Dunoon is a popular small town located on the Firth of Clyde

Introduction

Today, my wife and I took advantage of a ‘weather window’ to visit the town of Dunoon.

We benefited from a gap between two turbulent weather systems. The first affected the east of the country resulting in three deaths and extensive power outages. The second, ‘Storm Barra’, is due within the next 24 hours, from the west. This is also likely to cause considerable damage and disruption. We will see how events unfold.

Readers should not be seduced into assuming the weather conditions illustrated in this post are typical of winter conditions here.

Information on Dunoon: Section 1

The town is located on a peninsula to the west of Glasgow. The name translates as ‘river fort’ which reflects the strategic location in the Firth of Clyde.

Victorian era pier which is undergoing renovation.

From Victorian times through to the 1950s Dunoon was a popular holiday destination for local people. Although still popular with visitors it no longer caters for the mass market.

Nearby is Holy Loch which was used as a U.S.Navy ballistic missile submarine base between 1961 and 1992. This resulted in Dunoon experiencing a big influx of U.S. military personnel.

Dunoon is famous for hosting the Cowal Highland Games, the biggest and most spectacular Highland games in the world.

Population is 9100.

Statue of ‘Highland Mary’ who was born at Dunoon. **Highland Mary** is a song composed in 1792 by Scottish poet Robert Burns It is one of three works dedicated to Mary Campbell with whom Burns was in love in the 1780s

The town impresses as reasonably prosperous. There is a wide range of shops, hotels and accommodation plus public facilities such as library, museum and leisure facilities.

Churches cater for a wide range of denominations.

St John’s Cowal Kirk. Presbyterian. The architecture is in the Gothic style . The interior is laid out with a horse-shoe shaped gallery for the congregation There are many stained glass windows throughout the building. The organ was installed in 1895 as a two-manual pipe organ and was subsequently enlarged to three manuals.

Information on Dunoon: Section 2

Climate is mild (owing to the gulf Stream) with sub-tropical vegetation evident.

Although there is road access from the mainland, the quickest way from Glasgow is the frequent ferries from Gourock. We availed of such service which proved quite satisfactory and provided outstanding views of the Firth of Clyde waterway.

Snow-capped mountains evident from the ferry crossing today.

More information for the visitor

The publication Visitors’ Guide to Scotland contains a section on the Clyde coast plus a wide range of information covering the whole of Scotland. ISBN is 978-1-9161332-0-4. This book is also available via Kindle.

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