Clachan of Glendaruel
| Clachan of Glendaruel Gaelic: Gleann Dà Ruadhail | |
| Argyllshire | |
|---|---|
 River at Clachan of Glendaruel | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NR996842 |
| Location: | 56°-0’33"N, 5°12’53"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Dunoon, Argyll |
| Postcode: | PA22 |
| Dialling code: | 01369 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Argyll and Bute |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Argyll and Bute |
Clachan of Glendaruel is a small village in Glenaruel, a glen in the Cowal Peninsula of Argyllshire.
About the village
The present Kilmodan Church was built in the village in 1783.
The village also has a primary school, Kilmodan Primary School,[1] often threatened with closure as few pupils remain. In 2010 there were just 22 on the roll and five years later just 14.
Up the glen stand the ruins of Dunans Castle.[2] Glendaruel Wood and Crags and the Ruel Estuary are both listed as 'Sites of Special Scientific Interest'.
As the nearest Hospital is some miles away in Dunoon, a disused phone box in the village was converted to house a defibrillator. Just weeks before the installation, a tourist in Glendaruel had died from a heart attack.[3]
Decline
The community is home to around 188 people as of 2008 and has been subject to a general decline in the late 20th century continuing into the early 21st century. The closure of the Glendaruel Hotel, a 17th-century coaching inn housing the only local pub, was in particular described as "a body blow." The hotel closed not long after a widely publicized legal case was won by three Polish former employees who had been described as "Polish Slaves" by a former hotel proprietor, who subsequently went on to sell the hotel in 2007, failing to advise the new proprietor of the impending legal case, forcing the new owner into voluntary bankruptcy when his business was ruined by the adverse publicity.[4][5]
Over the past two decades a number of facilities within the community have been lost, notable examples include the post office, general store and tearoom with even Kilmodan Church becoming part-time, holding services only two Sundays in a month.
Sport and leisure
- Shinty: Here are the grounds of Col-Glen Shinty Club, shared with nearby Colintraive.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Glendaruel) |
References
- ↑ "Kilmodan Primary School". Argyll & Bute Council. http://www.kilmodan.argyll-bute.sch.uk/.
- ↑ "Police probe castle fire". BBC News. 2001-01-14. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1116929.stm.
- ↑ "Good call for disused phone box. - Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. 2011-11-07. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Good+call+for+disused+phone+box.-a0271789259.
- ↑ "Warning as Polish staff win case". https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/12783623.warning-as-polish-staff-win-case/.
- ↑ Gordon Thomson (15 May 2007). "Warning as Polish staff win case". Evening Times. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/warning-as-polish-staff-win-case-1.948632.