Great Britain and Ireland occurring between 1688 and 1746. The uprisings were aimed at returning James VII of Scotland and II of England, and later his descendants of the House of Stuart, to the throne after he was deposed by...

 a soldier on his way back to Scotland during the 1745-6 retreat from England wrote this song. The "low road" is a reference to the Celtic belief that if someone died away from his homeland, then the fairies
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...

 would provide a route of this name for his soul to return home.

Other popular culture

Loch Lomond (like Loch Ness
Loch Ness
Loch Ness is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. Its surface is above sea level. Loch Ness is best known for the alleged sightings of the cryptozoological Loch Ness Monster, also known affectionately as "Nessie"...

) is often used as shorthand for all things Scottish, an image partly reinforced by the eponymous song. An archetype is the Lerner and Loewe
Lerner and Loewe
Lerner and Loewe are the duo of lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe, known primarily for the music and lyrics of some of Broadway's most successful musical shows, including My Fair Lady, Camelot, and Brigadoon....

 musical Brigadoon. The opening lyrics of the song "Almost Like Being In Love" are: "Maybe the sun gave me the power/For I could swim Loch Lomond and be home in half an hour/Maybe the air gave me the drive/For I'm all aglow and alive!"

The village of Luss
Luss
Luss is a village in Argyll & Bute, Scotland, on the west bank of Loch Lomond.-History:Historically in the County of Dunbarton, its original name is Clachan dubh, or 'dark village'...

 ("Glendarroch") on the shores of the loch was the location for the TV soap
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 Take the High Road
Take the High Road
Take the High Road was a Scottish soap opera produced by Scottish Television, and set in the fictional village of Glendarroch , and claims to have about 2 million fans, including the Queen Mother...

, and the loch itself was given the fictional name Loch Darroch for the purpose of the series. Luss ("Lios") and the islands nearby were used as the setting for E. J. Oxenham's
Elsie J. Oxenham
Elsie Jeanette Dunkerley , was an English girls' story writer, who took the name Oxenham as her pseudonym when her first book, Goblin Island, was published in 1907. Her Abbey Series of 38 titles are her best-known and best-loved books...

 first book, Goblin Island, published in 1907.

Loch Lomond is also the brand name of the Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland.Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky , Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three...

 drunk by Captain Haddock
Captain Haddock
Captain Archibald Haddock is a fictional character in The Adventures of Tintin, the series of classic Belgian comic books written and illustrated by Hergé...

 in Hergé
Hergé
Georges Prosper Remi , better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist. His best known and most substantial work is the 23 completed comic books in The Adventures of Tintin series, which he wrote and illustrated from 1929 until his death in 1983, although he was also...

's famous comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 series The Adventures of Tintin
The Adventures of Tintin
The Adventures of Tintin is a series of classic comic books created by Belgian artist , who wrote under the pen name of Hergé...

.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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