Dunoon: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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GBP 38 - 68 St Ives Hotel
 The 3-star St Ives Hotel is situated on the traffic free West Bay with magnificent views of the Firth Of Clyde. We are only minutes from the town cent… MoreGBP 40 - 150 The Argyll Hotel
 This fine Victorian building is centrally located within Dunoon, and has excellent views of the River Clyde.
The Argyll Hotel is opposite the ferry p… MoreGBP 40 - 180 The Park Hotel
 With a scenic, tranquil location in Dunoon, The Park Hotel offers impressive sea views and stylish rooms. There is free parking and a traditional Scot… MoreGBP 39 - 105 Royal Marine Hotel
 The Royal Marine Hotel is a lovely Tudor-style building and has been modernised, whilst retaining original period features. Free parking is available … MoreGBP 70 - 149 Hunters Quay Hotel
 In gardens and mature woodland, 4-star Hunters Quay Hotel is a beautifully restored Victorian villa, with free Wi-Fi. The centre of Dunoon is nearby.
… MoreGBP 40 - 79 Esplanade Hotel
 On the West Bay Promenade in Dunoon, Argyll, The Esplanade Hotel looks out over the sea. The hotel has a sun terrace, en suite rooms and entertainment… MoreGBP 50 - 68 Glenmorag Hotel
 Glenmorag Hotel is a grand building set in its own grounds in an elevated position overlooking the Firth of Clyde. It has a bar, a restaurant and free… MoreGBP 69 - 118 Abbots Brae Hotel
 Abbots Brae is known as a luxurious home away from home, positioned high amid a woodland garden, with sensational views over the Firth of Clyde.
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Dunoon: Guide
Dunoon (Dunomhainn in Scottish Gaelic language|Gaelic) is situated on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It sits on the Firth of Clyde beside the Holy Loch, across from Gourock.
According to the last Census of Scotland, taken in 2001, the town of Dunoon itself (ignoring outlying districts) has a population of 8,251 of which 46.4% are male and 53.6% female.
Dunoon pier is over one hundred years old and still receives a connecting ferry with Gourock, run by Waverley. Overlooking it is a large statue to Queen Elizabeth. In earlier times, Mary, Queen of Scots, stayed at the castle circa 1563 and granted several charters during her visit. The castle was destroyed during the rebellion in 1685.
In the spring of 2005, Dunoon seafront changed forever with the completion of a new Breakwater (structure)|breakwater, located just to the South of the main pier. As well as protecting the Victorian pier, a new linkspan was installed alongside the breakwater to allow the berthing and loading of ro-ro ferries instead of the side loading ferries presently serving the main pier. As of Autumn 2006 however, these facilities remain unused. A tendering competition to serve the new linkspan is presently underway between two interested parties, namely Caledonian MacBrayne and local operator Western Ferries. The successful operator is expected to be announced by the Scottish Executive in early 2007 and services should commence in the Spring of that year.
Dunoon Grammar School is over three hundred and fifty years old and has many well known former pupils, including the Labour Party politicians, John Smith (UK politician)|John Smith, George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen|George Robertson (later head of NATO), Brian Wilson (politician)|Brian Wilson and actor Sylvester McCoy.
Eric Campbell, the silent film comedian famous as Charlie Chaplin|Charlie Chaplin's hulking nemesis in several short films, was born in the town, and a plaque to his memory can be seen in the gardens at Castle Hill. Possibly Dunoon's most famous resident was Sir Harry Lauder (1870 - 1950) whose mansion, "Laudervale" stood just south of Dunoon on the Bullwood road.
As the Sandbank, and Dunoon provided shore facilities. Holy Loch was, for 30 years, the home port of US Navy SUBRON-14 (Submarine Squadron-14). In 1992 the Holy Loch base was deemed unnecessary following the demise of the Soviet Union and subsequently withdrawn. The last submarine tender to be based there, ( USS Simon Lake ) left Holy Loch in June 1992 leading to a major downturn in the local economy and prompting howls of protest from local taxi drivers and publicans.
The Highland games|Cowal Highland Gathering is the highlight of Dunoon's year and attracts hundreds of contestants and many thousands of spectators from all over the world. The largest Highland Games in the World, it is held annually on the last Friday and Saturday in August.
Castle Toward, built in 1820 and formerly owned by the Lamont clan is 6.5 Miles South of the town. It is now used as an outdoor education centre.
The Arboretum at Benmore Botanic Garden, part of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, is situated 7 miles north of the town just before the scenic Loch Eck. The garden, formerly a private garden for the Younger family, is now open to the public and has a gift shop and tearoom.
Trivia
Julianne Moore, the four-time Academy Awards|Oscar-nominated actress, has connections to Dunoon as her mother is originally from the town.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2242236,00.html Moore still has family in the area.http://www.dunoon-observer.co.uk/archive/arcfeb223.html
In the late 1960's, Dunoon was the subject of a song entitled 'Why don't they come back to Dunoon?' by The Humblebums, a popular Scottish folk music|folk band at the time, featuring Billy Connolly and Gerry Rafferty. This was a less than flattering ditty, mourning the declining tourist trade in the town.
The Holy Loch Navy base was the subject of the 1988 film Down where the buffalo go. It starred the famous Hollywood actor, Harvey Keitel and many of the scenes were shot around Dunoon and the Navy base.
The semi-popular children's game shows Raven (game show)|Raven and are filmed at Castle Toward 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Dunoon.
References
External links
- The largest Highland Games in the world.
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Dunoon". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.