Spectacular scenery scores high in survey
Following a comment in a recent Courier street survey that ‘Westport beach is Campbeltown’s greatest asset,’ the Courier’s Joan Crooks took to the streets with the question: ‘What do you think is Kintyre’s greatest asset?’ ‘Campbeltown Marina is a great asset,’ said Shay Wright, 63, a retired civil servant from Skerries, Dublin. Shay sailed from Howth to Ardglass, Co Down, then to Portpatrick before arriving in Campbeltown on Sunday in his sailing yacht, ‘Stealaway’. ‘The weather has been fabulous and the scenery around Kintyre is superb’, he said. ‘I first sailed to Campbeltown about 40 years ago and there was no marina. I remember going into a dance in the Victoria Hall, but I don’t recall coming out,’ he laughed. Fraser McMenemy, 52, an Argos delivery driver from Glasgow, said: ‘The scenery on the drive here is magnificent. I could look at it all day. It beats Glasgow’s high rise tower blocks for sure.’ Fabian Knoke, 33, and Pascal Meyer, 32, who work with children with additional needs in Hamm, Germany, said: ‘The Kintyre Way is Kintyre’s greatest asset. ‘We walked part of it, from Tarbert to Campbeltown, in 2012 and came back this year to do the whole walk to Southend. Some parts that had trees in 2012 have been deforested and some paths are hard to walk on due to the
rough debris left after trees were felled. That spoiled it a bit for us.’ Campbeltown pensioners Frank Dalziel, 71, and Malcolm Cook, 69, said: ‘The festivals are great for the town. The whisky festival and the MOK Run being on at the same time bring a great number of visitors and the music festival is very good for bringing tourists too.’ Kate Watt, 39, Explore Campbeltown co-ordinator, said: ‘Kintyre has so many assets, it is hard to say which is greatest. We have fabulous beaches, beautiful walks, distilleries, golf, forestry trails, the Picture House and so much more.’ Grandmother Marjorie Lang, 64, was with Castlehill pupils William McLean, Cameron McMillan and Calum McAllister, all aged 11. Marjorie said: ‘The beaches and the people are the greatest assets. The people are so kind and friendly. There is so much for children to do here too.’ The boys added: ‘The beaches are good because the sand is soft and clean and the waves are great.’ They agreed that there is plenty to do in Campbeltown and said: ‘We do piping, swimming, running, football, cricket, badminton and tennis.’ Marjorie added: ‘And their sisters are Highland dancers.’ Alan Hutchins, 54, a bus driver, and his wife Anne, 55, a housekeeper, from Newbury in Berkshire, said Kintyre’s ‘amazing scenery’ is the greatest asset. Holidaying in Kilmelford with Anne’s mother, they said: ‘The scenic drive down the peninsula to Campbeltown in this fabulous weather was just wonderful.’ Emma Dudley, 28, a Dalintober primary teacher said: ‘For me, the greatest assets are the beaches and the countryside in general, with the beautiful walks and safe burns for the children to play in. We are so lucky to have these on our doorstep.’ Retired Southend man, Nick Hind, 68, originally from Cumbria’s Lake District, said: ‘Kintyre’s greatest asset? Definitely the scenery. I came down from Glasgow on Friday evening and there wasn’t a ripple on the water. The setting sun was reflected in the water. It was so beautiful. The bus driver slowed down to let everyone take pictures.’ Nicole Voight, 38, and her husband Christian, 42, from Munich, Germany, said: ‘The whisky distilleries are what brought us here. We are part of a group of 30 people on a whisky tour. We toured Glen Scotia this morning and will have a tour of Springbank this afternoon. ‘We joined the group at Troon and sailed into Campbeltown on the tall ship Thalassa. The view coming into Campbeltown loch was amazing with the sun behind the mountains.’