This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2011) |
Innellan | |
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The Osbourne Hotel, Innellan | |
Location within Argyll and Bute | |
Population | 1,140 (2022) [1] |
OS grid reference | NS 14500 70200 |
Council area | |
Lieutenancy area |
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Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | DUNOON, ARGYLL |
Postcode district | PA23 |
Dialling code | 01369 |
UK Parliament |
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Scottish Parliament |
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Innellan is a village in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland, on the western shore of the Firth of Clyde. It is four miles south of Dunoon.
The origin of the name "Innellan" is obscure. The village was developed as a holiday destination in Victorian times on the site of a smaller and older farming settlement, and the first steamboat pier was built in 1851. [2] [3] With a resident population of around 1,000, growing to many more in summer, Innellan found prosperity as one of many seaside resorts along the shores of the Firth of Clyde serving tourist traffic primarily coming from the city of Glasgow further upriver, travelling on Clyde steamers.
This prosperity started to fade in the 1960s with the increasing availability of foreign holidays to the general public. Competing against resorts in Europe that enjoyed Mediterranean climates, the popularity of all the Clyde seaside resorts fell.
It was around this time that an American naval base in the nearby Holy Loch was established, providing some aid to the local economy, although being controversial. The base was withdrawn in the 1990s.
The village's most striking landmark from its heyday as a seaside resort - the large Royal Hotel that overlooked the pier - was destroyed by fire in 1981 and the site has yet to be redeveloped. The entrance gates to its former site on Pier Road still show the sign for the hotel. Innellan's pier, which passenger steamers regularly called at whilst the area was booming, was extended in 1901 but finally closed in 1972 in response to reduced usage. After falling into increasing disrepair, it was fully dismantled in the mid-1990s.[ citation needed ]
Innellan Primary School was established in 1868. [4]
Innellan once had four churches; two Church of Scotland, one Free Church and one Episcopal. Two of them still stand; the former West Church is now converted to a house, and the remaining Innellan or Matheson church was the charge of the Reverend Dr George Matheson, the blind minister who wrote the hymn "Oh Love that wilt not let me go." [4] Although it is commonly believed that he wrote this hymn after he had been jilted by his fiancée, the truth is that he composed the hymn after experiencing a personal crisis. There is a small spiral staircase leading from a room on the basement level of the church to the alter - and it was rumoured that this staircase was created for Matheson so that he had a direct route to the alter; however this may be nothing more than myth!
Innellan Church was sold in 2023 and is now privately owned. Until recently, locals were still attending it for church services and/or weddings, funerals and even craft fairs - such as quilting exhibitions. The attached hall at the back/side of the hall held various clubs/activities over the years including Sunday Schools, fitness classes and a church-related family group called Alpha that held events and showed films. A children's choir run by Dunoon Grammar School music teacher Ian Davies, his wife Primary Teacher Mary and Mary's mother (and local piano teacher) Peggy Thompson rehearsed in the hall occasionally during the late 1980s/early 1990s. Innellan youth club was set up by local young people in the 1990s and ran for several years in the hall. The Innellan Youth Club was not affiliated with any religion and was simply a sociable club using the church hall - likewise the young people's choir.
A history of Innellan was written by the Rev John Hill, minister of the West Church, in 1950. [4] It is now out of print, and was somewhat preoccupied with religious affairs. More recently, local resident Margaret Hubbard wrote a comprehensive collection of books about significant moments across the village's history. The books are known as "From Scenes Like These, Innellan" and the first of the collection was published in 2010. [5]
Innellan possesses views across the Firth of Clyde, stretching from Kilcreggan and Loch Long (looking north) to Cumbrae Head and Ailsa Craig (looking south). There is a local golf club, with a nine-hole course on the hill.[ citation needed ]
The village's strip of shops (which once numbered fourteen) has now been reduced to just the Post Office. There are two pubs in the Village, The Osborne and The Villagers Royal, but other services are provided by the nearby town of Dunoon, which is linked by a bus service.[ citation needed ]
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.
Kilcreggan is a village on the Rosneath Peninsula in Argyll and Bute, West of Scotland.
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.
Port Bannatyne, is a coastal village on the Isle of Bute, Firth of Clyde, Scotland that is home to many steamers. Port Bannatyne developed into the 1900s as a quieter alternative to Rothesay. It is a popular harbour, with a small yacht marina and boatyard and an unusual 13-hole golf course rather than the standard 18.
The Clyde steamer is the collective term for several passenger services that existed on the River Clyde in Scotland, running from Glasgow downstream to Rothesay and other towns, a journey known as going doon the watter.
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.
The Tail of the Bank is the name given to the anchorage in the upper Firth of Clyde immediately North of Greenock, between Inverclyde and Argyll and Bute. This area of the Firth gets its name from the deep water immediately to the west of the sandbank which marks the entrance to the navigable channel up the Estuary of the River Clyde.
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.
Tighnabruaich; is a village on the Cowal Peninsula, on the western arm of the Kyles of Bute in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. In 2011 the population was 660. It is west of Glasgow and north of the Isle of Arran.
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.
Hunters Quay is a village, on the Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, Scottish Highlands. Situated between Kirn to the south and Ardnadam to the north, Hunters Quay is the main base of Western Ferries, operating between Hunters Quay and McInroy's Point.
MV Jupiter was a passenger and vehicle ferry in the fleet of Caledonian MacBrayne in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. She was the oldest of three "streakers" and the third River Clyde ship to bear the name 'Jupiter'. Her open car deck was accessible by stern and side ramps ro-ro. She entered service in 1974, and operated the Gourock to Dunoon crossing for much of her career. In 2006, she became the oldest vessel in the CalMac fleet and continued in service with them until 2010. Jupiter was sold for breaking in 2011.
PS Lucy Ashton was a Clyde-built paddle steamer that carried passengers on the Clyde between 1888 and 1949. She was one of the longest serving Clyde steamers.