page_title: Luggie Water
section_title: Source and Tributaries
hierarchical_section_title: Luggie Water / Source and Tributaries
caption_attribution_description: English: Herd's Hill, West Fannyside At 178m hardly a hill but that's what the O.S. have named it.
context_page_description: The Luggie Water is one of two streams which flow out of Cumbernauld. The Scottish New Town’s name derives from the Gaelic for "the meeting of the waters" and it’s possible this refers to the Luggie Water and the Red Burn, both of which run through Cumbernauld but which never meet.
  Water from the Luggie eventually ends up in the west in the Firth of Clyde via the River Kelvin which joins the Luggie at Kirkintilloch. Water from the Red Burn on the other hand flows northward and then eastward via the Bonny Water and the River Carron into the Firth of Forth. Cumbernauld can be considered the aquatic heart of Scotland, being the urban watershed between East and West in the centre of the Central Belt. Where exactly the Scottish watershed is located in the town is difficult to pinpoint. The catchment of both streams includes areas of Fannyside Muir. The Red Burn enters Cumbernauld behind Cumbernauld Academy, whereas the Luggie Water flows past Luggiebank close to the Greenfaulds railway station. Therefore, anywhere between these two landmarks may be the aquatic heart of Scotland.
context_section_description: There would appear to be no single 'source' of the Luggie Water although Herd's Hill on Fannyside is a likely candidate. This very remote location is where the Covenanters used to listen to field preachers despite it being a capital offence. On maps this is at a height of 178m about 1 km south of the larger Fannyside Loch. 
  It's not far from the 10th hole on Palacerigg Golf Course. Within about a kilometer of this point are streams whose waters make it to Linlithgow, Larbert and Kirkintilloch on their way to their destinations.
  There is indeed a drainage ditch choked with rushes and containing little moving water to the west of this hill which initially runs in a southerly direction before taking a south west route and thereafter westerly bearing joined by other ditches along the way before it joins with another burn coming from the south at a place called 'Rumblybugs' next to the road between Wester Glentore farm and Cumbernauld. This is very close to the upper reaches of the Avon Water.
  The burn from the south - which is the larger of the two contributing streams that make the first notification on maps as Luggie Water after the confluence of the two is in turn an entity also made of drainage ditches from fields to the north east and north of the village of Greengairs. Worries about potential pollution from mining effluent near this source were published in The Herald.
  It is therefore difficult to claim a single source for this river and it can be safely assumed as per the Ordnance Survey that the river called the Luggie Water commences at the confluence of its contributaries at Rumblybugs bridge. From this point to the Luggie's confluence with the Kelvin is a distance of approximately 18 kilometres (11 mi) which almost agrees with Groome of the Gazetteer of Scotland. The Gazetteer also states "Fannyside Loch, 2¾ miles SE of the town, is the only one that has not been drained of several lakes; it is 6¾ furlongs long and from 1 to 2 furlongs broad. The new-born Kelvin traces 3¼ miles of the north-western, and Luggie Water 4½ miles of the southern, border; whilst the former throughout is also closely followed by 4½ miles of the Forth and Clyde Canal." The preacher Adam Forman suggests Torbrex Farm as the source.
  The significant downstream tributary burns after Rumblybugs are in order:
  Cameron Burn - Which flows north to join the Luggie at Tannoch bridge, (near Bedlam and the stables), south of Pallacerigg Road. The Cameron (historically known as the Kamrõ Burn) would appear to be the larger stream of the two. After Luggiebank the river skirts the edge of Cumbernauld with Lenziemill to the north and Blairlinn to the south.
  Shank Burn - Another large burn almost as big as the Luggie empties itself into the Luggie from the south near Garngibboch west of both the A73 road bridge and the rail bridge.
  Gain Burn - At Auchenkilns Holdings from the south a few hundred metres downstream of Garngibboch Bridge near Cumbernauld Rugby Club's ground. Older maps also show another unnamed burn joining the Luggie just after the Gain Burn coming from Auchinkilns.
  Moss Water - From Cumbernauld the Luggie flows past Condorrat, whose name is also from a Gaelic phrase - "Comh Dobhair Alt" - The joint river place. The Luggie Water flows round the southern perimeter of Condorrat where older maps and descriptions seem to show it was joined by the Moss Water. (Confusingly they also show the Moss Water flowing north). In 1993 Broadwood Loch, a balancing lake, was created by damming the Moss Water and using a plastic waterproof membrane, and a 6m wall to hold back the water. This was primarily to prevent flooding downstream but also for recreation. The lake is maintained at a nearly constant level and drains northward to the Kelvin via the Board Burn rather than into the Luggie.  Modern maps show another balancing pond also exists which does drain south into the Luggie.
  Mollins Burn - On the eastern edge of the village of Mollinsburn.
  Bothlin Burn - At Oxgang in Kirkintilloch. The Bothlin escapes from Bishop Loch, south of Gartcosh. It is joined by 
caption: Herd's Hill named after Covenanting lookout man
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