Loch Striven

Inverchaolain is a hamlet on the Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. It lies on the east shore of Loch Striven, to the south of Glenstriven and to the north of Knockdow. There is a church (Inverchaolain Church; the fourth incarnation at the site), manse and graveyard. The present church was built in 1912, but it closed in 1990.

Inverchaolain Church is a former Church of Scotland church building in Inverchaolain, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Located on the eastern shores of Loch Striven, just north of Inverchaolain Burn, the church was built in 1912. It is the fourth church on the site. There is a possibility that the second church, rumoured to be dedicated to Saint Bridget, was located about 200 metres (660 ft) northeast of the present structure. When the foundations of the previous church were dug in 1812, several dozen human skulls were uncovered, as well as a few bones of very large size. Argyll and Bute Council have listed a claymore stone, an ancient tombstone with a Gaelic inscription and a coping stone from the pre-Reformation church, as being in an around the property. The church closed in 1990.

Cruach nan Capull is a mountain within the Arrochar Alps, near Loch Fyne, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It stands on the southern side of Hell's Glen and rises to a height of 611 m (2005 ft).

The Colintraive Hotel (also known as The Colintraive) is a hotel and pub in Colintraive, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It was formerly a hunting lodge for John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute. It stands a few yards from the eastern shores of the Kyles of Bute and the ferry crossing of the 400-yard gap to Rhubodach on Bute, currently provided by the MV Loch Dunvegan. Jazz guitarist Ken Sykora owned the hotel for around five years during the 1970s. In the 1880s, the hotel was owned by Andrew Turner. In the 1890s, it was owned by a Mrs Turner.

Ardtaraig is a hamlet lying at the head of Loch Striven on the Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, West of Scotland. The hamlet is on the single track B836 road.

Colintraive (Scottish Gaelic: Caol an t-Snàimh) is a village on the Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. Once the site where cattle were swum across the narrows to the Isle of Bute, the MV Loch Dunvegan — a ferry operated by Caledonian MacBrayne — now provides a link to the island.

Castle Toward (Scottish Gaelic: Caisteal an Toll Àird) is a nineteenth-century country house in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Built in 1820 by Glasgow merchant Kirkman Finlay, it replaced the late medieval Toward Castle, formerly the ancestral home of the Clan Lamont. It was greatly extended in the early 20th century, and in the Second World War it served as HMS Brontosaurus. After the war it was sold to Glasgow Corporation and was used as an outdoor education facility until its closure in 2014. After a failed community buyout, Toward Castle and the estate were sold by Argyll and Bute Council to private owners in 2016. Castle Toward is a scheduled monument (LB5068).

Loch Tarsan is a freshwater loch and impounding reservoir located 13 kilometres northwest of Dunoon, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. This three-armed Reservoir extends into both Glen Tarsan and Glen Lean. It supplies water to the Striven Hydro-Electric Scheme (also known as the Cowal Hydro-Electric Power Scheme). The larger of the two dams is 17.6 metres high and was completed in 1953. The water that is collected in the loch is piped to the hydro-electric generating station, located at Ardtaraig, at the head of Loch Striven. Angling on the loch is managed by Dunoon and District Angling Club. The B836 road passes the loch.

Rhubodach is a small settlement on the north-eastern shore of the Isle of Bute, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The name rhubodach may come from the Gaelic rubha a' bhodaich which translates as old man's point or promontory or alternatively may be from An Rubha Bhòdaich meaning the Bute headland. Rhubodach lies at the north of Bute on the A886 road. From here a small ro-ro ferry sails the short distance over the Kyles of Bute to Colintraive in Argyll, where the A886 road continues to Strachur. The route, operated by Caledonian MacBrayne's MV Loch Dunvegan, is reputed to be one of the shortest in Scotland still in operation. The issue of whether the ferry should be replaced by a bridge is one which reappears in various discussions about Bute's economy; however, opposition stems from the resulting loss of Bute's "island status". Film actor and director Richard Attenborough owned Rhubodach estate for a number of years. In August 2009, he placed the 2,000-acre (800-hectare) estate up for sale. A referendum carried out on 12 February 2010 showed 93% of islanders supported a plan to buy the land for the community. In January 2011, he sold the estate, which included a forest, for the reduced fee of £1.48 million.

Cowal (Scottish Gaelic: Comhghall) is a rugged peninsula in Argyll and Bute, on the west coast of Scotland. It is connected to the mainland to the north, and is bounded by Loch Fyne to the west, by Loch Long and the Firth of Clyde to the east, and by the Kyles of Bute to the south. Argyll is the historic county that the Cowal peninsula was within. Inveraray was the county town. The northern part of the peninsula is covered by Argyll Forest Park and also includes the Arrochar Alps. In the south, the peninsula is divided into three forks by Loch Striven and Loch Riddon. Cowal's only burgh is Dunoon in the south-east, from which ferries sail to Gourock in Inverclyde. Other ferries run from Portavadie in the west to Tarbert in Kintyre, and from Colintraive in the south to Rhubodach on Bute. Much of Cowal was once held by the Lamont clan. Later, the Campbells came to be one of the most powerful families in Cowal. The highest point on the peninsula is Beinn an Lochain in the Arrochar Alps, a Corbett with a height of 901.7 metres (2,958 ft). The summit overlooks Loch Restil.

Striven Hydro-Electric Scheme is a small-scale hydro-electric power station, built by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board and commissioned in 1951. It is located near Ardtaraig on the Cowal Peninsula, part of Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. It is sometimes known as the Cowal Hydro-Electric Scheme. It was originally designed to supply power to the remote communities on the peninsula, but is now connected to the National Grid.

The Burnt Islands (Scottish Gaelic: Na h-Eileanan Loisgte) are three small islands that lie in the Kyles of Bute, on the Cowal Peninsula, Argyll and Bute, on the West coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands are located at grid reference NS017752. Individually the Islands are known by their Gaelic names. From the largest to the smallest they are Eilean Mòr (Large Island), Eilean Fraoich (Heather Island) and Eilean Buidhe (Yellow Island). Oddly only the smallest of these tiny islets, Eilean Buidhe, shows any sign of ever having been permanently inhabited having the remains of a vitrified fort on it. Eilean Mòr, huge in comparison, supports only a stunted woodland at its northern end. All water going traffic that travels through the kyles has to negotiate either the narrow sound that separates Eilean Buidhe from Eilean Mòr and Eilean Fraoich or pass south of the islands, via the Wood Farm buoy. The narrows, which are the principal route for commercial traffic, are marked by four light buoys, two on each side. A little to the west Eilean Dubh (Black Island) lies at the entrance to Loch Riddon and to the north Eilean Dearg lies within the loch.