Argyll - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 68

enlightening exhibition charting the development of iron making. The furnace house
itself also remains largely intact, though sadly the water wheel is no more, having been
sold for scrap during World War II.

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Inverawe Fisheries and Smokery
A85, one mile east of Taynuilt • Easter-Oct & Dec daily 8.30am-5pm; Nov Fri-Sun 8.30am-5pm • Smokery free; exhibition £1.50 •
T 0844 847 5490, W smokedsalmon.co.uk
A mile or so east up the A85 from Taynuilt, a sign invites you down a minor road to
visit the tucked-away Inverawe Fisheries and Smokery , where you can buy lots of lovely
local food including traditionally smoked fish and mussels, eat the same in their casual
little café, check out the exhibition on traditional smoking techniques, learn how to
fly-fish, or go for a stroll down to nearby Loch Etive with your picnic.

Loch Awe
Legend has it that Loch Awe , twenty miles east of Oban, was created by a witch and
inhabited by a monster even more gruesome than the one at Loch Ness. At more than
25 miles in length, Loch Awe is actually the longest stretch of fresh water in the
country, but most travellers only encounter the loch's north end as they speed along its
shores by car or train on the way to or from Oban.

Kilchurn Castle
Several tiny islands on the loch sport picturesque ruins, including the fifteenth-century
ruins of Kilchurn Castle , strategically situated on a rocky spit (once an island) at the
head of the loch; to visit the castle, you can approach by foot from the A85 to the east.
The castle is essentially a shell, but its watery setting and imposing outlines make it well
worth a detour.

Cruachan Power Station
A85, 19 miles east of Oban • Easter-Oct daily 9.30am-4.45pm; Nov-March Mon-Fri 10am-3.45pm; tours every 30min • Tours £6.50 •
T 01866 822618, W visitcruachan.co.uk
The main attraction on the shores of Loch Awe is none too picturesque. Cruachan
Power Station is actually constructed inside mighty Ben Cruachan (3693ft), which
looms over the head of Loch Awe; it was built in 1965 as part of the hydroelectric
network, which generates around ten percent of Scotland's electricity. Thirty-minute
guided tours set off from the visitor centre by the loch, taking you to a viewing
platform above the generating room deep inside the “hollow mountain”, a 91-metre-
long cavern big enough to contain the Tower of London. The whole experience of
visiting an industrial complex hidden within a mountain is very James Bond, and it
certainly pulls in the tour coaches. Even if you don't partake in a tour, the visitor
centre offers some thoroughgoing and interesting explanations of the workings of
the power station and renewable energy projects, while the adjoining café has
marvellous loch views.

Isle of Mull and around
The second largest of the Inner Hebrides, Mull is by far the most accessible: just forty
minutes from Oban by ferry. As so often, first impressions largely depend on the
weather - it is the wettest of the Hebrides (and that's saying something) - for without
the sun the large tracts of moorland, particularly around the island's highest peak,
Ben More (3169ft), can appear bleak and unwelcoming. There are, however, areas of
more gentle pastoral scenery around Dervaig in the north and Salen on the east coast,
and the indented west coast varies from the sandy beaches around Calgary to the cliffs