Port Bannatyne
| Port Bannatyne Gaelic: Port MhicEamailinn | |
| Buteshire | |
|---|---|
 Port Bannatyne village | |
| Location | |
| Island: | Isle of Bute |
| Grid reference: | NS072672 |
| Location: | 55°51’36"N, 5°4’48"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Isle Of Bute |
| Postcode: | PA20 |
| Dialling code: | 01700 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Argyll and Bute |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Argyll and Bute |
Port Bannatyne is a coastal village of Buteshire, on the Isle of Bute in the Firth of Clyde. The village developed into the 1900s as a quieter alternative to Rothesay. It is a popular harbour, with a small yacht marina and boatyard and an unusual 13-hole golf course rather than the standard 18.
The village is about two miles north of Rothesay. A further six miles to the north is Rhubodach whence a ferry service sails to the Cowal peninsula of Argyllshire. A ferry to Wemyss Bay in Renfrewshire sails from Rothesay.
Substantial slate and stone houses face the sea around Kames Bay. The village's focus was the stone pier mid-way along the south shore of Kames Bay. The bay provided mooring for yachts and fishing boats.
About the village
On the seafront are a shop/Post Office, The Port Inn (local pub with beer garden and pool room) and the Anchor Tavern (a bar for the retired sailors and oldsters). The Port Royal Hotel, just along the road is the old village inn. It was bought in 2000 by a Russian family who renovated the building and turned the old pub into a replica of a Russian Tavern of Imperial Times.[1]
Above the village, with views across the sea to the Isle of Arran and the Argyll hills, is the Port Bannatyne golf-course.[2] Built in 1912, the course now has 13 holes and wild deer grazing the herbage.[3] The village has strong links overseas and has its own club for the French game of pétanque, with a pitch, or piste, on the seafront.[4]
In 2005, work was started on the new yacht marina. The small boatyard has grown into a stone-built sea wall enclosure of part of the bay, providing 105 berths.[5]
History
The village started in 1801 with the building of a small harbour on Kames Bay. Lord Bannatyne of Kames Castle, at the head of the bay, planned the village in an attempt to rival Rothesay. Initially known as Kamesburgh, by the mid-19th century, steamers were calling there regularly.[6] In 1860 the Marquess of Bute purchased this part of the island and renamed the village Port Bannatyne in honour of the long historical association of the Bannatyne family with the area.[7] Boat building became an important local industry.
In 1879 a narrow gauge, horse-drawn tram linked Port Bannatyne with Rothesay. This was electrified and extended across the island to Ettrick Bay in 1902.[7]
During the Second World War midget submarines exercised in the bay and nearby Loch Striven.[6] The luxury Kyles Hydro Hotel, overlooking the Port, was requisitioned by the Admiralty to serve as the HQ for midget submarine (x-craft) operations. In particular, it was from here (hotel renamed HMS Varbel) that the top secret and audacious attack on the Tirpitz was masterminded.[8]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Port Bannatyne) |
References
- ↑ Russian Tavern: The Port Royal Hotel
- ↑ "Visitors". Port Bannatyne Golf Club. http://www.portbannatynegolf.co.uk/visit.shtml. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
- ↑ "Port Bannatyne Golf Club". Bute Sons & Daughters. http://www.butesonsanddaughters.co.uk/portgolf.shtml. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
- ↑ "Port Bannatyne Petanque : Home". http://www.portbannatynepetanque.org.uk/. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
- ↑ "Marina Services". Port Bannatyne Marina. http://www.portbannatynemarina.co.uk/marina-services/. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Port Bannatyne Tourist Information". About Britain. http://www.aboutbritain.com/towns/port-bannatyne.asp. Retrieved 7 April 2007.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Port Bannatyne". Undiscovered Scotland. http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/bute/portbannatyne/index.html. Retrieved 7 April 2007.
- ↑ "The Tirpitz Raid ("Operation Source")". Bute at War. http://www.bute-at-war.org/links.shtml. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
- CANMORE (RCAHMS) record of Port Bannatyne: General site record
- CANMORE (RCAHMS) record of North Byte Parish Church
- CANMORE (RCAHMS) record of Port Royal Hotel
- CANMORE (RCAHMS) record of Kyles of Bute Hydropathic
- CANMORE (RCAHMS) record of Former Steamer Pier
- CANMORE (RCAHMS) record of Marine Road Quay