Loch Long

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Loch Long
LochLong(StevePartridge)Nov2007.jpg
Looking down Loch Long from the torpedo testing facility. The houses to the left are at Ardmay.
Argyll and Bute UK relief location map.jpg
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Loch Long
LocationArgyll and Bute, Scotland.
Coordinates 56°02′04″N4°53′08″W / 56.034395°N 4.8855839°W / 56.034395; -4.8855839 , grid reference NS2031486146
Type Sea Loch
Basin  countriesScotland, United Kingdom
FrozenNo

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, to the Arrochar Alps at the head of the loch. It measures approximately 20 miles (30 kilometres) in length, with a width of between one and two miles (two and three kilometres). The loch also has an arm, Loch Goil, on its western side.

Contents

Loch Long forms part of the coast of the Cowal Peninsula, and forms the entire western coastline of the Rosneath Peninsula.

Loch Long was historically the boundary between Argyll and Dunbartonshire; however, boundary redrawing in 1996 meant that it moved wholly within the council area of Argyll and Bute. [1]

Villages on Loch Long

Villages and hamlets on the loch include.

Royal Navy

On the eastern shore of the Loch is the Royal Navy's Coulport Armament depot, with the Glen Mallan jetty, both part of Defence Munitions Glen Douglas. Part of the extensive Royal Navy's, His Majesty's Naval Base Clyde. [2] [3]

Historic

In Arrochar, the Royal Naval Torpedo Testing Station and Range was established on the Loch in 1912, in connection with the Clyde Torpedo Works on Eldon Street, Greenock, established in 1910. Both sites are now closed. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Finnart Oil Terminal

The Finnart Oil Terminal is located on the eastern shore of the loch, linked to the Grangemouth Refinery via a 58-mile-long (93-kilometre) pipeline. [9]

In September 2024, it was announced that the oil terminal is scheduled for closure. [10]

Environment and concerns

Loch Long has a long term issue with rubbish collecting at the head of the loch. Rubbish mainly washed down water courses from the Glasgow area. [11] [12]

From about 2010 to 2025, due to inadequate maintenance of 1,500 water pipes at RNAD Coulport, some tritium used periodically to replenish Trident nuclear weapons leaked into Loch Long, constituting a low level of radioactive pollution. Analysis by Scottish Environment Protection Agency suggested that up to half of the pipeline components at the base were beyond their design life. [13]

History

The name is not a reference to the loch's length; it actually comes from the Gaelic for "ship lake". Prior to their defeat at the Battle of Largs in 1263, Viking raiders sailed up Loch Long to Arrochar, and then dragged their longships 2 miles overland to Tarbet and into Loch Lomond. Being inland, the settlements around Loch Lomond were more vulnerable to attack. [14]

Transport

The steamboat Chancellor used to traverse the loch, departing Dunoon at 11:00 and returning about five hours later. [15] PS Waverley was also built to serve Loch Long and Loch Goil from 1947, [16] a route that she still sailed as of 2021, [17] albeit as more of an attraction than a primary means of transport.

References

  1. ↑ https://boundaries.scot/sites/default/files/Local_government_Scotland_1995_onwards.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  2. ↑ "Plans to demolish 1960s MoD's Glen Douglas weapons store". 8 February 2024.
  3. ↑ "HMNB Clyde | Royal Navy".
  4. ↑ "Greenock, Eldon Street, Torpedo Works | Canmore".
  5. ↑ "Arrochar, Royal Naval Torpedo Testing Station and Range | Canmore".
  6. ↑ Brassey, Thomas, ed. (1913). "British Navy". The Naval Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin and Co. p. 23.
  7. ↑ Makeenko, Viktoriia (6 January 2021). "Loch Long Torpedo Range". Abandoned Spaces. Timera Media. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  8. ↑ Nicol, James. "Home on the Range – The Passing of an Era". Arrochar, Tarbet and Ardlui Heritage. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
  9. ↑ Fullarton, Donald (29 July 2011). "Americans built oil terminal". Helensburgh Heritage. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  10. ↑ "Finnart oil terminal closure announced - the Lochside Press". The Lochside Press. 13 September 2024.
  11. ↑ "How Loch Long became a magnet for Scotland's plastic waste". 3 February 2025.
  12. ↑ "BBC Scotland - BBC Scotland - the popular beauty spot with an ugly problem".
  13. ↑ Edwards, Rob; Carrell, Severin (9 August 2025). "Radioactive water from UK nuclear bomb base leaked into sea, files show". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
  14. ↑ "Loch Long". Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  15. ↑ Colegate's Guide to Dunoon, Kirn, and Hunter's Quay (second edition) – John Colegate (1868), page 53
  16. ↑ "History – Waverley Excursions" . Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  17. ↑ Dalton, Alastair (29 June 2021). "Historic paddle steamer Waverley to operate daily until at least August as she sets sail with first 2021 passengers". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
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