Lochgoilhead
Encyclopedia
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
in Argyll
Argyll
Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Situated at the head of Loch Goil
Loch Goil
Loch Goil is a small sea loch in Scotland.It is an arm of Loch Long. The village of Lochgoilhead stands at its head.Located in the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park, Lochgoilhead sits at the head of Loch Goil, a fjord type sea loch. Only an hour from the Erskine Bridge, Glasgow Airport the M8...
, where the Goil river, which rises on nearby Ben Donich
Ben Donich
Ben Donich or Beinn Dòmhnaich is a mountain located in the Arrochar Alps, near Loch Goil in Argyll and Bute. It is a Corbett and part of the Ardgoil range with its sister The Brack. Ben Donich's nearest town is Lochgoilhead....
and Beinn an Lochain
Beinn an Lochain
Beinn an Lochain is a mountain in the Arrochar Alps, southern Scotland, on the western edge of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. Although included in Sir Hugh Munro's original list of Scottish mountains over 3000 feet, subsequent surveys showed it to be significantly shorter than...
, flows into the loch
Loch
Loch is the Irish and Scottish Gaelic word for a lake or a sea inlet. It has been anglicised as lough, although this is pronounced the same way as loch. Some lochs could also be called a firth, fjord, estuary, strait or bay...
(Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
word for Lake), it is surrounded by mountains rising as high as 3 000 feet and is part of the Arrochar Alps
Arrochar Alps
The Arrochar Alps are a group of mountains located around the head of Loch Long, Loch Fyne,and Loch Goil, near the villages of Arrochar and Lochgoilhead in Argyll, Scotland. The mountains are especially popular with hillwalkers, due to their proximity and accessibility from Glasgow...
. The village itself sits underneath the southside mountains of Glen Croe
Glen Croe
Glen Croe is a glen in the heart of the Arrochar Alps surrounded by large and rugged mountains characterised by huge boulders.-Geography:Glen Croe is located to the north west of Loch Lomond and Loch Long, draining into the latter. At the head of the glen is the pass leading to Glen Kinglas...
, as which Beinn an Lochain
Beinn an Lochain
Beinn an Lochain is a mountain in the Arrochar Alps, southern Scotland, on the western edge of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. Although included in Sir Hugh Munro's original list of Scottish mountains over 3000 feet, subsequent surveys showed it to be significantly shorter than...
, Stob an Eas
Stob an Eas
Stob an Eas is a 2401 ft Graham in the Arrochar Alps, Argyll and Bute, Scotland.-Geography:Lying above Glen Kinglass, 4 miles north of Lochgoilhead, Stob an Eas forms part of the Arrochar Alps and is the essence of remote Argyll scenery...
, Ben Donich
Ben Donich
Ben Donich or Beinn Dòmhnaich is a mountain located in the Arrochar Alps, near Loch Goil in Argyll and Bute. It is a Corbett and part of the Ardgoil range with its sister The Brack. Ben Donich's nearest town is Lochgoilhead....
and The Brack
The Brack
The Brack is a mountain, located in the Arrochar Alps, on the south side of Glen Croe, near Loch Goil in Argyll and Bute in Scotland. The Brack has two summits: the lower peak, Cruach Fhiarach, can be seen from the shores of Loch Long, and the main peak is seen from Glen Croe and Loch Goil.The...
, stand. Lochgoilhead is situated in one of the most picturesque, remote, mountainous and wilderness parts of the truly highland area of the southern highlands, exhibiting a fine example of the Argyll
Argyll
Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...
Highlands. For a few years now Lochgoilhead has been in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park is a national park in Scotland centred on Loch Lomond, and includes several ranges of hills, the Trossachs being the most famous...
. The surrounding area has a mountainous, coastal and forestry landscape. The main employment spheres include tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
, agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
(mainly sheep farming), and forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
. There are two outdoor education centres in the village, The Lochgoilhead National Activity Centre and Ardroy Outdoor Education Centre. Tourism more than doubles the village population during the summer months. Two single-track roads both lead in and out of the village. It has a Post Office, village store, a medical and dental practice, two hotels, two pubs, and an inn. BBC News correspondent Alan Johnston, who was kidnapped in The Gaza Strip by Palestinian militants, spent many years in Lochgoilhead in his youth.
The highlands above the village were used for the scene in the 1963 James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film From Russia with Love
From Russia with Love (film)
From Russia with Love is the second in the James Bond spy film series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1963, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the 1957 novel of the...
in which Bond (played by Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
) eliminated two villains in a helicopter by firing gunshots at them. The 1985 Scottish movie Restless Natives
Restless Natives
Restless Natives is a 1985 comedy film directed by Michael Hoffman and starring Vincent Friell, Joe Mullaney, and Ned Beatty.Filmed in Scotland, the story follows the adventures of two young men who don masks and hold up tourist coaches in the Highlands...
also used Lochgoilhead to film a chase scene, as well as some roads just outside the village.
Location around Lochgoilhead
A few miles north of Lochgoilhead, you come up to a junction which will take you on the left through Hell's GlenHell's Glen
Hell's Glen is a glen in the Arrochar Alps between the mountains Cruach nam Mult and Stob an Eas. To the west, it leads to Loch Fyne and to the east, the high mountain Ben Donich.The glen is named from its name in Gaelic, Glen Iarninn...
, Loch Fyne
Loch Fyne
Loch Fyne is a sea loch on the west coast of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It extends inland from the Sound of Bute, making it the longest of the sea lochs...
, Dunoon
Dunoon
Dunoon is a resort town situated on the Cowal Peninsula in Argyll, Scotland. It sits on the Firth of Clyde to the south of Holy Loch and to the west of Gourock.-Waterfront:...
, Inverary, Lochawe, Oban
Oban
Oban Oban Oban ( is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. It has a total resident population of 8,120. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William and during the tourist season the town can be crowded by up to 25,000 people. Oban...
, Tyndrum
Tyndrum
Tyndrum is a small village in Scotland. Its Gaelic name translates as "the house on the ridge". It lies in Strathfillan, at the southern edge of Rannoch Moor.The village is notable mainly for being at an important crossroads of transport routes...
, Glencoe and Fort William
Fort William, Scotland
Fort William is the second largest settlement in the highlands of Scotland and the largest town: only the city of Inverness is larger.Fort William is a major tourist centre with Glen Coe just to the south, Aonach Mòr to the north and Glenfinnan to the west, on the Road to the Isles...
and on the right it will follow you to Glen Croe
Glen Croe
Glen Croe is a glen in the heart of the Arrochar Alps surrounded by large and rugged mountains characterised by huge boulders.-Geography:Glen Croe is located to the north west of Loch Lomond and Loch Long, draining into the latter. At the head of the glen is the pass leading to Glen Kinglas...
, Loch Long
Loch Long
Loch Long is a body of water in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The sea loch extends from the Firth of Clyde at its southwestern end. It measures approximately 20 miles in length, with a width of between one and two miles...
, Arrochar and Tarbet, Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch, lying on the Highland Boundary Fault. It is the largest lake in Great Britain by surface area. The lake contains many islands, including Inchmurrin, the largest fresh-water island in the British Isles, although the lake itself is smaller than many Irish...
, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and Crianlarich
Crianlarich
Crianlarich is a village in the Stirling district and registration county of Perthshire, Scotland, about six miles north-east of the head of Loch Lomond...
with the options of travelling to either Inverary and Lochawe, Oban
Oban
Oban Oban Oban ( is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. It has a total resident population of 8,120. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William and during the tourist season the town can be crowded by up to 25,000 people. Oban...
and Fort William
Fort William, Scotland
Fort William is the second largest settlement in the highlands of Scotland and the largest town: only the city of Inverness is larger.Fort William is a major tourist centre with Glen Coe just to the south, Aonach Mòr to the north and Glenfinnan to the west, on the Road to the Isles...
, Lochearnhead
Lochearnhead
Lochearnhead is a village on the A84 Stirling to Crianlarich road at the foot of Glen Ogle, north of the Highland Boundary Fault...
and Killin
Killin
Killin is a village situated at the western head of Loch Tay in Stirling , Scotland....
.
B-29 Superfortress 44-62276 crash
On the morning of 17 January 1949, Boeing B-29 Superfortress 44-62276 of the 301st Bomb Group, 15th US Air Group, took off from RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, England, on a return trip to her airfield at Smoky Hill Air Force Base (AFB), Salinas, Kansas, with twenty passengers and crew on board, accompanied by a similar aircraft. The crew were reported to be on leave, having previously been involved in the Berlin Airlift, dropping supplies into the city which had been blockaded by Soviet forces.The planned route was overland via Scotland, then on to Keflavik, Iceland, where they would stop to refuel and take on supplies. The weather was variable, and as the two aircraft reached Strathclyde, falling temperatures and cloud began to cause icing of their wings and control surfaces. The pilot of the second B-29, Captain Donald E Riggs, decided conditions had become too severe to continue, and turned back for Scampton. Unfortunately, there is no record of the circumstances surrounding the first aircraft, piloted by 1/Lt Sheldon C Craigmyle. At 09:50, the B-29 crashed into the side of Stob na Boine Druim-fhinn, a hill in Succoth Glen, near Lochgoilhead, Argyll, spreading wreckage in the valley between Stob na Boine and Beinn Tharsuinn. All twenty passengers and crew perished, with the aircraft being consumed by the resultant fire.
The subsequent inquiry was unable to determine the exact cause of the accident, but the adverse weather and heavy icing were deemed to be contributory factors.