The Torwood Blue Pool, a little-known mystery in a Scottish forest

Scotland is known for its legends of ghosts and lake monsters, but there are other mysteries worth mentioning as well.

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One such mystery lies in Tor Wood, in the heart of Scotland, about 45 kilometers west of Edinburgh. There, 3 kilometers west of the town of Denny, lies a small circular pool 6 meters in diameter known as the Torwood Blue Pool, located in the middle of the forest and now accessible via a forest track.

Eighteen years ago, Nigel J.C. Turnbull posted the photo of the pool at the top of this article on geograph.org.uk, noting: "Known to locals as the Blue Pool or the Blue Water, this 6.1 metre (20 feet) internal diameter brick lined vertical shaft is 4 metres deep. Although the pool now looks black in colour and heavy with algal growth, it used to be the most amazing blue colour with water so clear you could see the bottom — it was like looking through a blue diamond. I recently discovered that many local youths used it as a swimming pool."

Turnbull added: "I have been trying to discover the original purpose of this redundant feature but nobody (so far) knows. Most locals have never heard of it so I have started the ball rolling by putting up a web page to act as a nucleus for the Torwood Blue Pool Investigation where you can contribute your knowledge or just keep up to date with progress." Sadly, that website is no longer available, but an automatic copy can be viewed on the Web Archive here. Unfortunately, Turnbull died in 2012 at the age of 61 without solving this mystery, to which he dedicated much of his life, since he discovered the pool when he was a child.

Turnbull believed that Torwood's Blue Pool was connected to Quarter Colliery, a nearby mine that was closed in 1910 after an explosion that killed a dozen miners. The accident flooded the mine. Turnbull thought the pool might be an old mine airshaft. According to Atlas Obscura, it's actually a redundant burst pressure chamber and valve house built in 1910 and was part of the water supply network that ran from North Thirds Reservoir to Grangemouth. But what would beautiful Scotland be without a little mystery?

Regarding this enigma, I encourage you to watch this video in Spanish published by ZyroshiTV a month ago, thanks to which I learned about this enigmatic pond (You can turn on automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):

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Main photo: Nigel J.C. Turnbull / geograph.org.uk.