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Coordinates: 56°02'N 5°26'W? / ?56.04, -5.44
Lochgilphead (Scottish Gaelic Ceann Loch Gilb, pronounced [k?an?? ???x 'g°ilib?]) is a burgh in Scotland, with a population of around 3,000 people. It is the administrative centre of Argyll and Bute. The town lies at the end of Loch Gilp (itself a branch of Loch Fyne) and lies on the banks of the Crinan Canal.
The council is based at Kilmory Castle, around which is located a woodland park and an Iron Age fort. The Forestry Commission also have an office there.
Lochgilphead's facilities include a swimming pool, sports centre, three banks, supermarket, Renault dealership, a community hospital run by the local GPs, psychiatric hospital, 9-hole golf course, a hydrotherapy pool, a regional landfill site at Dunchologan and Lochgilphead High School.
The town is home to shinty team Kilmory Camanachd and football team, Lochgilphead Red Star.
[edit] History
As a planned settlement, Lochgilphead was created in 1790 shortly after the completion of a road from Inveraray to Campbeltown. After the completion of the Crinan Canal in 1801 the town became more important as a link across the Kintyre peninsula.
[edit] Claims to fame
- In July 1982, Lochgilphead competed against teams from Perth and Oban in the then highly popular BBC Television children's series It's a Knockout, presented by Stuart Hall. The town's team won their round and later competed in the international version of the series, 'Jeux Sans Frontieres', which was recorded in Switzerland.
- In the World War Two movie, 633 Squadron (1964, directed Walter Grauman), Lochgilphead's main street features for a brief second in an aerial shot, as the bombers of 633 Squadron fly over the "unnamed" town en route to the bombing target in Norway.
- Hometown to the intellectual Lochgilpheadian Tom Roberts who left at an early age to pursue a career in Philosophy, a dream that was recently fulfilled upon qualifying as a Doctor of Philosophy at Edinburgh University. In a recent interview Roberts claimed it was fair to attribute at least 25% of his current success to the formative years he spent in Lochgilphead.
- The Argyll Turbo GT sportscar was built by Bob Henderson in Manse Brae.
- The singer Sydney MacEwan had built, and was for a time parish priest of, the R.C. church in the town.
- The well known and infamous George Williamson was born and raised here. His aliases include The Glee and for a short while Rondo.
[edit] External links
(Source: Wikipedia) |