Inveraray

A lovely place I visited a lot as a child, usually as a stop for lunch on the way to Oban from Greenock! I don't have photos from every occasion but these are a few from the family album.

First of all, the famous castle, of course! I took this (and the two below) in May 1968

The main shopping street

Some lads cooling off in the water!

The Inveraray Bridge on Loch Fyne, August 1968

A postcard I bought in May, 1973

The guest house where we stayed on that occasion.
I wrote to the daughter, Susan, for several years until we lost touch.
I wonder where she is now?

Aunt Gwen at the Castle gift shop, June 1973

Three aunties out for the day! June 1973

More up to date: the last time I was there, in 2009
(View of the town from the other side of Loch Fyne)

The town from the harbourside

Geoffrey and the Inveraray Bridge behind

The Martime Heritage Musuem on the Arctic Penguin

Please see the Undiscovered Scotland page about Inveraray here and the Wikipedia page here for more information!

Connel Bridge

This lovely cantilever bridge spans Loch Etive at its narrowest point, six miles north-east of Oban on the west coast . It was originally built to carry the Callander and Oban Railway's branch line to Ballachulish which opened in 1903. In 1914, a road was added next to the railway track, then in1966, the bridge was converted for the sole use of road vehicles and pedestrians.

Below: some of my photos from the last time I was there

View across the water

The rapids here are amazing to watch during the ebbing tide. The seawater in the loch streams out through narrows creating strong currents and waves.

Oban - More recent photos

More of my photos of Oban and McCaig's Tower in particular

The harbour and McCaig's Tower on the hill above the town

A hooded crow - you can also see him in the video below

Below: Photos from inside the tower

There are many beautiful shrubs and flowering plants which grow there

A toadstool lying in the grass just outside near the car park

Below, some views from the tower looking across the harbour and towards the islands of Mull and Kerrera

Would have been nice to have had a blue sky but you can't have everything!

There are some good websites about Oban here and here