Tour Scotland Travel Video Oban Argyll and Bute

Tour Scotland travel video Blog of Oban, Scottish Gaelic; OH-bən, on ancestry visit to Argyll and Bute on the Scottish West Coast of Scotland. The modern town of Oban grew up around the whisky distillery, which was founded there in 1794. The town was raised to a burgh of barony in 1811 by royal charter. Sir Walter Scott visited the area in 1814, the year in which he published his poem The Lord of the Isles; interest in the poem brought many new visitors to the town. The town was made a Parliamentary Burgh in 1833. The arrival of the railway, Oban to Callender Railway, opened on 30th Jun 1880 brought further prosperity, revitalising local industry and giving new energy to tourism. Work on McCaig's Tower, a prominent local landmark, started in 1895. It was paid for by John Stewart McCaig, born 1824, died 1902, and was constructed, in hard times, to give work for local stone masons. However, its construction ceased in 1902 on the death of its benefactor. During World War II, Oban was used by Merchant and Royal Navy ships and was an important base in the Battle of the Atlantic. Since the 1950s, the principal industry has remained tourism, though the town is also an important ferry port, acting as the hub for CalMac, Caledonian McBrayne, ferries to many of the islands of the Inner and Outer Hebrides.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.