It’s a breathtaking experience even looking at an Ordnance Survey Map of the north east of the Isle of North Uist
Tag Archives: Loch Sween
Help save the Jura passenger ferry from Tayvallich – try it
Have you been to Jura? Continue reading
Jura Passenger Ferry: service secured for revised timetable
Great news for the Isle of Jura and for travellers exploring Continue reading
Argyll’s Ardkinglas Railway
Another corner of Argyll’s complex heritage involves the lost railway at Ardkinglas, Cairndow at the western head of the Cowal peninsula.
This was a narrow gauge estate railway built to serve the Ardkinglas Estate on the shores of Loch Fyne, the longest sea loch in the UK, all but severing Argyll. The railway ran along the shore of the loch from a boat house at Caspian.
It was built as a transportation system for the estate and as a garden toy for the estate’s 17th Laird, George Livingston-Campbell-Callander. It was operated by a single steam locomotive with rolling stock consisting of an open passenger carriage and several wagons.
The railway was dismantled around 1900 and the equipment sold. The boiler from the locomotive was still in situ on the beach at Tayvallich on Loch Sween until the early 1950s.
The Campbeltown and Machrihanish LIght Railway by Nigel MacMillan, pubished in 1970 by David and Charles is a useful source on this and other of Argyll’s past railways.
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Tayvallich gets funding to support community buy-out of shop, post office and cafe
The community at Tayvallich on Loch Sween has been awarded £196,570 by BIg Lottery Scotland’s Growing Community Assets fund. This is just over 70% of the agreed purchase price of £280,000. The impact on a small, remote community from the loss of such a set of services is profound. The Tayvallich community took action a year ago to raise funds and buy the business themselves after private buyers had failed to materialise. The successful launch of the new fast passenger ferry service from Tayvallich to Craighouse on then Isle of Jura will have played a significant part in the business plan and the award of funding. The ferry is bringing more people to Tayvallich and there has already been modest growth in business at the shop and cafe, as people wait to board or wait for the efficient connecting buses to Lochgilphead.
Will new Jura ferry fuel community buy-out bid for Tayvallich shop?
The growing success of the new fast passenger ferry from Craighouse on Jura to Tayvallich on Argyll’s Kintyre mainland at Loch Sween may just have another benefit to offer. The village shop at Tayvallich has been for sale with no takers for a year. The owner is unable to carry on through another winter and villagers are working to bring it into community ownership, with 78% of households quoted as contributing to funds. The launch of the new ferry service from the village with the additional visitors brought in has already seen a modest economic upturn in the fortunes of the shop – also a coffee shop and Post Office. This must make the business case for community ownership look more buoyant.
Vessel grounded in Loch Sween is towed off
The Carroll of Barrano, which had gone aground in Loch Sween and had issued a Mayday call, went on to Tayvallich after being towed off safely by the first vessel to answer her call, the Molly James. Passengers on the plush, small Scottish cruise ship,Hebridean Princess, had an unexpected excitement added to their onboard experiences. The ship altered course to respond to the emergency and stood by, coordinating the communications between the various players involved in the rescue.
Bonham Carter’s Argyll haven at Loch Sween for sale
Castle Sween Cottage, formerly the holiday home in Argyll of the Bonham Carter family has been put up for sale by its current owner, Ailsa Raeburn. On the shores of Loch Sween, west of Lochgilphead in mId Argyll, the small two acre estate was a favoured visit of the Royal family when the Royal yacht Brittania provided their summer odyssey in Scottish waters. The best know member of the Bonhan Carter family is now Helena, the actress known for taking on a range of unusual and challenging roles. Rettie and Co are handling the sale of the property which has been split into two lots – the four bedroom house with its two acre grounds at £420,000 and the other is a building plot at£80,000.
New passenger ferry opens Isle of Jura to new business
It has taken four years work by Jura’s ‘Initiative at the Edge’ to get the new passenger service from Tayvallich into Craighouse that launched a week ago. The twelve-passenger Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) has already had a modest positive impact on Tayvallich’s local economy – the shop and cafe have been doing new business. The service will open up the island to far easier access to visitors coming direct from mainland Argyll. At present, the only way to reach Jura is by the small ferry from Port Askaig on Islay to Feolin on Jura, across the fast-flowing Sound of Islay. This vehicle ferry’s operation has been set back to a degree by the flaws with the new slipway at Port Askaig, so the new passenger service comes at a good time. Its social impact in bringing two remote communities – one an Atlantic island and one on the inland shores of a sea loch – into close and easy contact with each other will be interesting to observe and measure.
Service details
- The vessel, operated by Islay Sea Safari, is based at Craighouse on Jura and runs to Tayvallich on sheltered Loch Sween on the west coast of mainland Argyll’s Kintyre peninsula.
- Booking is advised as the RIB carries twelve passengers. Phone 07768 450000 between 8am & 5pm.
- If you have booked and cannot travel, please advise the operator, to free up seat availability.
- The journey takes one hour and costs £15 single, £30 return.
- The schedule sees two return services a day, six days a week – there are no services on Tuesdays.
- Mondays and Fridays see departures from Craighouse at 7.00am and 17.00pm with departures from Tayvallich at 10.00am and 18.15pm.
- Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays see departures from Craighouse at 8.45am and 15.15pm; with departures from Tayvallich at 10.00am and 16.30pm
- Sundays see departures from Craighouse at 9.15m and 17.00pm; with departures from Tayvallich at 10.30am and 18.15pm.
We attach here the full timetable details and also the timetables of connecting bus services to and from the nearby town of Lochgilphead and to and from Glasgow. The document in in pdf format. jura-passenger-ferry-timetables
Photos shown are by Deborah Bryce, Development Officer for the Jura ‘Initiative at the Edge’ and show, left to right: the Islay Sea Safari Rib which will carry the new ferry service; the gardens at Jura House; the Jura Hotel.
Jura ‘Initiative at the Edge’ wishes to express its gratitude to Argyll and Bute Council, who have backed the project since its inception; HIE; Crown Estate; VisitScotland; and Argyll & Bute Community Planning Partnership who have all played their part. The practical support offered by Tayvallich Bay Association and Jura Development Trust ia also recognised; and this, together with the backing of local Community Councils, elected councilors and members of the communities on both sides of the Sound of Jura, has finally brought this important new service to life.
Argyll’s new fast passenger ferry from Tayvallich to Jura
Helping to connect Argyll with itself, this week a new fast passenger service began between Tayvallich on Loch Sween on the west side of the Kintyre peninsula and Craighouse on the Isle of Jura. The vessel is a Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) with a cabin, operated by Islay Sea Safari. We will have details on schedules and cost shortly.