Strachur Bay is a coastal

embayment A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

, on a 114° orientation, on the eastern coast of the longest sea loch in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Loch Fyne Loch Fyne (, ; meaning "Loch of the Vine/Wine"), is a sea loch off the Firth of Clyde and forms part of the coast of the Cowal, Cowal Peninsula. Located on the west coast of Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. It extends inland from the Sound o ...

located in

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 ...

, on the west coast of

. Strachur Bay provides good anchorage, for small vessels, when the wind is from the northeast and southeast.

Settlements

The village and parish of

Strachur Strachur () and Strathlachlan () are united parishes in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Strachur is a small village on the eastern coast of Loch Fyne. Geography Cowal is the large peninsula situated between Loch Long to the east and Loch Fyne ...

is located at the head of the bay. The bay is on the main tourist route of the

Cowal Cowal () 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 ...

peninsula, with the hamlet of St Catherines immediately north along the coast A815 road of

. The A886 road, which is a tourist route, starts from Strachur from the A815, and continues to

Colintraive Colintraive () is a village in Argyll and Bute, 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 islan ...

, where it splits and continues from Rubodach on the

Isle of Bute The Isle of Bute (; or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault. Formerly a constituent island of the larger County of ...

and continues to

Port Bannatyne Port Bannatyne (), is a coastal village on the Isle of Bute, Firth of Clyde, Scotland that is home to many steamers. Port Bannatyne developed into the 1900s as a quieter alternative to Rothesay. It is a popular harbour, with a small yacht marina ...

. The A815 road continues past the village of Strachur, passes Glenbranter, and becomes the coast road of

Loch Eck Loch Eck (Gaelic: ''Loch Eich'') is a freshwater loch located on the Cowal Peninsula, north of Dunoon, in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. It is long. It is oriented in a north-south direction. Its main inflow, at the northern end, is the ...

, travelling south, passes

Holy Loch The Holy Loch () is a sea loch, part of the Firth of Clyde, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The "Holy Loch" name is believed to date from the 6th century, when Saint Munn landed there after leaving Ireland. Kilmun Parish Church and Argyll Mausole ...

, passing

Dunoon Dunoon (; ) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well as forming part of the cou ...

and terminating at Toward Point to the south of Dunoon. Strachur House, overlooks the north end of the bay. In September 1848, the dying genius

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

once spent a week at the invitation of Lord and Lady Muray at the house. Lady Murray had been his first London pupil.

Geography

Above Strachur Bay is the 481 metre of the Cruach nan Capull, which can be directly seem to the south when viewed at some height. Behind Strachur Bay, is the hill of Meall Reamhar at 293 metres which rises and follows the south by southeast direction of the loch. Meall Reamhar is heavily forested, on what remains of the old Glenbranter Forest. Meall Reamhar rises to a shallow peak at An Càrr at 335 metres, still following the direction of the loch, reaching Sidhean Sluaigh at 436 metres, with the tallest peak of Cruach nan Capull behind it. Behind the Cruach nan Capull is a valley has been cut by the Glean Dubh, which separates Cruach nan Capull from Meall Reamharr at 433 metres, directly behind An Càrr. Directly behind Meall Reamharr and to the east is the village of Glenbranter and

glen A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. The word is Goidelic in origin: ''gleann'' in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, ''glion'' in Manx. ...

of Glenbranter, and Glenshellish, which forks off of it. To the north by northeast direction, i.e. on the other side of valley, facing away from Glen Branter are two parallel unnamed shallow hills.

Gallery

File:Strachur House from the back gardens - geograph.org.uk - 362700.jpg, Strachur House File:Strachur Church of Scotland - geograph.org.uk - 1599445.jpg, Strachur Church of Scotland The weather in this part of Scotland is always at its best at Strachur File:Strachur Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1045361.jpg, Strachur Bay Not the outflow of the Cur - that runs most of the length of Cowal, via Loch Eck to the Holy Loch, but a smaller burn. Dùn Leacainn visible across Loch Fyne. File:Loch Fyne from Strachur Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1312104.jpg, Loch Fyne from Strachur Bay File:Strachur Bay on Loch Fyne - geograph.org.uk - 1534643.jpg, Strachur Bay on Loch Fyne

References

{{reflist Bays of Argyll and Bute