DUNOON
May 2009 Bairdstravel took the Ferry from Gourock to Dunoon.
See the next page to see the photographs from the boat trip.
We had lunch at the Argyll hotel . I had Haggis, neeps and tatties which was enjoyable .
Dunoon is accessible by land and sea routes. The town lies near the southern end of the A815 road. At its northernmost point, near Cairndow, this road joins the A83 and provides access to the town by road from Loch Lomond and Glasgow.
Dunoon Pier originated in 1835. The current structure, however, was rebuilt in 1895 and still receives a connecting ferry with Gourock, run by Caledonian MacBrayne. Until the late 1960s fleets of paddle steamers brought holidaymakers doon the watter from Glasgow to it and numerous other piers on the Clyde, and it is still visited by the sole surviving sea-going paddle steamer PS Waverley. Overlooking it is a large statue to Robert Burns' love Highland Mary, also known as Bonny Mary O' Argyll, which is located on Castle Hill, just below the remains of the 12th century Dunoon Castle. Very little remains of the castle, which would originally have belonged to the Lamont family but became a royal castle with the Earls of Argyll (Campbells) as hereditary keepers, paying a nominal rent of a single red rose to the sovereign, presently Queen Elizabeth. In earlier times, Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed at the castle circa 1563 and granted several charters during her visit. The castle was destroyed during the rebellion in 1685.
Holy Loch
As the Cold War intensified Holy Loch became internationally famous when in 1961 the U.S. Navy submarine tender USS Proteus (AS-19) brought Polaris ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines and CND protesters to the Firth of Clyde at nearby Sandbank, and Dunoon provided shore facilities. Holy Loch was, for 30 years, the home port of US Navy SUBRON-14 (Submarine Squadron-14). In 1992, the Holy Loch base was deemed unnecessary following the demise of the Soviet Union and subsequently withdrawn. The last submarine tender to be based there, the USS Simon Lake, left Holy Loch in June 1992 leading to a major downturn in the local economy and prompting howls of protest from local taxi drivers and publicans. However, the town is becoming vibrant again with many new homes having been built and the population is expanding once more.
The US Navy base was the subject of the 1988 film Down Where The Buffalo Go starring Harvey Keitel. Many of the scenes were shot around Dunoon and the navy base itself.
Aside from the US Navy presence, Holy Loch was also the location of the famous boat yard Alexander Robertsons, builders of the America's Cup challenger Sceptre, a 37-foot, 17-tonne yacht designed by David Boyd.
