A news release from RSPB Scotland has announced the completion of a new 400m boardwalk at RSPB Lochwinnoch, with support from VisitScotland’s Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund (RTIF) and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, as part of the Garnock Connections Landscape Partnership Scheme.
RSPB Lochwinnoch has a long history of welcoming visitors to enjoy the wildlife at this wetland and woodland site, but for many years there has been an ambition to improve visitor access by creating a circular path to allow people to explore more of what the nature reserve has to offer.
This week RSPB Scotland and partners will be marking a huge step forward in realising this ambition by celebrating the opening of a new boardwalk that provides level and safe access to a previously inaccessible part of the nature reserve.
The boardwalk closes 400m of the 870m gap in a circular route around the Aird Meadow Loch. The new route provides a much longed for waterside walk, allowing people better access to view water birds and providing wonderful scenic views of the Aird Meadow Loch before ending at a viewpoint beside the Peel Tower. This scheduled monument was consolidated last year as part of the Garnock Connections project. The 16th century fortified tower was built by the Sempill family as a “safe place” in times of war but until now, most visitors to RSPB Lochwinnoch did not know it was there.
The new route will also help staff and volunteers manage the site for the benefit of visitors and wildlife, giving easy access to areas that were previously hard to reach and could be susceptible to anti-social behaviour occurring in areas that were out of sight.
