Tighnabruaich (; ) is a village on the Cowal Peninsula, on the western arm of the

Kyles of Bute The Kyles of Bute () form a narrow sea channel that separates the northern end of the Isle of Bute from the Cowal, Cowal Peninsula in Argyll and Bute, on the Scotland, Scottish mainland. The surrounding hillsides are roughly wooded, and overlook ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

, west of Scotland. In 2011 the population was 660. It is west of Glasgow and north of the

Isle of Arran The Isle of Arran (; ) or simply Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at . Counties of Scotland, Historically part of Buteshire, it is in the ...

. Tighnabruaich is now part of a continuous coastal strip of housing that joins onto Kames.

Transport

Tighnabruaich is on the A8003 road, which is long and travels to the A886 in the east. The A8003 was built in the 1960s. The B8000 the original road, travels down the west coast of the

Cowal 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 ...

peninsula from Newton in the north again on the A886, away. The village was more reliant on the sea for the transport of passengers and freight until the completion of the shorter A8003. The village is served by the 478 Dunoon–Portavadie bus, operated by West Coast Motors.

History

The Royal Hotel at Tighnabruaich - geograph

A pier was possibly built in the 1830s by the Castle Steamship Company, a forerunner of

Caledonian MacBrayne Caledonian MacBrayne (), in short form CalMac, is the trade name of CalMac Ferries Ltd, the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries to the west coast of Scotland, serving ports on the mainland and 22 of the major islands. It is a subsid ...

. It was a stopping place for

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

s and Clyde puffers. The wooden pier was rebuilt in 1885 by the Tighnabruaich Estate who owned it from 1840 until 1950. George Olding owned it until 1965 when it became the responsibility of the local council. Passenger services on and around the Clyde were developed after the PS ''Comet'' was introduced into service in 1812 and tourism developed with the introduction of cruises through the Kyles around Bute, to Arran and along Loch Fyne. The 1st Glasgow Company of the Boys Brigade own a camp-site near Tighnabruich which is used by many Boys' Brigade Companies from around the country. This follows in the tradition of the 1st Glasgow camping in the area since 1886. The Royal an Lochan hotel was established in 1865.

RNLI

The

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat (rescue), lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on s ...

(RNLI) maintains an inshore lifeboat station in Tighnabruaich and currently has an Atlantic 85 type lifeboat and tractor on station.

Sport and leisure

Kyles Athletic Shinty Club

Shinty Shinty () is a team sport played with sticks and a ball. It is played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and among Highland migrants to the major cities of Scotland. The sport was formerly more widespread in Scotland and even played in Northern ...

is the major sport in the village which is home to

Kyles Athletic Kyles Athletic Shinty Club is a shinty team from Tighnabruaich, Argyll, Scotland. It is one of the sport's most illustrious names, presently playing in the Marine Harvest Premiership with their second team is playing in South Division one. In 20 ...

who have won the Camanachd Cup more than any other team apart from

Newtonmore Newtonmore ( ) is a village of approximately 1100 inhabitants in Badenoch, within the Highland (council area), Highland council area of Scotland. The village is only a few miles from a location that is claimed to be the exact geographical centre ...

and

Kingussie Kingussie ( ; ) is a small town in the Badenoch and Strathspey ward of the Highland council area of Scotland. Counties of Scotland, Historically in Inverness-shire, it lies beside the A9 road (Great Britain), A9 road, although the old route of ...

National Cycle Route 75

Tighnabruaich is on the NCR75 a route from

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

to Tarbert on the

Kintyre peninsula Kintyre (, ) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East and West Loch Tarbert in the north. The region immediately north of Kintyre is ...

. The National Cycle Network is maintained by

sustrans Sustrans ( ) is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United ...

. The pier at Tighnabruaich is called at by the paddle steamer during its summer season sailings on the

Firth of Clyde 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, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...

. Tighnabruaich is popular for sailing and yachting and has a sailing school. Tighnabruaich was voted "the prettiest village in Argyll, Lomond and Stirlingshire" in 2002 and featured in the

More4 More4 is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel launched on 10 October 2005. Its programming mainly focuses on lifestyle and documentaries, as well as foreign dramas. Content The i ...

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

programme Penelope Keith's Hidden Villages (Series 3, Episode 2).

References

External links

Kyles Athletic official website
Tighnabruaich Tighnabruaich Highlands and Islands of Scotland Populated coastal places in Scotland {{Argyll-geo-stub