Tighnabruaich >
May 2014+
taigh house + na bruach Scottish Gaelic the bank (of river). Population - 660.
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Argyll and Bute
May 2014+
Bang in an unpronounceable part of Argyll & Bute, here's down near the bottom of the Cowal Peninsula and that's a different kind of doon to Dunoon. Way out west, there isn't a soul to be seen and, just for once, the same can be said for the rain.
Remote it may be but fans of the bacon sandwich and the antique are catered for in Tighnabruaich.
Beyond that, it appears to be an idyllic, lochside retreat with wildlife except that ain't no loch.
Most travel-blatherers would leave the Kyles of Bute at that because 'Kyle' is an everyday thing, right? From the Gaelic Caol, of course, simply meaning narrow and describing the two watery channels that separate Cowal from the Isle of Bute.
Cowal and Kyle, by the way, are no relation.
There's a walk to be done up the hill behind where the views to Bute are, not unsurprisingly, even better. That's for another day, it's being wondered how the heck you get over there?
The tatty AA™ road atlas, still the preferred method of navigation in these wheels, suggests a two-hour drive up and back down to Inverclyde even though you can just about touch Bute from here.
Not wishing to be overly dramatic, simply head the 15 miles up and back down to Colintraive where CalMac™ will ferry you across from the narrowest, convenient point.
The hop across takes five minutes, costs less than your breakfast did, about £8 for the pair of you and the car at the last check, and is less than a lap of an athletics track. Unlike the Olympics, though, this is one 300-metres dash that did catch on.
It might just be an idyllic, kyleside retreat with fine views from up a hill but there's a bit more while you're in the area...
For no other reason than, out of curiosity, the name will have you pull over as you make your way home and north up the narrow road along Loch Fyne. From the Gaelic oitir meaning sandbank so they got that right although otters can be spotted, they say, even if the ferry is long gone.
There's a shoreline walk to be done and the highly rated Oystercatcher bar-cum-restaurant and the caravans confirm that other people do come here.
Your other ferry option near here only this time west to the Mull of Kintyre and yes, that one. Interestingly, part of Portavadie is described as a 'ghost village' and no, it's not haunted by Kelpies.
Accommodation was built in the 1970s in nearby Polphail for 500 construction workers who would assemble oil rigs in the new dock. The orders never came and the buildings have sat empty ever since, their last act of usefulness to provide the concrete canvas for graffiti artists although you're not really allowed in.