“Tighnabruaich was a favourite holiday destination…..we used to stay in various wee crofts…..I just loved spending hours with my brother Murdo on Tighnabruaich Pier watching the steamers come and go…..or skimming stones under the pier.  Idyllic….who needs Corfu!”

                        John Lowrie Morrison, (Jolomo) Renowned Scottish Landscape Artist

 

A good starting point for the area is two websites, one for Cowal http://www.visitcowal.co.uk/home.html and the other even more local for Argyll’s Secret Coast http://www.argyllsecretcoast.co.uk/index.php This will give plenty of ideas of what to do and what to see in the Area however we have added a few of our own ideas for those who are motoring and want to see some of the less well known sites that give a flavour of the history, from a 1820 Gothic mansion to the scene of a bloody massacre at Dunoon, from a clan burial ground at Kilfillan to Sherlock Holmes solving murders these are some of the clues to follow:

  1. Inverchaolain Church http://towardchurch.org/Toward%20Church.html on Loch Striven is a tiny church on the loch side but a wonderful and romantic position. The drive on the coast road south of Dunoon goes past the ruins of Toward Castle sacked by the Campbells in revenge of an earlier Lamont attack, and the fantastic Victorian gothic mansion of Castle Toward built in 1820 by the Lord Provost of Glasgow and subsequently owned by the Coats family of Coats Viyella, makes this an interesting drive.
  2. Dunoon Castle http://www.castlehousemuseum.org.uk/ has an interesting history which saw the Lamont clan massacred by the Campbells in a tale of treachery on both sides, a reminder of Scotland’s bloody past.
  3. Holy Loch Puck’s Glen http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/argyll/pucks-glen.shtml a two mile walk only.
  4. Kilmoden Carved Stones http://www.kilmodan-colintraive.org.uk/history/kilmodan-carved-stones/ an early burial ground.
  5. Old Castle Lachlan http://www.oldcastlelachlan.com/ Ruins on a beautiful setting on Loch Fyne and close to the Inver Cottage restaurant which is definitely worth a visit.
  6. Kilfillan Church http://freespace.virgin.net/sinclair.drumcot/ the resting place of the Chiefs of the Lamont Clan. 13th century church and 9th century stones.
  7. The Argyll gunpowder industry was centred at Millhouse in the 19th and only shut down in 1921. The remnants of the major gunpowder works and the jetties and piers of Kames used for shipping powder are still there and this link explains a little of the history. http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/ArgyllGunpowderIndustry
  8. Ardlamont House http://ardlamontestate.webs.com/ has an interesting history becoming the headquarters of the Lamont Clan in 1694, but the most interesting story is the unproven murder of the heir by his tutor, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardlamont_murder . Dr Joseph Bell who was an expert forensic witness for the case is believed by some to be the inspiration of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.