THE fight to keep the name of Glenbuck alive is gathering pace.

Chronicle readers got in touch after our article last week regarding the failure to secure heritage funding for the historic village.

And reinforcements are now coming thick and fast.

Sam Purdie, who produced a detailed document called Glenbuck: A Fading Page, is now working with other groups in their quest.

One of them is Gillian Davies, director of Catrine Community Trust, who has contacted the Glenbuck group with a view to working with them to obtain the necessary funding.

She said: “The highest and possibly most crucial of the Voes — reservoirs which used to feed Catrine Cotton Works — is situated at Glenbuck at the source of the River Ayr and we in Catrine Community Trust are keen to see it preserved and recognised as part of the Scheduled Ancient Monument which is the Catrine Cotton Works water power system.

“Chronicle readers can find out about the Trust and Catrine’s history at www.catrinecommunity.org.

“Perhaps together with Sam and his colleagues we can raise funds to help preserve the name of Glenbuck AND the part of the water system up there?”

Also adding his local knowledge and expertise is historian Richard Stenlake whose pictorial publications recreate the past.

He has provided background information on the area which will be put forward to strengthen the case for funding.

Richard explained: “Glenbuck itself was up the hill from the dam and is a lost village as there is now an opencast up there and no access. There were two reservoirs at Glenbuck - the one that exists and across the road on the Muirkirk side another one that has been infilled/allowed to be drained and is a large marshy area with a couple of railway embankments going across it.

“The total area covered was 20 Scotch acres (not the same size as Imperial acres). There is a spillway from Glenbuck Loch that essentially is the beginning of the River Ayr and there’s some industrial archaeology there - you can see that the spillway has been constructed in the same method as the Voes at Catrine.

“If you continue about 50 yards from the Glenbuck road end east along the A70 at the next corner there is a length of wall that has the distinctive Finlay period pointed coping.

“This section of wall is about 20/30 yards long and is the ‘smoking gun’ evidence that allows us to differentiate between Dale/Alexander construction (with the rounded coping stone) and Finlay era construction.

“Hence if you come back to Catrine you see the wall next the Kirk Brae (we know this road was built by Alexander) it’s round coping stone but interestingly the churchyard wall next to the Coach Road is pointed coping.

“Why is this? Because part of the churchyard was robbed to instal the Fairbairn wheels in the late 1820s. Anyway the wall next the A70 should be listed and somebody needs to start this process to protect it.

“There is construction work going on there just now to upgrade the A70 as it goes past the loch so it might be a good idea to do this now before it gets destroyed.”

Everyone is coming together for an inaugural meeting of the new group, which is taking place on Friday, March 16, at the CEVIC in Catrine.

In attendance with Sam Purdie, Gillian Davies and Richard Stenlake will be TV presenter and heritage consultant Fergus Sutherland, local historians, directors of Catrine community Trust while,representatives of East Ayrshire Council have also been invited — once more the Chronicle gets things moving.

Sam is pictured, above, at the unveiling of a tribute to Bill Shankly, Glenbuck’s most famous son.