The Milngavie reservoirs offer a peaceful escape, a short-distance from Glasgow It s a very special, unique and precious place, says Arvind Salwan, taking in the view. Twenty minutes from the centre of Glasgow by train, there is an oasis of calm where walkers and runners can very quickly forget how close they are to Scotland s largest city. It was considered an ambitious project at its time. In 1856 engineers appointed by the city s water authority were tasked with bringing water from Loch Catrine to Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire across a distance of 26 miles. Their goal was to create a clean water supply for a population which had endured successive cholera outbreaks, the water-borne virus costing thousands of lives.