Knapdale

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Knapdale (Scottish Gaelic: Cnapadal) forms a rural district of Argyll and Bute in the Scottish highlands, adjoining Kintyre to the south, and divided from the rest of Argyll to the north by the Crinan Canal.

Knapdale Forest, planted in the 1930s, covers much of the region. During the 1930s, the Ministry of Labour supplied the men from among the unemployed, many coming from the crisis-hit mining and heavy industry communities of the Central Belt. They were housed in one of a number of Instructional Centres created by the Ministry, most of them on Forestry Commission property; by 1938, the Ministry had 38 Instructional Centres across Britain. The camp was used to hold enemy prisoners during the Second World War. The hutted camp in Knapdale was located at Cairnbaan, just south of the Crinan Canal, and a surviving building remains in use as a Forestry Commission workshop.

Local attractions include the Chapel of Keills, the thirteenth century Kilmory Chapel and the eleventh century Castle Sween.

There is a long running campaign to reintroduce the European Beaver to Knapdale, as a pilot scheme for Scotland. However, the Scottish Executive rejected the plans due to a "lack of knowledge".

Knapdale has a designation as a National Scenic Area.

Places in Knapdale include:

• Achnamara, Ardrishaig
• Crinan
• Kilberry, Kilmory
• Tayvallich

References

• Field, J. Learning Through Labour: Training, unemployment and the state, 1890-1939, University of Leeds, 1992, ISBN 0-900-960-48-5
• Dwelly, E. Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary New Edition, Birlinn, 2001, ISBN 1841581097