Must Ride Route – Cowal Peninsula

If you’re after a destination as rife with stunning views as it is history, look no further than the Cowal Peninsula. MoreBikes reader Alex Carnegie talks us through a brilliant biking route…

The Cowal Peninsula is an area often overlooked by bikers heading for the popular meeting point of Inveraray, but it offers quiet roads and different destinations for an alternative day ride from Glasgow.

In the late ‘70s I was a draughtsman on a large construction project in the area, near the village of Portavadie, so I decided to go for a look. Anniesland Cross in the west end of Glasgow is a convenient setting off point to join the A82 out of the city, and a handy meeting point which is also easily reached from the south side of the river through the Clyde Tunnel.   However, the riding enjoyment really starts from Balloch on the south edge of Loch Lomond.  From here it is an easy ride continuing north up the west side of the loch on the A82 to Tarbet, then taking the A83 from there to Arrochar and onward to the Rest and be Thankful.

So far this is the popular, and often busy, biking route heading for Inveraray, Campbeltown and the meandering A816 to Oban, but a few miles after the high viewpoint, where you get a great view back down over the Rest and be Thankful and the original General Wade military road, a left turn on to the A815 has you heading to the quieter roads of the Cowal Peninsula.

The A815 leads to the seaside town of Dunoon, and this is perhaps where it is worth mentioning you can also get here by ferry from Gourock.  This is possibly a shorter route, although you’d miss out on the fun of the Lochside and Rest and be Thankful roads.  The ferry could always be an alternative route home though, crossing the Firth of Clyde, returning to Glasgow on the A8 and M8, and adding that extra bit of adventure provided by a ferry crossing.

Dunoon became a popular holiday destination in Victorian times through to the early 1960s.  Thousands of Glaswegians would escape the city on the many paddle steamers which sailed “doon the watter” on the Firth of Clyde, and the last seagoing paddle steamer in the world, the PS Waverley, still calls there in the summer months. It is an attractive town with a Victorian pier, entertainment complex, gardens, shops and all the usual cafés and restaurants.

However, Dunoon is not the destination for this ride, so a few miles along the A815 I took the chance to grab a coffee at Strachur, before bearing right on to the A886 heading towards Colintraive and today’s destination, Portavadie. Along this route there is one other alternative worth mentioning – by taking the Colintraive ferry across to Rothesay there is the chance to visit another popular seaside town and take a ride around the Isle of Bute.  Like Dunoon, Rothesay was on the Clyde steamer route and flourished as a holiday destination during the same period, with Rothesay Pavilion hosting some of the most famous music hall entertainers of the day.  It is also served by a modern ferry sailing across the Firth of Clyde to Wemyss Bay, offering another alternative route home.

To reach Portavadie though, a few miles short of the ferry another right turn on to the A8003 leads on to some narrower, twistier riding and another seaside town, Tighnabruaich.  On this section of road, watch out for a viewpoint on the left before you reach the town, where there are great views down the Kyles of Bute.  After Tighnabruaich there is a right turn on to the narrow B8000, which weaves its way across to my destination, Portavadie.

The construction project I was here to see was a complex designed to construct oil rigs and was developed on two sites, the support village of Polphail and the oil rig construction dock.  Unfortunately, oil rig production never happened, and all that is left of the fully fitted out village are a few steps and odd sections of wall from the many buildings, which included various residential units and a communal building with restaurant, bar, games rooms and laundry for the workforce.  All of these were built with a view along the shoreline, but they’re all gone. 

There is an informal club for Scottish architects called The Rubble Club, which commemorates buildings demolished within the designer’s lifetime.  I guess the construction and demolition of Polphail Support Village would make the Architects involved eligible for membership!

This remote site was chosen because of its deep-water location, and the plan involved digging a deep construction dock, said by some to be one of the biggest man-made holes in the world.  Fortunately, this dock has found a new purpose as a marina and activity centre, with new hotels, holiday apartments, cabins and motorhome pitches, as well as berthing for those arriving by yacht.  A handy stop for lunch too!

The homeward journey continues on the B8000 north to Otter Ferry.  On my trip I stopped here and noticed the Austin Healey Owners Club was visiting, and I recognised the registration on one of the cars.  My old school chum got a bit of a surprise when I rushed into the bar in full biker gear and asked if anyone owned the metallic blue Austin Healey.  He probably thought I’d bumped into it in the car park! We had a great catch up, reminiscing about school days, and adventures on our Lambretta scooters back in the 1960s.

Heading back now, the narrow B8000 continues north, almost but not quite a single-track road, following the coast, rising and falling through fields and forests with great views of Loch Fyne until, just south of Strachur, it leads back onto the A886.  From there the return journey follows the earlier route back towards Loch Lomond, Balloch and onwards to Glasgow.

This was a hugely enjoyable ride of about 160 miles, and you wouldn’t need to have anything to do with the Portavadie Oil Rigs to enjoy it!