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Campbeltown
(and Southend)

Page Updated 23/05/17
Campbeltown was originally known as Dalruadhain an early capital of the Dalriadan kingdom, then "Chille-Chiarain" - "Church/cell of Saint Kerran", it became a stronghold of the Macdonalds, Lords of the Isles, who renamed it "Kinlochkerran" - the head of Kerran's loch, it was also referred to as Kinloch Kilkerran. After the Macdonalds fell out of favour, King James V granted the area to the Campbells of Argyll, and when they finally ousted the Macdonalds it became Campbell's Town after Archibald Campbell (Earl of Argyll) in 1667.
Undiscovered Scotland     Wikipedia   Come to Campbeltown    Explore Campbeltown
Gazetteer of Scotland 1882   Southend Community Website  
Other Undiscovered Scotland pages: Campbeltown Heritage Centre; St Columba's Footprints and Keil Caves; St Columba's Chapel; Southend; Springbank Distillery
Dalintober - a web development business based in Campbeltown, many of the websites are related to Kintyre.

A Light Railway carrying passengers between Campbeltown and Machrihanish -
5 miles back across the peninsula from Campbeltown - survived until 1934.
Before Kinloch Park was drained it was the site into which many of the distilleries' waste products flowed
Picture
Campbeltown at night

Campbeltown & Whisky

Campbeltown was once known as the Whisky Capital - for good reason, it had 34 distilleries within the town and was regarded as a whisky region in its own right. When the cheapest and easiest method of transport was by sea, Campbeltown was well placed - a relatively short voyage to the Clyde and Glasgow. Land access to Campbeltown is a different story, though there were other factors in Campbeltown's decline in whisky fortunes. US Prohibition didn't help, but Campbeltown's distilleries didn't help themselves either, and got the reputation for producing quantity rather than quality. 
It now has just three distilleries - Springbank, Glengyle and Glen Scotia. There is also a whisky shop, Cadenheads on Longrow.

Lost Distilleries of Campbeltown - this site is by Teimei Horiuchi, a Japanese photographer - the photos are better than his English (then again his English is a lot better than my Japanese), an interesting piece of Campbeltown's history.
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Impressive array of Cadenhead's Malts in their Bolgam Street shop - has now moved back to Longrow.
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The Lorne and Lowland Church tower featured in Kilkerran's logo
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Entrance to one of Campbeltown's lost distilleries - Benmore
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Campbeltown's Car Ferry Terminal
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Southend PO - no longer open on Wednesdays
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Argyll Arms Hotel, Southend
Campbeltown is the only real town in Kintyre - the rest of the Southern portion of the peninsula culminating in the Mull is sparsely populated, though there is a small village at Southend (10 miles from Campbeltown). Sanda Island off the southern tip is privately owned but until 2012 there was a seasonally open pub and hotel. The island can now be rented for £2000 a night! The site implies other packages are available.
Davaar is an island at the entrance to Campbeltown Loch - a tidal island, also privately owned, but open to the public to walk around the shoreline to its many caves including one with a famous picture of the crucifixion.

Arriving & Departing

Open Cycle Map  Bing Map 
Campbeltown is a very long way from anywhere -  particularly by bike. Nearest train stations: Dalmally (DAL) (90 miles), Oban (OBN) (86), Ardrossan Harbour (ADS) (49 miles plus 2 ferries). Live Train Times: DAL OBN, ADS (The nearest station is actually Ballymoney in N Ireland a 90 minute ferry journey plus 16 miles away). 
The Scottish Ferry Services: Ferries Plan (2013-2022) recommended an experimental Summer (late April to late September) service from Ardrossan to Campbeltown CalMac Summer timetable, with direct services from Ardrossan to Campbeltown on Thu/Fri/Sun and from Campbeltown to Ardrossan on Fri/Sun and via Brodick on Saturday. There is no winter timetable service.
Campbeltown Airport is served by scheduled Flybe (0871 700 0535) flights from Glasgow Airport.

Sleeping

Ardshiel Hotel     Kilkerran Street   01586 552133  
Great food, great whisky - not stayed there, but f the whisky and food are anything to go by...
Argyll Arms Hotel  60 Main Street   01586 553431  
Argyll Arms Hotel   Southend   01586 830622  (9 miles)
Braefoot GH  High Street  01586 553881  
Brecklate B&B 
Southend Road (B842)  01586 830462  (7 miles)
Craigard House Hotel   Low Askomill   01586 554242  
Dellwood Hotel    Dalaruan Street    01586 552465 
Earadale B&B  26 Shore Street  01586 550292 
Stayed here in 2013 - good value for money, friendly and helpful. They serve evening meals (£7.50 for two courses). Bike storage in secure back garden.
Feorlin Guest House   Longrow    01586 552464
Grammar Lodge GH  St John Street    01586 553355
Oatfield House    Southend Road (B842) 01586 551551 (3 miles)  
Rosemount GH  Low Askomill  01586 553552   
Royal Hotel   Main Street   01586 810000   
Seaview GH   Southend   01586 830106  (10 miles)  ??
The Hall B&B  High Street  07518 391958  01586 550264
Stayed here in 2009, just after it had opened as a B&B, and have returned in 2013 and 2014 - big rooms, good value, excellent breakfast, and space round the back to shelter the bike. WiFi.
The Well House B&B  69 Longrow    01586 553066
Westbank House   Dell Street  01586 553660
My accommodation in 2003 - can't say I remember too much about it, but that's generally a good sign - if it had been somewhere to avoid I would remember!
Campbeltown Backpackers Hostel   Big Kiln St   01586 551188  
See also Machrihanish  (5 miles)
For self-catering see: Explore Campbeltown
Scottish Accommodation Index, West Scotland,  Argyll & the Isles
Kintyre Accommodation/Visit Kintyre,   Scottish Accommodation Guide
Kintyre Way 

Previously Listed - no longer offering B&B
Crosshill B&B  6 Crosshill Avenue    No longer does B&B
Glenmhairi B&B   Craiggowan Road  No longer does B&B though still listed on Kintyre Accommodation site
Ormsary Farm   by Southend   01586 830665  (10 miles)  Closed
Pennyland Farmhouse  by Southend   01586 830391  (10 miles)  closed
Redknowe GH    Witchburn Road   01586 550374   Closed
The Old Rectory B&B 
 Argyll Street   05186  552991   Closed
White Hart Hotel  Castlehill   01586 552440  Closed
The Hotel that was used by Alfred Barnard for his trip to Campbeltown's distilleries, has sadly now closed down.

Eating

Ardshiel Hotel   Kilkerran Street   01586 552133 
Good food - better prices than the Harbour View, and did I mention the whisky? Oh right, not yet - see below.
Argyll Arms Hotel  60 Main Street   01586 553431  
Food OK, but nothing to write home about
​
Craigard House Hotel   Low Askomill   01586 554242  
Great food and a great view.
Harbour View Grille   Royal Hotel, Main Street    01586 810000
Part of the 'Village at Machrihanish Dunes' - who own hotels and bars in both Machrihanish and Campbeltown.
Muneroy Tearoom  Southend   01586 830221
Other options - list: Come to Campbeltown; details: Explore Campbeltown

Drinking

Ardshiel Hotel   Kilkerran Street   01586 552133 
Their website mentions 700 malt whiskies. The whisky bar in Campbeltown
Argyll Arms Hotel  60 Main Street   01586 553431 (wesite broken)
Several bars, a few malt whiskies
Argyll Arms Hotel   Southend   01586 830622  (9 miles)
Good range of whiskies
Black Sheep Pub   Royal Hotel, Main Street    01586 810000
Good range of malt whiskies. Part of the 'Village at Machrihanish Dunes' - who own hotels and bars in both Machrihanish and Campbeltown. (this is taken from their website, as I've not been in there as I couldn't drag myself away from the Ardshiel!
For other pubs - see Beer in the Evening Please note that I do not have anything good or bad to say about any of these establishments

Cycling

Cycle Shops:
The Cycle Shop in Longrow is now closed.

Shopping

Tesco  Co-Op 
​Post Offices:  Campletown Rieclachan; Southend (limited hours, one of Scotland's smallest POs).
Check PO Branch finder (search for postcode PA28) for opening times.
For other shops see Explore Campbeltown
Banking
Clydesdale  19 Longrow
Bank of Scotland  9 Longrow South
RBS  11 Castle Hill

Raining??

BBC Weather     The Weather Channel
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Distilleries
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Glengyle

Glen Scotia
Springbank
Picture
The Hall B&B
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Davaar Island
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Glengyle still
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Carskey Bay and Dunaverty Bay near Southend, from the Mull of Kintyre Road
Photos on this page were taken by me. Click on photo to enlarge. Full size versions and my other pictures of Campbeltown are available on Flickr at: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/martynjenkins/sets/72157632893656922
Please check details - links, prices, ranges of whiskies etc are correct as of the Page Updated date. Any errors please let me know.
Listing of any hotel, restaurant, B&B etc is NOT a recommendation - unless accompanied by text to that effect.
Abbreviations
Home  About  Update Log   Blog  Whisky Festivals  Whisky Shops  Books  Magazines  Independent Bottlers  ​Other Links  Distilleries  Places   Cycling Links  Stations Guide
Guide to New Distilleries/Projects in Scotland
Whisky Regions in Scotland
Distilleries by Region: Campbeltown  Island  Islay  Lowland  Highland  Speyside  Grain
Highland Areas: North  East  South & West  Central
Speyside Areas: Spey  Avon/Livet/Fiddich/Dullan  Lossie  Deveron/Isla  Coastal/Findhorn
Campbeltown's Lost Distilleries: Index  A-C  D-K  L-W
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My Flickr Distilleries collection: www.flickr.com/photos/martynjenkins/collections/72157627004852499/
Email: whiskycyclist@gmail.com