Lochgilphead

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lochgilphead

Map sources for Lochgilphead at grid reference NR8688

Lochgilphead (Scottish Gaelic: Ceann Loch Gilb) is a burgh in Scotland, with a population of around 3000 people. It is the administrative centre of Argyll and Bute. The town lies at the end of Loch Gilp (itself a branch of Loch Fyne) and lies on the banks of the Crinan Canal.

The council is based at Kilmory Castle, around which is located a woodland park and an Iron Age fort. The Forestry Commission also have an office there.

Lochgilphead's facilities include a swimming pool, sports centre, bank, supermarket, Renault dealership, a community hospital run by the local GPs, psychiatric hospital, 9-hole golf course, a regional landfill site at Duncholgan and Lochgilphead High School.

The town is home to shinty team Kilmory Camanachd.

[edit] History

As a planned settlement, Lochgilphead was created in 1790 shortly after the completion of a road from Inveraray to Campbeltown. After the completion of the Crinan Canal in 1801 the town became more important as a link across the Kintyre peninsula.

[edit] Claims to fame

In July 1982, Lochgilphead competed against teams from Perth and Oban in the then highly popular BBC Television children's series It's a Knockout, presented by Stuart Hall. The town's team won their round and later competed in the international version of the series, 'Jeux Sans Frontieres', which was recorded in Switzerland.
In the World War Two movie, 633 Squadron (1964, directed Walter Grauman), Lochgilphead's main street features for a brief second in an aerial shot, as the bombers of 633 Squadron fly over the "unnamed" town en route to the bombing target in Norway.
The Argyll Turbo GT sportscar was built by Bob Henderson in Manse Brae.
The singer Sydney MacEwan had built, and was for a time parish priest of, the R.C. church in the town.