Cowal West Argyll Scotland Fascinating castle secret beach island views powerful work of art

00:00 Intro
01:08 B8000 Coastal Road Loch Fyne
02:37 Old Castle Lachlan
06:05 Kilbride Bay
09:06 Tighnabruaich
09:45 The Ark by David Blair

The Cowal Peninsular is an area of Argyll in Scotland, flanked by Loch Long on one side and Loch Fyne on the other. There are 3 ‘arms’ to Cowal, meaning it is not just one peninsula, but 3, with Cowal East, which includes Dunoon on one side and Cowal West which includes Colintraive and Tighnabruaich on the other, each on a separate ‘arm’, but both in Cowal West. The Isle of Bute fits snugly between the two arms of Cowal West.
There is a good road (A886) to Colintraive, however, we chose to take the more scenic single track coastal road (B8000) down Loch Fyne. While this was slower, the road itself is ok and was very beautiful at this time of year, with the bluebells lining many sections.
We initially missed the junction for Old Castle Lachlan, which we had intended to visit, so had to go back on another day to film that. Fortunately, it’s not far down the road. It was definitely worth the effort to see the castle, which is possibly the most historically significant I have seen, since its owner the Chief of Clan Maclachlan was killed at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, having backed Bonnie Prince Charlie in the 1745 Jacobite Uprising, arguably the most significant event in Scottish history, which ended the Jacobite cause and led to the suppression of Scottish clans and culture. There is a report that a Government warship sailed up Loch Fyne soon after the battle and bombarded the castle and some of the damaged walls would appear to support that. The castle was abandoned immediately after Culloden and never inhabited again. The Maclachlans were allowed to keep their lands after the Duke of Argyll intervened on their behalf after the battle. Thus, another Castle Lachlan, a townhouse, was built nearby in 1790 by the Maclachlans and is still inhabited today. The Old Castle represents a moment frozen in time when the fabric of the Scottish nation changed to this day. Links to articles about the castle below.
https://www.oldcastlelachlan.com/our-...
https://www.castlelachlan.com/history...

We stopped at Otter Ferry to take in some views of Loch Fyne, but were too early for the Oystercatcher pub, which wasn’t open yet.
Further along the road is a crossroads, right to Portavadie, left to Tighnabruaich and straight on to Ardlamont Point at the end of this ‘arm’. We went to Portavadie, the harbour from where the ferry to Tarbert on Kintyre sails, but there wasn’t much to see, though we’d love to get that ferry some time. We decided to try to get to the end of the peninsula at Ardlamont Point, but didn’t find a way to that, however, we had read about a beach in an IG post from Chris Paul Lawler and stopped at Kilbride Farm, then took a 20 min walk to Kilbride Bay to the stunning white sand beach with spectacular views out to the Isle of Arran. Unfortunately, the tide was a long way out so we didn’t get the best view of the turquoise water, but the beach was stunning and sparsely populated, so well worth a visit.
We then went to Tighnabruaich, which is a lovely little village, looking out onto the Isle of Bute, separated only by the narrow Kyles of Bute channel.
Outside Tighnabruaich there are spectacular, elevated views down onto the village and Bute. There is also a public work of art ‘The Ark’ by David Blair, a comment on climate change and the impact of rising sea levels. Looking out to sea, from the hill it is quite easy to imagine the sea filling the bay and then sailing off in the Arc. It is a powerful statement and beautifully constructed wooden frame made from European larch.

I hope you enjoy the film.

Music (all from YouTube Audio Library):
Hero’s Ascent – Chris Haugen
Hero Down – Kevin MacLeod
Boreal – Asher Fulero
Twin Moon – Ashley Shadow

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