by Scottish Enterprise, however 'riparian owners' possess the loch shoreline and have certain duties and obligations as well as rights. North Ayrshire Council own the land at the southern end of the loch, Network Rail own the land on the eastern shore of the loch along the side of the main railway line to Glasgow and private owners hold land to the west and north. The salmon fishing rights are held by the Crown. the Chivas Regal (Pernod Ricard Ltd) own the strip of land running from the railway to the loch shore opposite their whisky bond site. The Cairn Island This was the only island on the loch and was thought as late as the 1860s to have been built by one of the lairds as a retreat for swans, geese, or other water fowl during the breeding season. It had a fordable causeway leading out to it and rose about 2.5 feet above the water level, clothed in trees and grasses. The southern end of the loch was the site of infill with slag and other wastes from 1841 onwards. By the 1860s 'The Cairn' had become distorted and shifted by the movement of the sediment on the loch caused by the weight of the infill, revealing the presence of a crannog lake dwelling (see 'Archaeology'). Infill operations completely destroyed then island in due course. An artificial island was created at the south-east end of the loch for nesting birds in the 1980s. Flax and steel Lochside Farm was present on the north-west side of the loch in the 19th century, lying below and to the south-west of Lochrig, later Lochridge, as shown on the 19th century OS map; a 'Flax Pond' for rhetting flax, as part of the process of linen manufacture, is also shown nearby on the loch bank; it is now visible as a wet area dominated by rushes. The firm of William & James Knox, linen thread manufacturers, established as early as 1788, are still based in Kilbirnie. Scotland was amongst the first producers of flax. The road running down to the loch here from Baxter Head became known locally as the 'Shanks-McEwan Road' after the company that was contracted to remove the old steelwork's slag heaps. The Glengarnock Ironworks and the later steelworks produced slag and other wastes which were disposed of into the loch, significantly reducing its size and depth. The south-west