Many years ago, I was asked by Lock1UK if I would put a cache out here, after his cache The Lilly, was destroyed, firstly by a landslip, then a grass fire. Here's hoping this one has better luck...
Between 1796 and 1798 a new reservoir, the largest of its type in the world, was created at Hillend Moss. A construction project of a massive scale for the time, on completion it supplied the Forth and Clyde Canal, via the Monkland Canal, with around 1,011,000,000 gallons of water. The Lilly Loch was created in 1836, enlarging an existing loch and providing a dam system which supplied water to nearby Hillend Reservoir. The Lilly Loch was named after it's lillies, which were destroyed on the enlargement of the loch. Along with the Black Loch, these three waters supplied water to Hillend Reservoir, for the regulation of the Monkland Canal. The Lilly Loch was also used to supply water to local distilleries. One of these was Inver House. In the years leading up to the closure of the huge distillery at Moffat Mills it was the largest distillery in Europe, and water from the Lilly Loch was a vital part of this. The distillery is now closed, although the warehouses remain with their barrels of Uisge Beatha maturing within. Many of the whiskies produced with water from the Lilly Loch are now highly collectable, such as Glenflagler and Killyloch. The loch, while still being used to supply water to Hillend, and the canal, no longer supplies the whisky industry, although the pipeline at the west dam can still be seen, heading off towards Moffat Mills. These days it is mainly used for leisure, either for angling, birdwatching or just walking. Hidden away from Airdrie and Caldercruix by the Moffat Hills, it is hidden from much of the nearby light pollution, and is ideal for watching the night sky.
The cache is located on nearby Drumfin Hill.
In 1842 a hoard of Roman coins was found here, some of which can be found at nearby Summerlee, the remainder are in the National Museum of Scotland. In 1955 a pleas was made in the local paper, the Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser, for the return of a stone which had gone missing from the summit of this hill. For many years it had been used to crown the local gala queen, until it went missing, never to be seen again. That the Stone of Destiny had gone missing around this time is purely a coincidence...
The cache contains the co-ordinates for the BONUS CACHE "Enjoy The Silence".