Crinan
| Crinan Gaelic: An Crìonan | |
| Argyllshire | |
|---|---|
 Loch Crinan over the small inner harbour of Crinan Village | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NR793936 |
| Location: | 56°5’5"N, 5°32’51"W |
| Data | |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Argyll and Bute |
Crinan is a small village on the west coast of Knapdale, part of Argyllshire. It stands on the south shore of Loch Crinan, and opposite is the hamlet named Crinan Ferry, which has prior claim on the name.
Before the Crinan Canal was built, Crinan was named Port Righ which means 'king's port'. The canal was named from Crinan Ferry, which stands on the opposite shore of Loch Crinan, where a small ferry landed. The name 'Crinan' may derive from the Creones tribe who are reported to have lived in the area around 140.[1]
Around the village
The Crinan Canal starts at Ardrishaig sea lock on Loch Gilp, and ends nine miles away at Crinan sea lock on the Sound of Jura. The canal was designed to provide a short cut between the west coast and islands at one end and the Clyde estuary at the other, and so avoid the long voyage around the south end of the Kintyre Peninsula.
By the canal basin stand a coffee shop and the nearby hotel, and it looks out across Loch Crinan to Duntrune Castle. Crinan Post Office is in the old Harbour House.[2]
Crinan Boatyard provides services and facilities for commercial and leisure boaters.[3] A scallop farming business operates from the loch.[1] The 35 ha Crinan Wood is home to ferns, lichens and 24 species of bird.[4]
On television
Parts of the television series The Tales of Para Handy were filmed in and around Crinan; the stories are set aboard a Clyde steamer plying the isles and coasts hereabouts.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Crinan) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Crinan, Ports and Harbours of the UK, http://ports.org.uk/port.asp?id=387, retrieved 4 June 2014
- ↑ Crinan CanalBasin Post Office, Canmore, http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/158189/details/crinan+canal+basin+post+office/, retrieved 4 June 2014
- ↑ Crinan Boatyard, Crinan Boatyard, http://www.crinanboatyard.co.uk/, retrieved 4 June 2014
- ↑ Crinan Wood, Woodland Trust, http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/wood/4904/crinan-wood/, retrieved 4 June 2014