Connel Bridge

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Connel Bridge at sunset

Over Christmas we spent a lovely week in Dunfuinary Cottage on the edge of Connel, a village near Oban on the Argyllshire coast. Purpose built on the edge of Loch Etive, it was modern and comfortable with decking on three sides.

Dunfuinary Cottage
Dunfuinary Cottage
Wood-burning stove

Of course, the weather in December is not conducive to sitting out on the the deck – too cold – so we confined ourselves to rushing out from time to time to photograph the loch and the Connel Bridge. We have the same views several times in different lights, but these are probably the best.

Connel Bridge
Loch Etive
Loch Etive

Despite being cold, the weather was mostly bright and dry, apart from the first day which was wet and gloomy. We confined ourselves to walking into Connel, across the bridge, and through North Connel on the other side of the loch, from where we could see our own cottage. Below is the bridge from the Connel (south) side.

Connel Bridge from the south
Connel Bridge from the south

The Glue Pot is the 18th century pub attached to Connel’s Oyster Inn, and was originally the ferry house in the days before the bridge. We liked the sign, which on one side says Beware of the regulars and on the other Notorious for centuries. 

Glue Pot at Connel
Glue Pot at Connel

Apparently there are two explanations – licensing laws in Scotland (Forbes Mackenzie Act 1853) banned drinking in public houses on Sundays. Only “bona fide travellers” could be served: those who went “into an Inn for a refreshment in the course of a journey, whether on business or pleasure”, but not those who were “travelling for the purpose of taking refreshment”. The canny locals took the morning conveyance from Oban to the Glue Pot. They were then ‘stuck’ until the next conveyance in the late afternoon returned to take them home! Also, behind the Inn was a blacksmiths where old horse hooves were melted down to make glue.

Local tradition has it that you should touch the Glue Pot hanging over the door because it brings you luck! As it was Christmas and opening hours were limited, we didn’t have a chance to try any of this out. However, next time might be a different story …

After the Oyster Inn, the road bends round and upwards to the bridge. Built in 1903 as a rail crossing, it was converted to be a road bridge in the 1960s after the branch line closed, and is now a listed structure. It’s only wide enough for one lane, so has traffic lights on each side.

Loch Etive from Connel Bridge
Connel Bridge
Connel Bridge

Turning right on the other side of Loch Etive you reach North Connel. It was too wet to take pictures by now, as I think you can tell. The blurry image of three buildings across the loch shows our cottage on the right. The white structure in the centre is the garage, and the building on the left is another holiday cottage converted from an old boathouse. Turning left at the bridge, you come to the dinky Oban Airport (this was taken on a different day, hence the brighter sky).

Connel Bridge from the north
North Connel cat sign
Oban Airport
Dunfuinary Cottage from North Conne;

Once we felt too wet to go on, we turned back towards our cosy cottage to dry off. Fortunately, the next day (Christmas Eve) set a pattern of better weather and we were able to explore further afield. More to follow!

Scotland, UK , , ,

60 Comments »

  2. If I have a favourite place, you were a mile or so away! The Isle of Eriska is the default location for any family anniversary or gathering. My daughter was proposed to there, too. Covid has stopped the annual (ish) visit. Such great countryside though when it’s dreich and the mountains are wearing their shawls you go need a good fire
    Thanks for the memory jogger. Time to get planning…

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  3. Wondering about the existence of any more words like loch, I went searching and came upon pibroch, which is ‘a form of music for the Scottish bagpipes involving elaborate variations on a theme, typically of a martial or funerary character.’ Is that a common word there the way loch is?

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  4. Hi Anabel – it sounds an idyllic Christmas break … and now you’ve an idea of what to see next time. How fascinating – I loved those snippets of history … brilliant – thank you – cheers Hilary

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  6. Looks as if you had a great time, even in the cold, wet weather. And what a lovely town to spend Christmas in! I look forward to reading about your walks on Christmas Eve.

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  8. Good variety of photographs in all weather conditions. I’ve only stopped in Connel briefly to watch kayakers and divers do the famous spring tidal surge rushing under the bridge but never knew that quirky pub was there.

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  9. What a gorgeous cottage with its wrap around deck and bridge views. You got a belter there and bet you were glad of that wood burning stove. Love the look of the Glue Pot Pub and it’s sign. Canny locals indeed! Did you see any Connel cats at play? X

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    • Definitely one to return to! I would love to try the Glue Pot out, maybe in the summer months. If we had gone in at lunchtime it would have impacted on our walks, and at night it was too dark to to walk along narrow roads and driving would have taken away half the fun.

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  12. Ah that bridge is familiar from my walk along that bit of the coast last year. You probably know already but the bridge is the original railway bridge. When the railway was closed it was converted to carry the road instead.

    You get the effect known as the Falls of Lora underneath it, at certain states of the tide.

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  14. What caught my eye was the pub called Glue Pot. As funnily enough today I came across an article about a certain old pub with the same name that used to exist in Auckland city. That fire would’ve been appreciated after your walks.

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  15. Looks like a beautiful place to stay. We also like to get away at Christmas some years, since we really don’t have family to celebrate with.

    Well you know I MUST ask: What does “Eilean Fraoich” mean?

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    • All credit to John for most of the photos.
      I didn’t know when Sunday drinking was first allowed here so I’ve looked it up – 1976 apparently. Interestingly (to me anyway) I also found out that the same 1853 Act I mentioned above led to one of the Scottish words for drunk – steaming – because you could buy booze on the Clyde steamers!

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  23. The story about the Glue Pot and how the locals circumvented the Sunday drinking laws is funny! The cottage looked very cozy, but too bad you couldn’t use the deck because of weather. We’ve lost out on using many decks because of bad weather; it’s frustrating!

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  26. Oh, it looks wonderful! I’ve passed it many times without knowing it was there. Or the Glue Pot, although I have been over the bridge, and wondered if it had been built for trains (as I waited for the lights, so no thought of actual research remained in my head).
    Looking forward to next week!

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