Crinan Canal

Crinan (Scottish Gaelic: An Crìonan) is a small village located on the west coast of Scotland in the region known as Knapdale, which is part of Argyll and Bute. Before the Crinan Canal was built, Crinan was named Port Righ which meant the king's port. The canal was named from the small settlement of Crinan Ferry on the edge of Loch Crinan where a small ferry landed. The name Crinan probably derives from the Creones tribe who lived in the area in 140 AD. The canal starts at Ardrishaig sea loch on Loch Gilp, and ends nine miles (fourteen kilometres) away at Crinan sea loch on the Sound of Jura. The canal was designed to provide a short cut between the west coast and islands at one end and the Clyde estuary at the other, and so avoid the long voyage around the south end of the Kintyre Peninsula. By the canal basin is a coffee shop and the nearby hotel and looks out across Loch Crinan to Duntrune Castle. Crinan Post Office is in the old Harbour House. Crinan Boatyard provides services and facilities for commercial and leisure boaters. A scallop farming business operates from the loch. The 35-hectare (86-acre) Crinan Wood is home to ferns, lichens and 24 species of bird. Parts of the TV series The Tales of Para Handy were filmed here.

Loch Crinan is a seawater loch on the West of Scotland, leading into the Sound of Jura and being the western end of the Crinan Canal. The village of Crinan is at the entrance to the canal at the eastern end of the loch. Duntrune Castle stands on the northern shore. The River Add goes into it by the hamlet of Bellanoch. It contains the islets of An-unalin, Black Rock, Eilean dà Mhèinn, Eilean Glas, and Eilean nan Coinean.

The River Add (Scottish Gaelic: Abhainn Àd) is a river which runs through Argyll and Bute on the west coast of Scotland. Historically, it was known as the river Airigh but to avoid confusion with the Aray (which gives its name to Inveraray), it was renamed the River Add. The surrounding valley still retains the name Glen Airigh, and the river gave rise to the name Glassary (Glas Airidh, meaning grey or green shieling or hill-pasture), by which the surrounding district of Glassary is known. In turn, this forms the second part of the name of Kilmichael Glassary, a village in the lower parts of the valley. Kilmichael Glassary is the home village of the founder of the Campbells of Auchinbreck, a senior cadet branch of Clan Campbell. The 1,500-foot (460 m) high Marylyn of Beinn Dubh Airigh is situated on the northern edge of Glen Airigh, separating it from Glen Awe.

Eilean dà Mhèinn, is a small inhabited island in Loch Crinan and one of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is about 100 metres (330 ft) to the west of the village of Crinan in Knapdale at high tide and only a fraction of that distance from the mainland shore at low tide. Although apparently not permanently inhabited in 2001 according to the 2011 census there was a single inhabitant at that time. It has a landing stage on the eastern shore and a building near the centre of the island. The crowded harbour at Crinan has so many moorings that "it is no longer possible to anchor to the south or east" of the island. Eilean dà Mhèinn is part of the Knapdale National Scenic Area, one of 40 in Scotland.

Duntrune Castle is located on the north side of Loch Crinan and across from the village of Crinan in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. It is thought to be the oldest continuously occupied castle on mainland Scotland. It was the seat of the Campbells of Duntroon until 1792. The castle is a category B listed building.

Ardifuir is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.

Island Macaskin or MacAskin (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean MhicAsgain) is an island in Loch Craignish, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is owned by the Jenkin family and has been since 1904.

Argyll and Bute (Scots: Argyll an Buit; Scottish Gaelic: Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, pronounced [ɛrˠəˈɣɛːəlˠ̪ akəs̪ ˈpɔːtʲ]) is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020). The administrative centre for the council area is in Lochgilphead at Kilmory Castle, a 19th-century Gothic Revival building and estate. The current council leader is Councillor Jim Lynch. Argyll and Bute covers the second-largest administrative area of any Scottish council. The council area adjoins those of Highland, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire.

Loch an Add is a reservoir in Argyll, Scotland, roughly 3 km southwest of the village of Cairnbaan and 6 km west of the larger settlement of Lochgilphead. It is roughly 1 mile (1.6 km) long and up to 280 metres wide, and is longitudinal in a SW/NE orientation, occupying one several small parallel valleys between successive ridges (a geological formation closely resembling that of Anglesey) in an area of coniferous forest. It is not to be confused with Lochan Add, a smaller body of water with roughly the same shape and orientation, but situated about 20 km to the north-east. Furthermore, neither of these two lochs is connected to the River Add, mentioned below. The loch is one of several reservoirs within the Glen Clachaig Feeder System that supplies water to the Crinan Canal. It is maintained by an earthen dam at its north end, and is currently managed by Scottish Canals. Immediately downstream of this dam is another reservoir, Daill Loch, which is drained by the Dunardy Burn into the Crinan Canal. Loch an Add was first named in 1814 by Scottish engineer Hugh Baird, designer of the Crinan and Union Canals. Baird's toponymy is unclear. One explanation is that it derives from the same Scottish Gaelic root as the River Add, àd or fhàd, which is a lenited form of fada meaning "long" i.e. "Long Loch". Another explanation is that Add is an Anglicisation of àth, meaning "ford" i.e. "Loch of the Ford". The loch has a large stock of brown trout.

Moine Mhòr ("Great Moss" in Scottish Gaelic) encompasses a large area of raised bog in the Kilmartin Glen area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. As well as raised bog there are areas of saltmarsh, brackish grassland, alder carr, fen and woodland, and the variety of habitats at Moine Mhòr provide important habitats for a variety of animal and plant species. The area was declared a national nature reserve (NNR) in 1987, and is now owned and managed by NatureScot. According to NatureScot lowland raised bogs like Moine Mhòr are some of the rarest and most threatened natural wildlife habitats in Europe, due to removal of peat, afforestation and reclamation of farmland. Around 8,000 people visit the Moine Mhòr NNR every year, with the reserve being popular with local people and school groups, as well as tourists visiting the nearby attractions of Kilmartin Glen and the Crinan Canal. A 600 m nature trail has been constructed at the northern edge of the reserve; other visitor facilities include a car park and picnic area.

Daill Loch is an impounding reservoir located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) west north west of Lochgilphead and 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) south of the Crinan Canal. It is one of a number of lochs supplying water to the canal. The earthen dam is 8.1 metres (27 ft) high and was completed in 1930.

Loch Craignish is a sea loch on the mid-Argyll coast.