UPDATE - Storm Eowyn Damage Cleared

All paths are now clear again for everyone to enjoy.

The CLLCT Facebook Page

Click the image below to check out our facebook page for information and events.

Board Members Required

In order for CLLCT to continue, we urgently need more members to join the Board of Trustees. It is likely that new members will be local residents who are interested in helping us to maintain the facilities that we have worked so hard to provide for our community. Without community involement and further members joining our Board, there is a very real risk that all of the achievements of the last decade will be lost in the next. New members are not required to have any board experience and we would welcome interest from anyone who feels they could use their own skills and experience to add value to our Trust. Board meetings are held every 4-6 weeks at the Castle Loch cottage with many volunteering opportunities in between.

Volunteers Needed

The continued support of the volunteers of Lochmaben is essential to the conservation of this special place. One simple way of helping is to volunteer yourself—it is free, and it helps maintain the walk for all visitors throughout the year.

Membership Updates

We are updating the membership details of the trust and need your help!

There are 418 members registered with the trust and 304 have given an email address. If any of your contact details have changed please let us know (contact details are shown below). Members are generally contacted by email which means that 114 members do not receive the newsletter, or any other updates about the trust’s activities, on a regular basis. If you know of any member who has a new email address, or changed contact details, please let us know

The trust is looking for more members!

If you know of anyone who may be interested in joining us please encourage them to contact us. We also need a member to join the board so if you would like to support us or know of someone who might be interested please let us know.

Contact details

Email: CLLCT2014@gmail.com (Paul Beardon, Membership Secretary)

Castle Loch Newsletter

Download the latest newsletter on the page below.

Paths and Access update – posted 06/4/23

All the paths and boardwalk are now open. A big thank you to everyone that has supported our work and fundraising campaign for the infrastructure upgrades, including the contractor GroundsCo, volunteers and all the donors: members of the public, local groups, Russell Roof Tiles Annandale & Nithsdale Community Benefit Company, Minnigap 2 fund, Hugh Fraser Fund, National Lottery Community Fund, D&G Council Regionwide Community Fund.
Partly funded by Annandale and Nithsdale Community Benefit Company.

Dogs On Leads

Just a gentle reminder to please keep dogs on a lead or walking to heel and to also pick up after them. Recently the children’s forest school areas have had a lot of dog mess left. There are numerous bins around the site, car parks, lay-bys and Lochfield Cottage, with the longest stretch without a bin around the grassland, but it isn’t that far. Thank you for your help with this.

Birds & animals in difficulty… if you come across an animal that looks sick or injured please contact the SSPCA on 0300 099 9999 and one of their rangers will come out and investigate.

Wild Swimming and Kayaking

I’m regularly asked on Facebook about whether the loch is used by visitors for these activities and the answer is yes. One or two people do wild swim in the loch with safety visual buoys, and others for triathlon training, the same also goes for launching kayaks and canoes. The easiest place to enter the water is from the car park near the bowls/tennis club. Please note that the loch does have blue green algae blooms from time to time, usually late summer if it has been particularly warm and sultry (so not that often then!). When I receive reports of it, I put a note up on here and the Facebook page. The one thing we do ask is that you avoid the wildlife sanctuary area, which, as you enter the water, is the bay down on the far right side. Click below to view the map: