River Carron

The River Carron rises in the Campsie Fells and flows east for about 23 kilometres to the Firth of Forth. It passes through Strathcarron, a valley once used as a drove road from Kilsyth to Stirling. Near Denny the river drops over a 6-metre cascade when in flood. The Carron Bog, a high plain once a lake, lies close to the source and is often waterlogged. The river’s name appears in Ptolemy’s 2nd-century geography and in the 9th-century work of Nennius. The Carron powered the Carron Works, an ironworks founded in 1759 that gave its name to the carronade cannon. These guns were used at Trafalgar and in the American Civil War. The company also produced baths and kitchen sinks under the names Carron Bathrooms and Carron Phoenix. A reservoir built in 1939 now holds brown trout in its 400 hectares of flooded strath. The river is celebrated in the Scots song “Lads o’ the Fair.” Visitors walk beside the river from Carron village to the Forth and Clyde Canal junction. The old Carron Bridge of 1695 spans the river at the edge of Strathcarron Forest. The wooded banks show autumn colours, and the cascade at Temple Denny is visible from the road. The reservoir offers fishing and views across the valley, while the canal towpath leads towards Falkirk.