Blackford to Glendevon reservoir, Perthshire, Scotland

Well aware a lot of these shots look similar. This was a walk from Blackford up Glen Bee to Upper Glendevon reservoir. It is part of an old drovers route that straddles the Ochils – from Blackford all the way to Tillicoultry.

The reservoir wasn’t built until 1955 and it wasn’t without its problems after concerns about its structural stability and leakage for nearly forty years thereafter. The old drovers road is still a popular walking route. I have included an old map (pre-reservoir) and new. The best orientation point is the Blackhills farm which is now on the shores of the reservoir when before it just overlooked a couple of burns. Reservoirs are dotted across Scotland, to supply water into villages, towns and cities. Many inhabitants of farmsteads have been displaced over time to help secure our water supplies, including in Balquhidder where the Glen Finglas reservoir and dam were constructed in the 1950s and 1960s with some of the old Stewart homes disappearing in the process.