Campbeltown Explained

Gaelic Name:Ceann Loch Chille Chiarain[1]
Scots Name:Cammeltoun[2]
Official Name:Campbeltown
Static Image Name:Campbeltown - geograph.org.uk - 1443007.jpg
Static Image Caption:Campbeltown Viewed from the slopes of Beinn Ghuilean
Static Image Width:250px
Edinburgh Distance Mi:101
London Distance Mi:352
Population Ref:
Unitary Scotland:Argyll and Bute
Lieutenancy Scotland:Argyll and Bute
Constituency Westminster:Argyll and Bute
Constituency Scottish Parliament:Argyll and Bute
Country:Scotland
Coordinates:55.423°N -5.608°W
Os Grid Reference:NR 71800 20300
Map Alt:Scotland
Map Relief:yes
Post Town:Campbeltown
Postcode Area:PA
Postcode District:PA28
Dial Code:01586
Hide Services:yes

Campbeltown (; Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Ceann Loch Chille Chiarain or Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Ceann Locha) is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre Peninsula. Campbeltown became an important centre for Scotch whisky, and a busy fishing port.

The 2018 population estimate was 4,600 indicating a reduction since the 2011 census.[3]

History

Originally known as Kinlochkilkerran (an anglicization of the Gaelic, which means 'head of the loch by the kirk of Ciarán'), Campbeltown was renamed in the 17th century as Campbell's Town after Archibald Campbell (Earl of Argyll) was granted the site in 1667.[4] Campbeltown Town Hall was completed in 1760.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution opened Campbeltown Lifeboat Station in 1861. The present building dates from 1996.[5]

Economy

In addition to the benefits of distilling, and whisky tourism, there were two major employers in 2018, Campbeltown Creamery and CS Wind UK, who provided "a substantial portion of the Campbeltown area’s high skilled jobs and are a vital part of the local economy," according to the Scottish government. A report in October 2019 had raised warning signs for the economy of Argyll & Bute; the report also suggested that up to 70 jobs at CS Wind UK could be lost but did not specify a time frame.[6] Both companies confirmed the prediction of job redundancies, leading the Scottish government to hold an emergency summit in November 2019 to discuss steps that might be taken for improving the local economy. Participants included Argyll & Bute Council, Highlands & Islands Enterprise, trades unions and local employers.[7] [8] After the summit, a "working group" was formed in late November 2019.[9]

The number of dairy farms supplying Campbeltown Creamery reduced from 147 to 28 and the number of dairy cows fell from 6600 to 2500. Consequently, the Creamery became unviable. A plan by a small number of local dairy farmers to take over the running of the Creamery failed in early December 2019. The milk produced in Kintyre is now transported by road tankers to Lockerbie and Mull of Kintyre Cheddar is no longer available.[8]

By early December 2019, CS Wind UK had declared 22 jobs redundant. The Scottish government was working with the company to search for long-term solutions.[10] Preliminary discussions did not produce optimism about the future stability of the company. The Unite union indicated that while CS Wind had been profitable, it was not receiving an adequate number of orders to sustain full employment.[11] The plant was shut down in 2019 and production shifted to CS Wind's cheaper Vietnam plant in Phú Mỹ.[12]

Whisky

Campbeltown is one of five areas in Scotland categorised as a distinct malt whisky producing region, and is home to the Campbeltown single malts. At one point it had over 30 distilleries and proclaimed itself "the whisky capital of the world". However, a focus on quantity rather than quality, and the combination of Prohibition and the Great Depression in the United States, led to most distilleries going out of business. Today only three active distilleries remain in Campbeltown: Glen Scotia, Glengyle, and Springbank.[13] [14] [15] [16]

Campbeltown is a "protected locality" for Scotch Whisky distilling under the UK's Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009.[17]

The folk song titled "Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky" is based on the town's history in this industry.[18]

Climate

As with the rest of Scotland, Campbeltown experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The nearest official Met Office weather station for which online records are available is at Campbeltown Airport/RAF Machrihanish, about 3miles west of the town centre.

The lowest temperature to be reported in recent years was during December 2010.[19]

Culture

See main article: List of listed buildings in Campbeltown. Campbeltown boasts a museum and a heritage centre. The museum has a varied collection of items from Campbeltown's past, and prehistoric items excavated from sites around Kintyre, such as axeheads, jewellery and combs. The 19th-century building, by John James Burnet, also houses the Registrars office and Customer Service Point for Argyll and Bute council and has plaques or exhibits related to famous Kintyre people: for example, William McTaggart and William Mackinnon. Near the museum is the cinema known as the Wee Picture House, a small but distinctive Art Nouveau building of the Glasgow School dating from 1913 and believed to be the oldest surviving purpose-built cinema in Scotland. These buildings are on the waterfront, as is a 14th-century Celtic cross that also served as a mercat cross.[20] [21]

St Kieran (Ciarán of Clonmacnoise) lived in this area before the town existed.[22] A cave named after him can be visited at low tide, as can the cave on nearby Island Davaar where pilgrims and tourists go to see a 19th-century crucifixion painting.[23]

Campbeltown also hosts the annual Mull Of Kintyre Music Festival, which has seen acts ranging from up-and-coming local bands to well-established groups such as Deacon Blue, The Stranglers and Idlewild perform.[24]

The Kintyre Songwriters Festival, a fairly low key annual gathering aimed at promoting the wealth and variety of original music across the area, which started in 2009. The festival is held during the last weekend of May and is open to anyone interested in performing.[25]

On Friday 16 June 2006, First Minister Jack McConnell flew to Campbeltown to officially open Campbeltown's new 'Aqualibrium' Centre. Aqualibrium, designed by Page\Park Architects, replaced the old Campbeltown swimming pool, which was previously closed due to safety concerns; the centre houses Campbeltown's library (with the old building being the museum only), swimming pool, gym, conference centre and 'Mussel Ebb' Cafe.[26]

The Kintyre Camanachd are a local shinty team that belongs to the Camanachd Association.[27]

The local amateur football team, Campbeltown Pupils AFC, are members of the West of Scotland Football League Division 4 which largely comprises clubs based in the Greater Glasgow and Inverclyde areas, requiring the Campbeltown team to make a round trip of over for away fixtures most weekends.[28]

Argyll FM is a local radio station based in Campbeltown on 106.5, 107.1 and 107.7.[29]

In May 2012 Campbeltown and Dunoon were jointly named in a report by the Scottish Agricultural College as the rural places in Scotland most vulnerable to a downturn. The "vulnerability index" ranked 90 Scottish locations according to factors associated with economic and social change.[30] [31]

Transport

Campbeltown Airport is near the town, and has a scheduled service to/from Glasgow International Airport on weekdays and some summer Sundays.[32]

The town is the westernmost town in the island of Great Britain (if the port of Mallaig is not counted as a town). It has the population of a large village, but lays claim to its town status based on its port and its central close grid of streets. Its position near the end of a long peninsula makes for a time-consuming road journey, and to some extent the area relies on sea and air transport, like the Inner Hebrides. However it is linked to the rest of Scotland by the A83 (to Tarbet) and A82 (from Tarbet to Glasgow). Bus service is provided by West Coast Motors, who also operate services to Glasgow for Scottish Citylink.[33]

Ferries sail from Campbeltown to Ballycastle in Northern Ireland, operated by Kintyre Express. The service, which runs to Ballycastle every Friday to Monday during summer months and on Mondays and Fridays during the winter months, commenced in 2011.

In 2006 a foot passenger ferry operated by Kintyre Express ran between Campbeltown and Troon every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with a crossing time of one hour in calm weather. By 2007 this ferry no longer ran, although the vessel can be chartered privately.[34]

Starting 23 May 2013, Caledonian MacBrayne began operating a ferry service across the Firth of Clyde to Ardrossan, calling at Brodick on Saturdays.[35]

Campbeltown was linked to Machrihanish by a canal (1794 – mid-1880s) that was superseded by the Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway, which closed in 1932. The railway, which was originally built to serve the Machrihanish Coalfield, ran from Campbeltown railway station to Machrihanish railway station.[36]

Language

Campbeltown is one of the few communities in the Scottish Highlands where the Scots language predominated in recent centuries, rather than the previously widespread Scottish Gaelic, an enclave of Lowland Scots speech surrounded by Highland Scottish speech.[37]

Notable people

Town twinnings

Campbeltown is twinned with Kümmersbruck, Bavaria, Germany.[67]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba - Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland - Database. 28 August 2018. 12 April 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220412203137/https://www.ainmean-aite.scot/placename/campbeltown/. dead.
  2. Web site: Scotslanguage.com - Names in Scots - Places in Scotland.
  3. Web site: Campbeltown (Argyll and Bute, Scotland, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map, Location, Weather and Web Information. www.citypopulation.de.
  4. "Campbeltown" in A Dictionary of British Place-Names, A. D. Mills, Oxford University Press, 2003. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of Hull. 12 December 2009
  5. Web site: Portpatrick's station history . RNLI . 5 August 2024.
  6. Web site: Largely negative economic data and a slew of job losses, the North Coast 500 shows which economic road to take – The State of Britain.
  7. Web site: Campbeltown economic summit - gov.scot. www.gov.scot.
  8. News: Farmers join forces in attempt to save Campbeltown Creamery. Greig . Cameron. 17 May 2023 . www.thetimes.co.uk.
  9. Web site: Working group formed after emergency economic summit. 22 November 2019. Campbeltown Courier.
  10. Web site: First Minister intervention plea as jobs go at CS Wind. Scotland Against Spin. 5 December 2019.
  11. News: Scottish Government sought to 'assist' troubled CS Wind prior to job losses. Energy Voice. David. McPhee. 3 December 2019.
  12. Meek . James . Who holds the welding rod? . London Review of Books. 15 July 2021. 43. 14 . 10 July 2021.
  13. Web site: The World of Scotch Whisky. https://web.archive.org/web/20140109034819/http://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/media/63111/swa_a1_map_2014.pdf?Action=download. dead. 9 January 2014.
  14. Web site: The five single malt scotch whisky whiskey regions explained. scotland wisky higlands speyside campbeltown islay lowlands. 24 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090924015253/http://www.scotlandwhisky.com/about/single-malt-scotch-whiskyregions. 24 September 2009.
  15. Web site: Scotch Whisky Association - Whisky Regions & Tours. D8. 9 January 2014. 9 January 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140109034722/http://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/understanding-scotch/whisky-regions-tours. dead.
  16. Book: Stirk, David. The Distilleries of Campbeltown: The Rise and Fall of the Whisky Capital of the World. 1 January 2005. Angels' Share. Google Books. 9781903238844.
  17. Web site: The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009. www.legislation.gov.uk.
  18. Web site: "Campbeltown Loch, (I wish you were whisky)". Andy. Stewart. 2010. Spotify. 10 July 2022.
  19. Web site: . 2010 minimum. 24 December 2010 .
  20. Web site: Campbeltown Cross . Kintyremag.co.uk . 28 December 1950 . 21 August 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20080821102747/http://www.kintyremag.co.uk/1998/15/page7.html . 21 August 2008.
  21. Web site: Campbeltown Cross, Hall Street.
  22. Web site: TravelDock. https://web.archive.org/web/20140109035033/http://www.scotsites.co.uk/ebooks/scottishsaints9.htm. dead. 9 January 2014.
  23. News: Che vandal attacks Christ image. BBC News. 11 December 2007 . 2006-08-01.
  24. Web site: Mull of Kintyre Music Festival . Mokfest.com . 21 August 2009.
  25. News: Call for local musicians to take part in 2022 Kintyre Songwriters Festival. Campbeltown Courier. 16 March 2022.
  26. News: £7m Aqualibrium planned for Campbeltown. 27 February 2006. Health Club Management. 16 March 2022.
  27. Web site: Shinty in South Kintyre . 13 April 2011 . 23 April 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110423095405/http://www.shinty.com/news/shinty-in-south-kintyre/ . dead .
  28. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0852fxw Join Campbeltown Pupils AFC as they make a 260 mile trip just for a game of football
  29. Web site: Argyll FM. Tune In. 16 March 2022.
  30. News: BBC News - 'Vulnerable' Scottish rural towns listed. Bbc.co.uk . 28 May 2012. 28 May 2012.
  31. Web site: Revealed: our rural towns on the brink . . 12 May 2012 . 9 June 2014.
  32. Web site: Flybe timetable: flight from Campbelltown Airport . Flybe . 11 October 2014.
  33. Web site: Services. West Coast Motors. 10 July 2022.
  34. Web site: Plan B - The Creative Edge . Kintyre Express . Kintyre Express . 21 August 2009.
  35. Web site: New ferry link for Campbeltown . . 15 April 2013. 9 June 2014.
  36. Book: Macmillan, Nigel S.C.. The Campbeltown & Machrihanish Light Railway. Plateway Press. third. 2000. 978-1-871980-17-2. 12.
  37. Web site: Where Is Scots Spoken In Scotland?. I love languages. 10 July 2022.
  38. Beith, Alexander.
  39. Web site: Scotland's Mark on America . Scotlands.com . 28 May 2007 . 21 August 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20130401021622/http://www.scotlands.com/usa/21.html . 1 April 2013.
  40. Web site: Kintyre Magazine 68.
  41. Web site: Durham Mining Museum - Thomas Lindsay Galloway. www.dmm.org.uk.
  42. Web site: James Gulliver, Chairman Of Food Group, Dies at 66. 17 September 1996. The New York Times.
  43. Web site: AIM25 collection description. aim25.com.
  44. Macleod, Norman (1783-1862).
  45. Web site: Memoirs and portraits of one hundred Glasgow men: 61. Norman Macleod.
  46. Web site: The Wee Web - rare, collectable and used children's books online. 23 January 2004. https://web.archive.org/web/20040123185611/http://www.theweeweb.co.uk/public/author_profile.php?id=216. 23 January 2004.
  47. Web site: Neil McBain. LFC History. 10 July 2022.
  48. News: Paul McCartney and the Mull of Kintyre: 'Maybe the memories make it too painful for him to return'. 11 October 2013. Rowley. Tom.
  49. Web site: Jill McGown.
  50. http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio.php?id_nbr=8282 Duncan McNab McEachran
  51. Web site: The Lincoln City FC Archive. John. Vickers. 9 January 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20120525050522/http://www.redimps.com/archive3/index.mv?cat=players&drop=playerdetsdrop&play=mcph02. 25 May 2012. dead.
  52. Web site: William McTaggart: The Storm. Campbeltown Heritage Centre. 10 July 2022.
  53. News: Scottish author Denzil Meyrick tells Janet Christie about his Kintyre-set novels and his hopes for the planned TV crime drama series. 4 December 2021. The Scotsman. 10 July 2022.
  54. Web site: John Neil Munro. Birlinn. 10 July 2022.
  55. Web site: Olympic sailor asks to be removed from Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.. because he's English. Alan. Campbell. 8 May 2012.
  56. Web site: Sir George Pirie (1863-1946) - Tate. Tate.
  57. Web site: SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS KIERAN PRENDERGAST OF UNITED KINGDOM AS USG FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS - Meetings Coverage and Press Releases.
  58. Web site: Robert Pursell . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120128044353/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/LIVERpursell.htm . 28 January 2012 .
  59. Web site: QPFC.com - A Historical Queen's Park FC Website . www.qpfc.com . 18 January 2021.
  60. Web site: Rothesay in line for £1.5m in heritage funding. 13 May 2009 .
  61. Web site: James Curdie Russell. The University of Glasgow Story. 10 July 2022.
  62. Web site: College of Justice. Scottish Government. 14 October 2010.
  63. 1291 . Mr John Stewart [2] (1876 - 1957) . Yes . 16 April 2019.
  64. Web site: Gerald Tait Olympic medals and stats . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130324052501/http://databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=TAITGER01 . 24 March 2013 .
  65. News: Celtic humour keeps Lawrence Tynes on song. Oliver. Brown. 22 January 2008.
  66. News: George Wylie, Morrisonville, Succumbs Here . The Capital Times . December 9, 1926 . Madison, WI . 1 . . March 5, 2021.
  67. Web site: Schottland zu Gast. Josef. Bayer. www.asamnet.de.

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