Loch Katrine

A beautiful day today - had a great day out at Loch Katrine in The Trossachs.

Loch Katrine is a freshwater loch and has been the main reservoir for the city of Glasgow and surrounding area since 1859; water flows there via two 26 mile long aqueducts capable of delivering 50 million gallons a day.

It's also the fictional setting for Sir Walter Scott's poem The Lady of the Lake.

The Steamship Sir Walter Scott was built in 1899 and has been sailing on the lake since 1900 and remains a major tourist attraction. She still has her original steam engine, although no longer uses coal power - since 2008 her boilers run on bio-fuel.

We went out for a sail on the Sir Walter Scott; the Extra photo was taken from the ship.

[related photography trivia - in 1844 photography pioneer Henry Fox Talbot took an early photograph of the lake, 'Scenery of Loch Katrine']