The County ofBute and the County ofArgyll were two of thehistoric counties of Scotland. They were both "shires" (context; the area controlled by asheriff) in theMiddle Ages. From 1890 until 1975 both counties had individual separate elected county councils.[5]
In 1975, under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973, Scotland's counties,burghs andlandward districts were abolished and replaced with upper-tierregions and lower-tierdistricts. TheStrathclyde region was created covering a large part of western Scotland. Strathclyde was divided into nineteen districts, one of which the 1973 Act called "Argyll", covering most of the former county of Argyll, but also including theIsle of Bute from the County of Bute. The shadow authority elected in 1974 requested a change of name to "Argyll and Bute", which was agreed by the government before the new district came into being on 16 May 1975.[6]
As created in 1975 the Argyll and Bute district covered the whole area of fourteen of Argyll's sixteen districts and part of a fifteenth, plus two from the County of Bute's five districts, which were all abolished at the same time:[7][8]
Local government was reformed again in 1996 under theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which abolished the regions and districts which had been created in 1975, replacing them with unitarycouncil areas. Argyll and Bute became one of the new council areas, but had its territory enlarged to include the town ofHelensburgh and surrounding rural areas which had been in theDumbarton district prior to 1996, and had formed part of the county ofDunbartonshire prior to 1975. The Helensburgh area had voted in a referendum in 1994 to join Argyll and Bute rather than stay with Dumbarton.[10][11]
The main railway line in Argyll and Bute is the West Highland Line, which links Oban to Glasgow, passing through much of the eastern and northern parts of the area. From the south the line enters Argyll and Bute just to the west of Dumbarton, continuing north viaHelensburgh Upper to the eastern shores of theGare Loch andLoch Long. The line comes inland atArrochar and Tarbet to meet the western shore ofLoch Lomond. At the northern end of the loch the lines leaves Argyll and Bute to enterStirling council area. The Oban branch of the West Highland Line re-enters the area just west ofTyndrum, and heads west to Oban: stations on this section of the line includeDalmally andTaynuilt railway station. The majority of services on the line are operated byScotRail: as of 2019 the summer service has six trains a day to Oban, with four on Sundays. In addition to the ScotRail service is the nightlyCaledonian Sleeper, although this does not run on the Oban branch.[12][13]
TheA815, which leaves the A83 inGlen Kinglas nearCairndow, heading south throughStrachur andDunoon and ends atToward 40 miles later, on the southern tip of theCowal peninsula.[17] The A815 is the main road through Cowal.
Due to its heavily indented coastline and many islands, ferries form an important part of the council area's transport system. The main ferry operator in Argyll and Bute is Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac), which operates services from the mainland to most of the inhabited islands. Several other routes are operated by commercial operators, usually on contract to the council, although the Western Ferries service across the Firth of Clyde is run on a commercial basis.
Islay is served by a CalMac route fromKennacraig inKintyre. The service is timetabled to utilise either one of two ports on the island, with bothPort Askaig andPort Ellen having a service to the mainland.[23]
Feolin onJura is linked to Port Askaig on Islay via a vehicle ferry run by ASP Ship Management on behalf of Argyll and Bute Council.[24][25] There is also a passenger-only service between the island's main centre,Craighouse, andTayvallich on the mainland that is operated by Islay Sea Safaris.[26]
Kerrera is linked to Gallanach (about 3 km (1.9 mi) southwest of Oban) by a passenger-only service operated by CalMac.[27]
Lismore is served by two ferries, a vehicle and passenger service operated by CalMac that runs from Oban,[28] and a passenger-only service fromPort Appin that is operated by ASP Ship Management on behalf of Argyll and Bute Council.[24][29]
Iona is linked to Mull via a CalMac service fromFionnphort at Mull's southwest tip.[33]
The island ofSeil, which itself is linked to the mainland via theClachan Bridge, has links to two further islands:Easdale andLuing. Both services are operated by ASP Ship Management on behalf of Argyll and Bute Council.[24][34][35]
There are also routes connecting some mainland locations in Argyll and Bute to other parts of the mainland:
There is a CalMac service across Loch Fyne which provides a link betweenPortavadie in Cowal andTarbert in Kintyre.[36]
CalMac provide a limited (3 ferry each way per week) service between Cambeltown in Kintyre and Ardrosssan in North Aryshire during the summer months.[40]
Western Ferries, a commercial operator, runs a vehicle and passenger service betweenHunters Quay toMcInroy's Point that also provides a link between Cowal and Inverclyde in (partial) competition with the subsidised CalMac service.
Lochranza onArran, inNorth Ayrshire, has a year-round service to Kintyre: during the summer the mainland port used isClaonaig, however in winter the service is reduced to a single daily return crossing from Tarbert.[43][44]
There is also a passenger-only ferry service linking Campbeltown and Port Ellen on Islay withBallycastle inCounty Antrim,Northern Ireland, running seasonally from April to September, operated by West Coast Tours as the Kintyre Express.[45]
The area has also been indirectly immortalised in popular culture by the 1977 hit song "Mull of Kintyre" by then-Kintyre residentPaul McCartney's band of the time,Wings.
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