Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
by telephone. However, between the rock outcrops there are several inlets, lined across with
buoys to keep craft from entering but forming useful boltholes in an emergency for small
craft.
Crinan Bridge is the end of the one-way section and the start of the B841. This connects by
passenger ferry to Crinan Ferry. The canal is closely followed by roads throughout its entire
length. Over most of its length it is edged on the south side by the flanks of Knapdale Forest.
The canal has many feeders from lochans in the hills of Knapdale Forest. The one from
Lochan Dùin comes in at low level before the canal begins the climb to its 21m summit level
through the five Dunardry Locks. There is a high landing platform before each of the locks,
which are separated by large ponds.
Ardrishaig basin with the Clyde Puffer VIC 27
, Auld Reekie
, repainted for the BBC as the
Vital Spark.
The summit pound at 20m is connected to Loch a Bharain. It has the remains of a boat-
house that housed the steamer
Linnet
. Almost opposite is the feeder from Daill Loch reser-
voir, which is flanked by a forest walk. At the far end of the pound there is a rather larger
feeder, the sluice-controlled Carndubh Burn, which empties over a weir and under a stone
bridge arch, bringing water from Loch na Bric, Loch an Add, Loch na Faoilinn, Cam Loch,
Loch Clachaig, Dubh Loch and Loch Gleann a' Bhearraidh reservoirs. Wildlife on this reach,
from the mink to the wren, is noticeably tamer than in other parts of the country. Norwegian
beavers were released in 2009, despite concerns that they might spread and damage the canal.
The first four locks down are at Cairnbaan; the fourth, just below the B841 swing bridge, is
overlooked by the Cairnbaan Hotel. Near the hotel is Leacan nam Sluagh, the stone of host-
ing, with Bronze Age cup-and-ring markings. Carn Ban, the white cairn, is on the right after
the final lock of the flight. It is a Bronze Age burial mound.
On the far side of the A816, near a fort at Achnabreck, there are more cup-and-ring-marked
rocks plus petals, stars and spirals - the most extensive collection of prehistoric rock art in
Scotland. Visible from the canal is Stane Alane, a 2.4m standing stone positioned by the wall
of a cemetery on the line of the older Lochgilphead coaching road.
Built on the Dippin Burn, Lochgilphead dates back to medieval times but owes its present
size to the canal traffic, being developed from 1790 and the only significant town on the
canal.
