Backwater Resevoir Walk 16/07/17

With sunshine forecast today and after a bit of a lazy Saturday on my behalf, we needed some fresh air and sunshine, Backwater Reservoir North of Alyth was todays walk, 7.5 miles around with a mix of tarred road, forest and open farmland, it turned out to be a great walk of 3 and a half hours including lots of photo stops. The last time I was here was around 20 years ago working on the ancillary building flat roof, one very snowy day when the work couldn't be carried out, 5 of us decided to race each other down the snowy embankment slope on polythene sheets, lots of crashes and hilarity ensued.
Peel Farm coffee shop was an ideal stop on the way home to fuel up again with soup and pieces.

The project was initiated by the Dundee Corporation Waterworks in 1964 and absorbed into the newly created East of Scotland Water Board in 1968, before final completion and the official opening by Queen Elizabeth II on 9 October 1969. The reservoir's only purpose is to provide drinking water, and as such, it supplies Angus, Dundee, and parts of Perth and Kinross. Backwater, together with the smaller Lintrathen Reservoir 4 kilometres to the south, is capable of supplying some 300,000 people with drinking water.
The dam is an embankment type, measuring 42.6 metres high by 570 metres long. The reservoir extends for 3 kilometres behind the dam and has a peak capacity of 24.55 million cubic metres. An unclassified road runs across the spillway and embankment before following the east bank of the reservoir. This road runs for a further 2 kilometres before coming to an end. The dam was the first in Britain to use chemical grouting to create a waterproof barrier below the embankment.
Balfour Beatty constructed the embankment and ancillary works. Soil Mechanics and Bachy Soletanche were responsible for the chemical grouting and for tunnelling work. Consulting engineer was Babtie, Shaw and Morton.
Backwater Reservoir can be reached by taking the B951 turn-off from the A93 (around 5 miles south of Spittal of Glenshee) to the north-west, or from the A926 at Kirriemuir to the south-east.