Dunoon is one of the best-known Clyde holiday resorts. It sits opposite the Renfrewshire coast, and an all-year ferry connects it to Gourock, with a further ferry going from Hunter’s Quay, to the north of the town, to the mainland. Each year in August the town hosts the Cowal Highland Gathering, one of the largest in Scotland, where competitors take part in tossing the caber, throwing the hammer and other traditional Scottish events. The Castle House Museum in the Castle Gardens features an exhibition entitled Dunoon and Cowal Past and Present.
There are models, artefacts and photographs, which bring the Dunoon of yesteryear to life. There are also furnished Victorian rooms and a shop. The statue of Highland Mary, erected in 1896, is close by. She was a native of Dunoon, and worked as a maid in a large house near Mauchline in Ayrshire. Burns met her there, and asked her to accompany him to the West Indies when he was thinking of emigrating. She agreed,
but on a trip home to Dunoon to make arrangements, she died and was buried in Greenock. Little now remains of Dunoon Castle. It was built in the 12th century, and Mary Stuart is said to have stayed in it for a short while. On Tom-a-Mhoid Road, in West Bay, is the Lamont Memorial, erected in 1906 to commemorate the massacre of the Lamonts by the Campbells in 1646. Three miles north of Dunoon, on the A815, is Adam’s Grave,
the popular name for a 3500-year-old neolithic burial cairn, which still has two portals and a capstone intact at its entrance. It sits close to the Holy Loch, at one time an American nuclear submarine base. It was chosen as a base not only because of its deep water, but also because this part of Argyll has a cloud covering for most of the year, thwarting satellite and aerial photography.
The Americans left in 1992, taking with them their large American cars and their accents, which were once common on the streets of the town. At Sandbank, on the shores of the loch, is the two-mile long Ardnadam Heritage Trail, with a climb up to a viewpoint at Dunan. The Cowal Bird Garden at Sandbank is open from Easter to October every year, and has parrots, exotic birds, donkeys, rabbits and other birds and animals. Details of the 47-mile long Cowal Way, a footpath that runs from Portavadie to Artgartan, can be had at the local tourist office.
THE CRAIGEN HOTEL & TEAROOM 85 Argyll Street, Dunoon, Argyll PA23 7DH Tel: 01369 702307 e-mail: bookings@craigenhotel.co.uk website: www.craigenhotel.co.uk Occupying a superb position in Argyll Street and just a few minutes from the ferry, pier and promenade, The Craigen Hotel and Tearoom offers very reasonably priced food and comfortable accommodation. Dating back to the turn of the 18th to 19th century it was at one time owned by the daughter of the Lord Provost of Glasgow , whose summer residence was the become the Castle House Museum. Originally trading as The Royal Hotel as far back as 1870, it became the Craigen around 1917. For the past 5 years, it has been owned by Les and Mary Bishop, a friendly and welcoming couple who have been married for 30 years. In the Tearoom, the extensive menu offers a good selection of enticing dishes, based wherever possible on locally sourced produce. The choice ranges from an All Day Breakfast or the Belly Buster Breakfast for the really hungry, home-made soup, snacks such as Scrambled Egg or Beans on Toast, fresh made cold or toasted sandwiches, a Fish Tea, and other hot dishes. The accommodation comprises 6 attractively firnished and decorated rooms, 2 with en-suite.
Indies when he was thinking of emigrating. She agreed, but on a trip home to Dunoon to make arrangements, she died and was buried in Greenock. Little now remains of Dunoon Castle. It was built in the 12th century, and Mary Stuart is said to have stayed in it for a short while. On Tom-a-Mhoid Road, in West Bay, is the Lamont Memorial, erected in 1906 to commemorate the massacre of the Lamonts by the Campbells in 1646. Three miles north of Dunoon, on the A815, is Adam’s Grave, the popular name for a 3500-year-old neolithic burial cairn, which still has two portals and a capstone intact at its entrance. It sits close to the Holy Loch, at one time an American nuclear submarine base. It was chosen as a base not only because of its deep water, but also because this part of Argyll has a cloud covering for most of the year, thwarting satellite and aerial photography. The Americans left in 1992, taking with them their large American cars and their accents, which were once common on the streets of the town. At Sandbank, on the shores of the loch, is the two-mile long Ardnadam Heritage Trail, with a climb up to a viewpoint at Dunan. The Cowal Bird Garden at Sandbank is open from Easter to October every year, and has parrots, exotic birds, donkeys, rabbits and other birds and animals. Details of the 47-mile long Cowal Way, a footpath that runs from Portavadie to Artgartan, can be had at the local tourist office.