Great Cumbrae
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Great Cumbrae (also known as Cumbrae or the Isle of Cumbrae) is an island in the lower Firth of Clyde, 4 km long by 2 km wide. Its only town, Millport, lies on the south side of the island. The usual population of the island in the 2001 census was 1,434.
A Caledonian MacBrayne ferry connects it with Largs, Ayrshire on the Scottish mainland.
Its neighbouring island of Little Cumbrae to the south-west is privately owned. Both islands have been inhabited since the end of the last ice age, and have examples of the raised beach effect - as the ice melted, the land rose many metres relative to the sea level.
The Ordnance Survey Triangulation point (The Glaidstane) at the top of the island gives a panoramic view of the upper Clyde estuary, the much larger islands of Arran and Bute and onwards to Ben Lomond in the north and the Paps of Jura to the west.
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History
Cumbrae's past has long been linked to Christianity in Scotland, and at one time the island had many standing stones. The Aberdeen Breviary (printed in Edinburgh) of 1509 gives an account of two of the island's early female missionaries, Saints Beya and Maura.
During the development of the River Clyde as a main thoroughfare for goods, shipbuilding and smuggling, Millport was a strategic base for Customs and Excise. Several of the streets in Millport are named after crew members of the Revenue Cutter, "Royal George". The Garrison House in the centre of town was formerly the barracks/Captain's mansion, then the home of the Earl of Glasgow, and is, as of 2004, subject to a Lottery Funds appeal after being destroyed by arson in 2001.
The Victorian era was a period of rapid growth, both in terms of population, governance, amenities and property. To the west and east of the old harbour, many fine Victorian and Edwardian villas were built, along with new tenements. These still form the backbone of the housing stock.
In 1999 the final feudal landowner, Le Mans winner Johnny Dumfries, now Bute, of Mount Stuart House, put the island up for sale to his farmer tenants. For many centuries previously the island had shared ownership, with the Marquess of Bute in the west and the Earl of Glasgow in the east.
Tourism
Cumbrae, along with Bute and Arran, is famous with generations of daytrippers from Glasgow as one of the resorts visited going "Doon the watter" - meaning taking a trip aboard a Clyde paddle steamer. After the growth of package holidays to Spain and the Balearics in the 1960s, Cumbrae slipped into decline.
Today it has regained at least some of its popularity, with the population during the summer months growing by several thousand every weekend. Hiring a bike and cycling around the island's 11 mile encircling coastal road is a must-do for visitors, as the roads are relatively quiet compared to the mainland. The season's highlights are the Country and Western Festival and the September Weekend Fireworks display. The island's Golf Course attracts golfers from around the world.
The harbour, with visitor moorings, is a popular destination for sailors in the summer, and the National Watersports Centre at the ferry slip has young sailors in boats and windsurfers all year round. There is a small boat yard at the western tip of the island. The most dived site on the Clyde is just south of the ferry slip - a WWII Catalina flying boat.
A recent BBC Radio 4 series, Millport (written by Lynn Ferguson, the voice of Mac in Chicken Run by Aardman Animations) humourously covered most of the tired cliches about an island community stuck in a cosy 1950s timewarp - but perhaps these sentiments explain why the island is still so popular in the minds of both nostalgia-seeking 30-somethings and fresh-eyed visitors.
If you are flying to the states from Glasgow Airport, look out for a fantastic view of the island - the flight path usually crosses the path of the ferry.
Other attractions include:
- Cathedral of the Isles -- William Butterfield, one of the great architects of the Gothic revival designed the cathedral church of the Diocese of Argyll and the Isles, within the Episcopal Church of Scotland (Anglican Communion). George Frederick Boyle, 6th Earl of Glasgow acted as the founder and benefactor. Construction finished in 1849 and the cathedral opened in 1851. Formal gardens and woodland surround the cathedral, the highest building on Great Cumbrae and the smallest cathedral in Great Britain (and probably in Europe).
- College of the Holy Spirit -- attached to the Cathedral, this former seminary for ordination training is now a Retreat House and the Argyll Diocesan Conference Centre. It was the base for the American Fisherfolk community (The Community of Celebration) during the 1970s and 80s.
- Museum of the Cumbraes
- Marine Biology Station, Keppel Pier -- run by the Universities of Glasgow and London, the station has an aquarium of sea creatures from the Firth of Clyde, and a museum which tells the story of the sea and of the Clyde area.
- National Water Sports Centre
Marine environment and wildlife
Cumbrae's marine climate can receive gale force winds from the atlantic at any time of year - these westerly or south-westerly gales can be severe and destructive. However, whilst the west of the island might be in the throes of a 70mph gale, the sheltered east side facing Largs can seem like a duckpond.
The well respected Marine Biological Station Millport (Universities of Glasgow and London, founded 1885 by Sir John Murray and David Robertson) just outside the town has an interesting curriculum and research programme, with a welcome influx of UK and foreign students throughout the academic year. A Museum and Aquarium is open to visitors. The station has recently taken delivery (May 2003) of the Macduff-built, 22-metre "RV Aora" marine Research Vessel. UMBSM also functions as a Meterological Office Weather Station and Admiralty Tide Monitor.
Local wildlife, apart from Owls, Polecats, Rabbits, Kestrels and the occasional Golden Eagle, includes a large seabird population - Fulmars, Cormorants, Oyster catchers and many more. Other marine life includes Seals, Basking Sharks and Dolphins.
Environmental issues
Cumbrae lies close to 2 Nuclear power stations - Hunterston A to the north, at Kip (Magnox, being decommissioned for the next 135 years) and Hunterston B to the east, near Fairlie (Advanced gas-cooled reactor). The waters nearby are also host to the UK's current Nuclear deterrent, Vanguard Class submarines carrying Trident missiles, from HM Naval Base at Faslane/Coulport, further up the Clyde. The American Navy, now departed, spent nearly 40 years at the Holy Loch, using the older Resolution/Polaris Nuclear submarines.
A wind farm lies behind Hunterston B on Busbie Muir, above West Kilbride. It contains 12 100-metre high turbines, which can be spectaculary seen from Cumbrae, especially in early morning and late evening light.
Famous residents
- Duncan MacRae (actor/comedian, Whisky Galore)
- Alexander "Greek" Thomson (architect)
- Stephens Orr (society photographer).
The "Saxon" (a Clyde puffer which provided a shipping service to the island) from the TV series The Vital Spark, based on Neil Munro's Para Handy stories.de:Isle of Cumbrae