The Folly at Oban

I like Oban. We stayed there for a week once, in the summer of 1978. There is a famous folly at Oban. It has a raised position above the town and is clearly visible on the skyline from many parts of the town and beyond, as was, no doubt, the intention. McCaig’s Tower, built of granite between 1897 and 1902, was based on the Colosseum in Rome, but remained unfinished after John Stuart McCaig’s death and today provides panoramic views from a public garden.

In my working life, the term urban morphology was of some significance. The shape and form of towns and how they had grown was something I had always found interesting and it still intrigues me. Like many settlements in hilly landscapes, Oban is a bit hemmed in by the surrounding high land. The result is that town planners’ options are somewhat restricted by the lie of the land, when they have to respond to pressures to expand the settlement and its facilities. Oban’s natural harbour and its proximity to many of the offshore islands makes it a hub for people in transit. Consequently, port facilities have mushroomed, its rail links to Glasgow have been retained and considerable pressure is put on its road system, especially as there is really only one way in and out of Oban for long distance travellers by car, which then inevitably takes them across the centre of the town from the northern edge of the built-up area to the ferry terminal, which is south of the centre. That means that the roads near the centre are always busy, it seems, and traffic jams are the norm, in the summer months, at least. Town planners have responded by blocking off former street access, in some cases, to keep traffic moving, and by introducing one-way systems to ease the flow. I found that the result is not always that straightforward to manoeuvre.   

There is a Tesco superstore on the south side of the port, physically quite close to the centre of town, but only approachable from one direction, which is much further out. Sat’ nav’ suggested otherwise, but the former road it indicated is no longer a junction and has a paved area with flower butts where the road used to go. We circumnavigated the site on the west side, instead. We could see the supermarket below us but there was no obvious access to it. We went over to the east side again, but there was a distinct lack of “supermarket this way” signposting. In the end, a separate petrol station provided us with the intervening opportunity that we were looking for. “Its easy, you just go further on down this road and then turn right and right again”, the guy in the shop said. Well, it may be easy if you know the place, ignore sat’ nav’ and can manage without street signs.

As a result, we ran out of time to visit the station. I had to take my pictures from the ferry terminal, instead, separated from it by tall wire fencing. I know just what a nuisance that has become when it comes to photographing the UK railway scene. We must have the most fenced in railway system in the world, so it’s hardly a folly that you could attribute to Oban alone. Mind you, they’ve got two of those already. 

 

Dumfries

Here’s a nice, solid-looking and attractive station made of red sandstone. Many Scottish stations outside of the central belt have a spacious feel to them and this former junction is a good example. Built in 1848, it soon became part of the Glasgow and South Western Railway’s route to Carlisle and the south. The branch lines to Castle Douglas and Stranraer, Lockerbie and Moniaive are no more, however, as indeed are the milk trains to London, which ended in the 1970s. Scotrail services today link Glasgow and Kilmarnock to Carlisle, via Dumfries. Historic Scotland protects both the station and the imposing railway hotel opposite as Grade Two listed.

The Churnet Valley Railway revisited

It would have been a good day for frogs at Froghall. It was wet throughout the proceedings, and the rain was sometimes torrential as we made our way home afterwards across the Peak District. No matter, we had a great day under cover at the Churnet Valley Railway. Everyone was welcoming and friendly, the whole experience was good value for money, breakfast on the dining train was plentiful, and we were well looked after by the enthusiastic and youthful staff in coach “Nicholas”.    

The USA-built wartime Class S160 performed well on the steep sections of the line, having received its delivery of coal from Uzbekistan just that morning. Froghall station is well maintained, brightly painted in 1950s BR Midland Region colours, and the waiting room, shop and airy café [with some excellent cakes for sale] are decorated with appropriate posters and photographs of visiting locos to the line.