Greenspaces and the Curling Pond

For the Trust to confirm: Was the viewing hide installed? (August 2022: "still awaiting".)

For the Trust to confirm: Current photos of the pond and the village green spaces.

This project looks at the green spaces in and around the village, and how to make the most of them for everyone in the community and beyond. Early work in 2019 tidied the woodland at the school woods on the Glenluce side of the village and the community garden. The Trust thanks the gardening club, whose volunteers keep the village looking so good.

The biggest piece of work was the Curling Pond. With a grant of £57,500 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, awarded in May 2021, the former curling pond at the Loch of Larg has become a wildlife and nature area, with the pond at its centre, a path around it, seating, a viewing hide, a small car park and an interpretation board. A QR code on the board links to a film recreating the curling competitions once held there. The work was delayed by Covid-19 and completed in 2024.

Working with the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere, classes from Glenluce and Castle Kennedy primary schools have visited the site to learn about climate change. A volunteer group helps look after it, and ideas from a community meeting were recorded for a second phase.

Black-and-white photograph of people curling on the frozen pond, with trees behind — Curling on the pond in years gone by

The Loch of Larg Curling Pond interpretation board on two wooden posts beside the path — The interpretation board, with a QR code to the film

A new gravel path winding through cleared woodland towards the pond — The new path, February 2022

Top photo: The Curling Pond after restoration, August 2022.

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