River Gryfe

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Gryfe
River Gryffe Renfrewshire.jpg
The River Gryffe
Location
Country United Kingdom
Constituent country Scotland
County Renfrewshire
Towns/villages Kilmacolm, Quarrier's Village, Bridge of Weir, Houston, Crosslee
Physical characteristics
Source Gryffe Reservoir, Inverclyde
  coordinates 55°54′28.8″N4°44′42″W / 55.908000°N 4.74500°W / 55.908000; -4.74500
Mouth Black Cart Water, Renfrewshire
  coordinates
55°52′12″N4°27′36″W / 55.87000°N 4.46000°W / 55.87000; -4.46000 Coordinates: 55°52′12″N4°27′36″W / 55.87000°N 4.46000°W / 55.87000; -4.46000
Length26 km (16 mi)

The River Gryfe (or Gryffe) is a river and tributary of the Black Cart Water, running through the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It gives its name to the surrounding Gryffe Valley, also known as Strathgryfe.

Contents

Flow

The Gryfe Reservoir GryfeReservoir.jpg
The Gryfe Reservoir

The Gryfe emerges to the south west of the village of Kilmacolm on the edge of the Duchal Woods. It is fed from a number of streams or burns on the moors above the village including the Burnbank Water, the Blacketty Water and the Mill Burn. Its main tributaries are the Green Water and the Gryfe Water, which flows through the village and begins on Little Creuch Hill to the south of Gryfe No. 1 Reservoir.

It flows for approximately 16 miles (26 kilometres) to join the Black Cart Water near Glasgow International Airport beside the M8 motorway at Blackstone Mains Farm, having passed the north side of Quarriers Village, and the villages of Bridge of Weir, Crosslee and Houston.

The Gryfe was formerly used to supply water for powering water mills at Kilmacolm and Crosslee, the latter fed via a lade (millstream) which left the River Gryfe near Bridge of Weir.

The river also supplied process water to ROF Bishopton; the water was taken near where the Linwood Moss road joins the Houston Road. The Dargavel Burn, which rises north of Kilmacolm, joins the River Gryfe near the site of the former Georgetown railway station after flowing in a south-east direction through ROF Bishopton.

Name

The River Gryffe signposted at Moss Road by Houston. River Gryffe Houston.jpg
The River Gryffe signposted at Moss Road by Houston.

The name Gryfe comes from the Gaelic garbh meaning 'rough stream'. [1] The name is variously spelt with one 'f' or two; both spellings appear in official usage. [2] [3]

The churches of Stragrif (Strathgryffe) are mentioned in the 1169 charter of Paisley Abbey. In 1968, Independent Labour Party politician Thomas Taylor was made a life peer as Lord Taylor of Gryfe, of Bridge of Weir in the County of Renfrew. [4]

There are a number of places named after the river including Gryffe Road in Kilmacolm, Gryffe Avenue in Bridge of Weir and Gryffe Crescent in Paisley, Gryffe High School – a state secondary school in Houston. There are organisations which refer to the river and its environs, such as the Gryffe Valley Rotary Club. The BBC also favours the Gryffe spelling. [5]

Related Research Articles

Renfrewshire Council area of Scotland

Renfrewshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.

Bridge of Weir Human settlement in Scotland

Bridge of Weir is a village within the Renfrewshire council area and wider historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland.

Johnstone Town in Scotland

Johnstone is a town in the administrative area of Renfrewshire and larger historic county of the same name, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland.

Houston, Renfrewshire Human settlement in Scotland

Houston, is a village in the council area of Renfrewshire and the larger historic county of the same name in the west central Lowlands of Scotland.

Craigends is a residential area in the civil parish of Houston and Killellan in Renfrewshire, Scotland lying south of the River Gryffe and on the banks of the River Locher. Craigends is on the south-eastern edge of the village of Houston, bordering the parish's other village, Crosslee. As with most of Houston, Craigends is predominantly a commuter settlement.

Inchinnan Human settlement in Scotland

Inchinnan is a small village in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The village is located on the main A8 road between Renfrew and Greenock, just south east of the town of Erskine.

Bishopton, Renfrewshire Human settlement in Scotland

Bishopton (/bɪʃəptən/) is a village in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It is located around 2 miles (3 km) west of Erskine.

Paisley and Renfrewshire North (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 2005 onwards

Paisley and Renfrewshire North is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election, replacing most of Paisley North and Renfrewshire West.

River Cart

The River Cart is a tributary of the River Clyde, Scotland, which it joins from the west roughly midway between the towns of Erskine and Renfrew and opposite the town of Clydebank.

Gryffe Reservoirs

The Gryffe Reservoirs, also spelled 'Gryfe', take their name from the River Gryffe, name deriving from the Gaelic garbh meaning "rough stream". are two reservoirs, known as Gryffe No. 1 and Gryffe No. 2, located in Inverclyde in the west central Lowlands of Scotland.

Kilmacolm Village in Inverclyde, Scotland

Kilmacolm is a village and civil parish in the Inverclyde council area, and the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the northern slope of the Gryffe Valley, 7+12 miles southeast of Greenock and around 15 miles (24 km) west of the city of Glasgow. The village has a population of around 4,000 and is part of a wider civil parish which covers a large rural hinterland of 15,000 hectares containing within it the smaller settlement of Quarrier's Village, originally established as a 19th-century residential orphans' home.

Renfrewshire (historic) Historic county and lieutenancy area of western Scotland

Renfrewshire or the County of Renfrew is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It contains the local government council areas of Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire, as well as parts of Glasgow and is occasionally named Greater Renfrewshire to distinguish the county from the modern council area.

Langbank Human settlement in Scotland

Langbank is a village on the south bank of the River Clyde in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The name is thought to come from ‘long bank’. It is 9.3 miles/15 km northwest from Paisley (Renfrewshire) and 3.4 miles/5.5 km east from Port Glasgow (Inverclyde) on the A8.

Strathgryffe

Strathgryffe or Gryffe Valley is a strath centred on the River Gryffe in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The River Gryffe passes through the council areas of Inverclyde and Renfrewshire, rising in Kilmacolm and joining the Black Cart Water between Houston and Inchinnan.

Georgetown railway station (Scotland)

Georgetown railway station was a railway station serving the village of Houston, Renfrewshire, Scotland, originally as part of the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway and later owned by the Caledonian Railway.

Quarriers Village Human settlement in Scotland

Quarrier's Village is a small settlement in the civil parish of Kilmacolm in Inverclyde council area and the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Gryffe Valley between the villages of Kilmacolm and Bridge of Weir, falling on the boundary between the modern Inverclyde and Renfrewshire council areas.

Levern Water

The Levern Water, is a small river in East Renfrewshire and Glasgow, Scotland. It rises in the Long Loch, and flows generally north and east, past the towns of Neilston and Barrhead, for a total distance of 9 miles (14 km). It empties into the White Cart River.

Houston and Killellan

Houston and Killellan is a civil parish in the county and council area of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It contains the villages of Houston and Crosslee, as well as a number of smaller settlements including Barochan and Killellan in its rural hinterland.

Renfrewshire North and West (Scottish Parliament constituency) Region or constituency of the Scottish Parliament

Renfrewshire North and West is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of ten constituencies in the West Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

References

  1. Maxwell, Sir Herbert (1894). Scottish Land Names; their Origin and Meaning. Edinburgh & London: Wm Blackwood & Sons.
  2. of 'Gryfe' by Renfrewshire Council
  3. of 'Gryffe' by Renfrewshire Council
  4. HL Deb 31 January 1968 vol 288 c771
  5. of 'Gryffe' used by the BBC