Argyll and Bute is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod. The administrative centre for the council area is in Lochgilphead at Kilmory Castle, a 19th-century Gothic Revival building and estate. The current council leader is Councillor Jim Lynch.
The Firth of Clyde is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre Peninsula. The Firth lies between West Dunbartonshire in the north, Argyll and Bute in the west and Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire in the east. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran. The Kyles of Bute separates the Isle of Bute from the Cowal Peninsula. The Sound of Bute separates the islands of Bute and Arran.
Dunoon is the main town on the Cowal Peninsula in the south of Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well as forming part of the council area of Argyll and Bute, Dunoon also has its own community council. Dunoon was a burgh until 1976.
Gourock is a town in the Inverclyde council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its main function today is as a residential area, extending contiguously from Greenock, with a railway terminus and ferry services across the Clyde.
Cowal is a rugged peninsula in Argyll and Bute, on the west coast of Scotland. It is connected to the mainland to the north, and is bounded by Loch Fyne to the west, by Loch Long and the Firth of Clyde to the east, and by the Kyles of Bute to the south.
The Holy Loch is a sea loch, a part of the Cowal Peninsula coast of the Firth of Clyde, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.
Loch Long is a body of water in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The Sea Loch extends from the Firth of Clyde at its southwestern end. It measures approximately 20 miles in length, with a width of between one and two miles. The loch also has an arm, Loch Goil, on its western side.
Kilmun is a linear settlement on the north shore of the Holy Loch, on the Cowal Peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scottish Highlands. It takes its name from the 7th-century monastic community founded by an Irish monk, St Munn. The ruin of a 12th-century church still stands beside the Kilmun Parish Church and Argyll Mausoleum.
Strone is a village on the Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute in the Scottish Highlands at the point where the north shore of the Holy Loch becomes the west shore of the Firth of Clyde. The village lies within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.
Kirn is a village on the Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute in the Scottish Highlands on the west shore of the Firth of Clyde on the Cowal peninsula. It now forms part of the continuous habitation between Dunoon and Hunters Quay, where the Holy Loch joins the Firth of Clyde. It originally had its own pier, with buildings designed by Harry Edward Clifford in 1895, and was a regular stop for the Clyde steamer services, bringing holidaymakers to the town, mostly from the Glasgow area.
Ardnadam is a village on the Holy Loch on the Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. It is located northwest of Hunters Quay and east of Sandbank, and sits across the loch from Kilmun.
The A815 is a major road located on the Cowal peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It runs for about 35.7 miles (57.5 km) from the A83, near Cairndow, in the north, to Toward in the south. It passes beside three lochs, while its final stretch is along the Firth of Clyde.
MV Lymington is a former ro-ro ferry, built in 1938 to serve the Isle of Wight. She is Britain's earliest example of a Voith Schneider driven ferry. Renamed MV Sound of Sanda in 1974, she served Western Ferries on the Upper Clyde until 1993.
Dunoon Castle is a ruined castle in Dunoon on the Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. The castle sat upon a cone-shaped hill about 80 feet (24 m) high. Very little remains of the castle's structure today. Castle House, built in 1822, stands a few yards north of the castle ruins.
Loch Loskin is a freshwater loch in Ardnadam, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The outflow from the loch is the Milton Burn, which winds its way through Dunoon to the Firth of Clyde. The A885 from Sandbank, known as the "High Road" locally, passes the loch.
MV Loch Sunart was a car and passenger ferry, originally operated in Amsterdam, and then by Western Ferries across the Firth of Clyde between Gourock and Dunoon in Scotland until October 2013. In 2018, Loch Sunart was converted into an ROV support vessel and is now owned by Caldive.
The Royal Marine Hotel is a hotel located on Marine Parade in Hunters Quay, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is a Category B listed building, opened in 1890 after the original 1856 building, named Marine Hotel, was gutted by fire. Its architect was Glasgow's Thomas Lennox Watson. The new construction received royal patronage in 1872.
Dunoon Pier is a Victorian pier in Dunoon, Cowal peninsula, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is owned by Argyll and Bute Council, and was completed in its current form in 1898. Reaching out into the Firth of Clyde, the earliest parts of the pier date to 1835. It is now a Category A listed structure and, according to Historic Environment Scotland, the best surviving example of a timber ferry pier in Scotland.
Ardnadam Farm is the site of an ancient cromlech in the village of Ardnadam, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The relic was, according to popular tradition, the grave of a king who was named after Adam. Ardnadam Farm, located near Loch Loskin, was supposedly so-called in accordance with the tradition. The stones were later considered to be fragments of a Druidical altar.
