A WOMAN from Troon has spoken of her pride in her great-grandfather who helped build the Katrine aqueduct which saw a £20million upgrade completed earlier this month.

Old photographs of the construction of the aqueduct were shown on BBC Scotland’s Landward programme and Channel 5’s Secret Scotland series last autumn, which prompted Aileen Kerr to contact Scottish Water and reveal that her great-grandfather, James Savage, was one of the 3,000 workers who built it.

James was an Irish farm servant working in Dumfriesshire who moved to Milngavie between 1881 and 1890, and worked on the aqueduct until 1901.

The second Katrine Aqueduct was built between 1885 and 1901 to accommodate the rapid expansion of Glasgow.

Aileen said: “From the registration of the children’s births he is shown as being a waterworks labourer until 1896 when he is recorded as being an engineer. In 1898 he is shown as being an Engine Driver.

“It was amazing how the aqueduct was built without the sort of equipment and safety precautions we would have nowadays.

“The fact that it is still operational is a testament to everyone involved in its construction, including my great-grandfather, and it’s good to hear of the completion of this recent improvement work".