Kintyre

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Stonefield Castle Hotel

The Kintyre peninsula is about 40 miles west from Glasgow – if you’re a bird. Because of the numerous sea-lochs on Scotland’s west coast, you have to drive north then drop back south making a journey of over 2 hours. In November, we spent a couple of nights at the Stonefield Castle Hotel, just outside Tarbert in Kintyre.

Stonefield is a Scottish Baronial manor house designed by William Henry Playfair and built in 1837 for the Campbell family who owned it till 1948. It became a hotel in the 1950s and was extended in the 1970s – one of the extensions being the glass-sided dining room you can see above and below.

Stonefield Castle dining room
Stonefield Castle dining room

It was too dark to see anything at dinner, but at breakfast the view was wonderful. In the evening, the cosy bar was enjoyable too.

Stonefield Castle bar
Stonefield Castle bar

There are 60 acres of grounds at Stonefield, so on our first morning we had a walk around after breakfast.

Stonefield Castle grounds
Stonefield Castle grounds
Stonefield Castle grounds
Stonefield Castle grounds
Stonefield Castle grounds
Stonefield Castle grounds

Then we drove down to Tarbert itself, with its lovely harbour. You might remember that we stayed in a place called Tarbert in Harris last summer. There are several Tarberts in Scotland (sometimes Tarbet) – in Gaelic, an tairbeart means the isthmus. In this case, Tarbert village lies on the east of the narrow strip of land which prevents Kintyre from being an island.

Tarbert, Kintyre
Tarbert, Kintyre
Tarbert, Kintyre
Tarbert, Kintyre
Tarbert, Kintyre
Tarbert, Kintyre

Some of the pictures in the gallery above were taken on the climb up to the castle. The earliest fortifications on this hill date to the 13th century, but the most noticeable remains are of the 16th century tower house.

Tarbert Castle
Tarbert Castle
Tarbert Castle

I had my first fall of the day at the castle – the weather was lovely and bright, but it followed a period of heavy rain so the grass was very slippery and I slid down a slope onto my bottom. Fortunately, no harm was done apart from a muddy patch on the back of my coat and the damage to my dignity! So it was on to Tarbert Sculpture Walk where we met some pretty black sheep.

Tarbert Sculpture Walk
Tarbert Sculpture Walk
Tarbert Sculpture Walk
Tarbert Sculpture Walk
Black sheep

Next stop (by car) was Skipness, with another 13th century castle overlooking the Kilbrannan Sound.

Skipness Castle
Skipness Castle
At Skipness Castle

Close by, as you can just about make out in the last shot above, is the ruined Kilbrannan Chapel, dedicated to St Brendan and dating from the late 13th or early 14th century. It had an interesting graveyard attached which I enjoyed looking around.

Kilbrannan Chapel
Kilbrannan Chapel

As usual, I grieved at the graves testifying to the terrible rate of infant mortality. Anne McLellan lost three children in infancy, her husband in 1895 and a son in the First World War. Unimaginable. The black gravestone commemorating Emma Berrington also intrigued me – how did someone who was born in West Virginia and died in Wales end up here? Maybe her son lived in Kintyre? The stone gives no clue.

Stevenson grave
Berrington grave

The current church was back near where we had parked. This was November 10th and a couple had just arrived with a car full of flowers to decorate the church for the following day’s Remembrance Service, so we didn’t look inside. The war memorial looked unusual to me with its clock – note my square shot. At this point I imagined I was going to take part in Becky’s daily #timesquare project in December. The thought was there at least …

St Brendan’s Church, Skipness
War Memorial, Skipness

There is also an iron age fort nearby – we set off through the woods to find it, but the rough path with treacherous tree roots and protruding stones hidden by a combination of mud and fallen leaves resulted in my second fall of the day. This time I came down with a heavy thump, banging my shoulder and ripping the elbow out of my coat. Walking was abandoned for the day!

Back in the car, we continued down the east coast of the peninsula to Saddell. The bay here is where the pipers marched in the video for Paul McCartney’s Mull of Kintyre, but we didn’t visit – we looked at the ruins of the Cistercian Abbey (active 1160 to 1507) and its magnificent medieval grave slabs. Apparently, the abbey is haunted by a huge black spectral hand, but we were lucky to miss that …

Saddell Abbey
Saddell Abbey

We then drove on towards Campbeltown, the biggest settlement on Kintyre. By this time, the light was fading – and can you see the hint of a rainbow in the first picture?

Kintyre dusk
Kintyre dusk
Kintyre dusk

In Cambeltown itself, we visited the Linda McCartney memorial garden (hmm, not sure about the merits of that statue) and had coffee in the recently restored art deco cinema. You might also spot another potential #timesquare that went unused!

Linda McCartney Memorial
Campbeltown cinema
Campbeltown
Campbeltown Harbour
Campbeltown

By this time, it really was dark and not worth continuing to the Mull of Kintyre itself. That will have to wait for another visit.

Scotland, UK , , , , , ,

76 Comments »

  1. What a beautiful village Tarbert is! The ruins of Tarbert Castle look dramatic outlined against the sky in your lovely photos. I also like the mosaic of what appears to be a dragonfly.

    Jude

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  3. Yet another part of Scotland I’ve never visited, and it looks utterly beautiful. I’m with you on the Linda McCartney sculpture.
    Thank you for sharing this Anabel.

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  4. Tarbert looks so picturesque – made me think of Kirkcudbright with the reflections on the water. I think I would love to spend time in this area and I thank you for introducing it to me. Hope you weren’t too bruised from the falls, I have a habit of going over on my ankle which can be a nuisance. If only I had the time when I was young and fit to explore, instead of being too busy running a household. I could do with that energy and suppleness now!

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  7. What a lovely trip!
    When I was small my dad always took us caravaning for a week every May. It was always May and always Scotland and it was our only holiday as he was a farmer. We would stop somewhere different every night and I do remember a campsite in Campbeltown , with a very pebbley rocky beach full of rock pools and oyster catchers. Happy memories.X

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  8. I too like Campeltown. I once took the bus from there and walked the Kintyre Way from Machrihanish to Southend, which was far more spectacular than I had expected.

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  12. I think a spectral disembodied hand is scarier than a full-body ghost. Maybe because you can’t see its face, so you don’t know what its intentions are, but let’s face it, they’re probably not good! What kind of horrible things would someone have to have done in life to only come back as a giant hand?! I’m enjoying speculating about it, but I think you had a lucky escape! And you’re right, that Linda McCartney statue is…interesting…

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  13. That Tarbert is one of only a handful of Scottish villages that are truly outstanding picture postcard pretty from any angle as your photos show. Even in a car travelling through it without stopping it looks special. Probably due to location and great use of house colours to show it off. The Jewel of Kintyre. Amazing to think that Campbeltown may have been easier to reach by regular paddle steamer a century ago than today by road. Lovely reflections.

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  15. Hi Anabel – what an amazing trip – two falls … and you didn’t stop to gather your wits or repair your beating heart with some tea or perhaps something stronger … delightful photos and news. Hope all is well now – cheers Hilary

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  17. Hi. I once read an article about McCartney’s song. I think he wrote it very quickly. And I think that the bagpipers were almost a spontaneous addition to the song. I probably have the facts wrong, but the story was fascinating in any case. Bye till next time!

    Neil

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  21. Photographs were great. Did I ask you what camera you use? Anyway, loved the photographs, didn’t love reading about the falls though. So glad it was just your jacket that was damaged, but sad if it was a favourite jacket. The hotel bar looked nice.

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    • Thanks Edgar! Actually, quite a few of the pictures were taken on my iPhone, including the header. The rest John took (the good ones!) – he has a Nikon1 V2.

      My coat had seen better days so it was a good excuse to replace it – with one that looks much the same from the same outdoor shop. I’m a creature of habit!

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  25. I hope you are not too bashed up from your fall. It was lovely to see you exploring my old stomping grounds. My kids were just talking yesterday about how much they miss Skipness Castle (and Carnasserie Castle).

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  27. Your post actually made me copy it to a friend and ask if we could make time for a holiday there and go stay at Stonefield. What a glorious place. I need my friend to travel with me as she would do the driving. I can’t now with my eye problem which curtails my UK travels a lot as so much that I like and want to see is not on a decent bus or train route. Stonefield is definitely my sort of place. Of course, I’m thinking only of the blue skies that you show, not of the possibly grey I might meet! Super post and, as always, your photographs are brilliant.

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  28. i hope your elbow and shoulder were not damaged and you could walk the next day without pain. A new coat is always good to find…new and improved:). I love the black sheep and looking at the old castles long since crumbled. I, too, love going through graveyards and it is always sad to see so many kids who have died by disease that we don’t have to worry about (unless the dumb ass parents don’t get their kids vaccinated). I will say that second graveyard does look spooky and, as for the statue, it isn’t too bad. You should look up the statue of Lucille Ball-the first one-that sculptor must have hated Lucille Ball. The last town looks so welcoming

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    • No lasting damage done thanks, it was just a bit sore. The first graveyard was more interesting because you could still read the headstones, but the second one was definitely more spooky. I have looked up Lucille Ball’s statue. Aargh! It looks nothing like her, what were they thinking?

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  30. Wow such a beautiful place and you’ve got some wonderful photos there. That Hotel looks worth remebering for when I get to that part of the coast, I’ve often found it difficult to find reasonable acccommodation in the remoter parts of Scotland. The two Tarbets has confused me before, thanks for explaining it.

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  31. I love that picture with the bit of rainbow. Sorry about your slippery fall; falls such as those are certainly assaults on our dignity! 🙂 The town of Tarbert and its harbor look very charming, as does the castle. It also seems you had some beautiful weather. 🙂

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  32. I love your visits to castles and old ruins that simply boggle my imagination! You make me want to visit Scotland!
    The thing about being a hiker is that falls are always a risk and particularly treacherous on rocky ground. You were lucky to escape relatively unscathed!
    My favourite photos were of Tarbert looking so pretty in the sunshine 🙂

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