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Hunters Quay
Hunters Quay Dunoon Argyll Scotland (4939773876).jpg
Hunters Quay viewed from the Firth of Clyde, looking southwest
Scotland
Scotland
Hunters Quay
Population 5,198 (2013 Est) Including; Kirn, Hunters Quay and Sandbank.
OS grid reference NS 18396 79130
Council area
  • Argyll and Bute
Lieutenancy area
  • Argyll and Bute
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town DUNOON, ARGYLL
Postcode district PA23
Dialling code 01369
EU Parliament Scotland
UK Parliament
  • Argyll and Bute
Scottish Parliament
  • Argyll and Bute
List of places
UK
Scotland
55°58′15″N 4°54′42″W / 55.970717°N 4.9115818°W / 55.970717; -4.9115818

Hunters Quay (Scottish Gaelic: Camas Rainich) is a village, on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scottish Highlands. Situated between Kirn to the south and Ardnadam to the north, Hunters Quay is the main base of Western Ferries, operating between Hunters Quay and McInroy's Point.

Structures

Esplanade

Hunters Quay's esplanade was built in 1880, protected by a breast wall, along the north shore of Balgay Bay at a cost of £500.

Victoria Bridge

Spanning Balgay Bay, Victoria Bridge was built in 1878.

Royal Marine Hotel

The current building was built in 1890. This and the previous building was, between 1872 and the 1950s, the home of the Royal Clyde Yacht Club, which was founded in 1856.

Hafton House

Built in 1815 for James Hunter.

Villas

In the mid 19th century, the principal villas at Hunters Quay were Claver House (Mr Miller), Linnwood (Mr Somerville), Rock Hill (Capt. Littlejohn), Whinhill (Mrs Ross), Woodside (Mr Bell) and Craigend (Mr Bryson).

1908 Summer Olympic Games

The 12-metre class yacht race in the 1908 London Olympic Games took place at Hunters Quay. Most of the sailing took place on the Solent, but only two boats entered the 12-metre class: Mouchette from the Royal Liverpool Yacht Club and Hera from the Royal Clyde Yacht Club. They were allowed to race on the Clyde for convenience. The course was twice round a 13-mile (21-kilometre) lap of the Clyde, starting and finishing at Hunters Quay. Thomas C. Glen-Coats' Hera won.

Jim Crow Rock

Jim Crow, Hunters Quay
Jim Crow, Hunters Quay

"Jim Crow" (earlier "The Jim Crow"), a pointed glacial erratic rock lying horizontally on the beach, was known as the "Jim Crow Stone" in the 1880s, and by 1904 was painted with a face. The inspiration behind the name and design have been suggested to be: the Jump Jim Crow song and dance popularised by the American minstrel show performer Thomas D. Rice; local stories suggest it could have been the name of the owner of a nearby builders’/joiners yard; a jackdaw [which has a black beak but not a red mouth]; or the Jim Crow laws which were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Due to this potential link the rock has been painted over a number of times, but always returned to its original state. Another is that it is named after the line "So they canonized him by the name of Jim Crow!" in the poem The Jackdaw of Rheims.

The Jim Crow Rock was sandblasted back to bare rock in 2020.

Gallery

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