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Lochgilphead

This little town overlooking Loch Gilp is, rather surprisingly, the administrative centre for the sprawling district of Argyll and Bute. It is a planned town, laid out in about 1790, and is now the main shopping centre for a wide area known as Knapdale, that portion of Argyll from which the long “arm” of the Mull of Kintyre descends.

Kilmory Woodland Park, off the A83, surrounds Kilmory Castle, which has been turned into local government offices. The park contains many rare trees, plus gardens which were originally laid out in 1770 and during the season delight the eye with a dazzling display of more than 100 varieties of rhododendron.

The Crinan Canal (known as “Scotland’s most beautiful shortcut”) starts at Ardrishaig, a couple of miles south of Lochgiplhead, and skirts the town as it heads across the peninsula towards the village of Crinan on the west coast. Work started on the canal in 1794. However, it was beset with problems, and finally opened, albeit in an incomplete form, in 1801. By 1804 it still wasn’t complete and had debts of £140,000. Then, in 1805, some of the canal banks collapsed and had to be rebuilt. It was finally opened in 1809, though in 1815 Thomas Telford, the civil engineer, inspected it and declared that even more work needed doing. In 1817 it reopened, this time to everyone’s satisfaction.

It is nine miles long, has a mean depth of nine feet six inches and rises to 65 feet above sea level. Despite its short length, it has no fewer than 15 locks. In 1847 it got the royal seal of approval when Queen Victoria sailed its full length as she was making a tour of the Highlands. Perhaps the most unusual craft to have used it were midget submarines during World War II.