Arrochar ( ; or ) is a village at the head of

Loch Long Loch Long is a body of water in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The sea loch extends from the Firth of Clyde at its southwestern end, to the Arrochar Alps at the head of the loch. It measures approximately in length, with a wi ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

, Scotland. The

Arrochar Alps The Arrochar Alps are a group of mountains located around the heads of Loch Long, Loch Fyne, and Loch Goil. They are part of the Grampian mountains range, which stretch across Scotland. The villages of Arrochar, Argyll and Bute, Arrochar and Lo ...

are named after the village. The village is within the

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 the hills and glens of the Trossachs, along with several other ranges of hills. It was the first of the national parks of Scotland, two nati ...

Geography

Arrochar is overlooked by a group of mountains called the Arrochar Alps, part of the Grampian Mountain range. In particular by the distinctive rocky summit of the

Cobbler Cobbler(s) may refer to: *A person who repairs shoes * Cobbler (food), a type of pie Places * The Cobbler, a mountain located near the head of Loch Long in Scotland * Mount Cobbler, Australia Art, entertainment and media * ''The Cobbler' ...

. The village enjoys good communications, located at the junction of the A83 and A814 roads and is served by Arrochar and Tarbet railway station. In addition the

A82 road The A82 is a major road in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Inverness via Fort William, Highland, Fort William. It is one of the principal north-south routes in Scotland and is mostly a trunk road managed by Transport Scotland, who view it a ...

runs through Tarbet east.

Arrochar Mountain Rescue Team

The rescue team was setup in the mid 1950's. The team has around thirty voluntary members on call 365 days a year.

History

Arrochar was

Historically History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

in the

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbar ...

area, until boundary changes in 1996. For over five centuries this area, the feudal barony of Arrochar, was held by the chiefs of

Clan MacFarlane Clan MacFarlane (Scottish Gaelic: Clann Phàrlain ) is a Scottish highlands, Highland Scottish clan. Descended from the medieval Earls of Lennox, the MacFarlanes occupied the land forming the western shore of Loch Lomond from Tarbet, Argyll, T ...

and before them by their ancestors the barons of Arrochar. The family is

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

in the male line. The settlement was a key target for

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

raiders who took their boats a further overland to Tarbet to attack the unprotected inland settlements around the shores of

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; ) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault (HBF), often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands.Tom Weir. ''The Scottish Lochs''. pp. 33-43. Published by ...

. In 1263 the Vikings where defeated at the

battle of Largs The Battle of Largs (2 October 1263) was a battle between the kingdoms of Kingdom of Norway (872–1397), Norway and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, on the Firth of Clyde near Largs, Scotland. The conflict formed part of the Scottish–Norwegian ...

Royal Naval Torpedo Testing Station and Range

The photograph shows the former

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

testing facility at the head of

. Established in 1912 and decommissioned in 1980. The site is currently part demolished. Demolition has been stalled since a fire on the site in June 2007. Torpedoes were fired up Loch Long from tubes at the front of the facility. A boat stood by to recover the (unarmed) torpedoes where they were returned for analysis. The now roofless shed to the left and the main part of the building have tracks where torpedoes were stored and worked on. Hoists on the first floor lowered the torpedoes into the tubes. The control room at the top looking straight down the loch housed a camera. Behind the control room, above the loading shed, is office accommodation. The rest of the facility included housing and workshops but these have been sold off.

References

External links