Loch Goich

The road that climbs northward out of Ringford passes for much of the way through wild, marshy meadows and green pastures. Patches of damp woodland border the road where scrub willows, alder and sallow thrive, and rustling reedbeds spread beyond the meandering burns and ditches that line the old road. Gentle hills roll up either side of the highway towards higher ground. Hidden lochs are scattered among these hills, Bargatton , Glentoo and Mannoch. But to the west, a glimpse of tumbling rooves and broken walls can sometimes be spotted, especially in winter when the trees are bare of leaves. Grouped together on a slight knoll among the reed beds, they are half hidden by bramble and willows. This is the old homestead of Loch Goich, pronounced ‘Goy’ by those who know it. Surounded by water, deserted, and bleak in winter, the old croft, in common with many ruins, retains a sad beauty of its own as it gradually returns stone by stone back to the earth from which it was once formed. The place is now no more than a collection of tumbledown buildings off the Laurieston Road. This oil painting of Loch Goich is currently on show in The Gallery at Laurieston - http://www.pmcphotography.co.uk/gallery/