This summary profile is taken from the Cairndow Community Action Plan published in 2003.

Cairndow is a small coastal village at the head of Loch Fyne. It sits just off the A83 west and down from the Rest and be Thankful ten miles before you reach Inveraray. The community council area covers approximately 50 square kilometres of mainly upland terrain with a coast line of approximately nine miles. It includes the hamlet of Clachan, revived over recent years as a new centre of local industry and visitor facilities. Much of the land is held by four Estates - Ardkinglas, Strone, Ardno and Achadunan.

People

Cairndow has a relatively small but growing population. Figures from Here We Are for 2000 show that 178 people live here. Significantly, the number of children under 16 has greatly increased in the last ten years.

Housing

Unusually for rural Scotland these days, less than a quarter of the houses are owner occupied. The majority of the remainder are rented, in the main, to employees of local companies. There being more jobs in the village than people, many of the workers travel in from neighbouring centres. As a consequence, there is a well expressed need for more affordable accommodation in the village. One of the Estates has been discussing this shortage with the local Housing Association.

The Local Economy

Cairndow’s thriving local economy is built around the strengths of its location. Fish farming, shell fish farming and tourism have replaced herring fishing, agriculture and forestry as the main sectors. Modern transport networks enable local companies to export around 5,000 tonnes of salmon and in excess of a million oysters each year to markets throughout the UK and Europe.

The working population is around 100, not all of whom work in Cairndow. Local companies and small businesses between them have created around 200 jobs in nearly twenty operations - a remarkable statistic that bucks the trend for rural Britain.

Tourism and locally owned businesses are increasingly important operations. The village is readily accessible from Scotland's Central Belt, with local facilities such as the Stagecoach Inn; Loch Fyne Oyster Bar & Restaurant; Croft boarding kennels; The Tree Shop nursery & garden centre; and the Ardkinglas Woodland garden. Recent additions include the Here We Are project; Fyne Ales microbrewery; and Argyll Wild Boar. A new marketing group, Lochfynehead, has recently been launched.

Social and Community

The school closed in 1988 because the roll had dropped to only three pupils. Since then part of the building has fallen into disrepair. Local children now attend primary school in Strachur 10 miles away and secondary school in Dunoon 30 miles away. There are no pre-school facilities in the village. Distance learning for all ages is supported through five computers installed in Here We Are by Argyll College and also one in the Village Hall.

Medical facilities are provided by the GP in Strachur, hospitals in the Vale of Leven (35 miles away), Inverclyde (30 miles plus 30 minute ferry crossing to Greenock), or Paisley and Glasgow further still. The nearest ambulance and fire services are ten miles away in Arrochar; the police operate from Strachur and Dunoon.

There’s a fine pub but no shop in the village. Here We Are provides internet connection, faxing, photocopying, video conferencing and information on local services. Loch Fyne Oysters at Clachan provides a wide range of goods and services.

The Village Hall has recently been very well restored, improved and extended. It provides the main focus for local social and community activity: Community Council, craft fair, art show, SWRI, whist drives, Sunshine Club (a young children’s group), computer classes. Other local groups which add to Cairndow’s sense of community well-being include: Carpet Bowls, Gun Club, Curling Club, Cricket Club and the Art Group.

Environment

The environment in and around the village is a wonderful mix of coastal margin, loch, mountain and most notably woodland. The 10 hectare Ardkinglas Woodland Gardens has eight “Champion Trees” – including the mightiest conifer in Europe. The Creag Loisgte Oak Woodland and the Inverchorachan Hazel Wood are each the focus of revived management plans on Ardkinglas Estate. Strone Estate has also embarked on a programme of woodland regeneration.

Planning permission has been recently granted for nine wind turbines on the Clachan Flats. This will be capable of generating nearly twenty megawatts of power.

Heritage

The social history of the area has been shaped by the long occupation of the Argyll Campbells, along with the historical legacy of herring and mackerel fishing, farming the hills and the “new” roads and bridges built by General Wade and Telford.

Notable visitors and residents include Boswell and Dr Johnson, Dorothy Wordsworth and George Houston the Scottish Colourist. Houston stayed at Cuil House during the 20's and 30's and painted the theatrical backdrop for the local drama group, still on display in the Village Hall. All of this and more has been carefully retold and celebrated by the community at Here We Are project at Clachan.