Crinan Canal, some other changes

[Quandary]

Complementary to the thread on withdrawal of the free passage assistance Scottish Canals have announced other plans.
The new shower block at Crinan basin should be ready any day now saving the walk round to the boatyard but you will still have to brave their bouncy pontoon if you need diesel.
There are plans to convert the old steamer transit shed in Pier square at Ardrishaig to provide a cafe/restaurant and a chandlery but not opening before late summer, however Crinan Boats chandlery which serves a busy working boatyard is likely to have what you need. Better showers soon at Pier square too.
More transit berths planned close to pub and shops with an attempt at cleaning up banks and paths in the village.
The long derelict Bridge House Hotel is to be converted to three holiday lets, turnarounds using existing canal staff so watch out for welly prints on the towels! May not be open for a while. There is already a pretty cottage available across the locks at Dunardry.

We are keen to encourage yachts to pause and spend a few quid in our village and of course cheer us up with your banter so we have a free leaflet telling where everything from the dog groomer to the flower shop is. Pubs, restaurants, laundry and shops too.
If you need help with a boat problem Jackie Kay at the boat repair shed beside the slip behind the timber pier is a craftsman who can fix anything, operates his own crane for lifts and masts, he has a few moorings available in the harbour too. Do not be put off if he sounds a bit gruff, we are all like that here.

Had a meal in the seafood bar at the Crinan Hotel last night and have to report that it was excellent, wee bit pricy for bar food but good menu and presentation, mainly seafood and seemed to be cooked to order, I can recommend the Arbroath smokie with chips and salad as a healthy alternative to their tasty battered fish and chips. I always regarded the Crinan as bit pretentious but the bar food is good, but must add that we have a great little cafe bistro here in Ardrishaig at half the price, bring your own bottles, open for breakfast from early and great bacon rolls to take with you too.

 

[JumbleDuck]

The new shower block at Crinan basin should be ready any day now saving the walk round to the boatyard but you will still have to brave their bouncy pontoon if you need diesel.

How long is it now since diesel was available in the basin in Crinan? I used to buy petrol from the hotel's pump, but that too looks as if it has been defunct for a long time.

I always regarded the Crinan as bit pretentious but the bar food is good, but must add that we have a great little cafe bistro here in Ardrishaig at half the price, bring your own bottles, open for breakfast from early and great bacon rolls to take with you too.

It is excellent, I agree. The Indian restaurant is pretty good too, and very friendly. I get put off Crinan by the brooding presence of the hotel's owner, who seems to spend his waking hours stalking around morosely, looking for people to sneer at.

 

[Gwylan]

Crinan Hotel, got sneered at and charged £3.00 for a pint in 2005. Have not been back since.

Otherwise a totally delighful place because of what it gives access to.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Crinan Hotel, got sneered at and charged £3.00 for a pint in 2005. Have not been back since.

I and my crew had the worst hotel breakfast I have ever had there in 1990. We thought we'd treat ourselves after a trip; we got watery orange juice, one small sausage, one fried egg and one small rasher of bacon and a few oddments for a tenner ... which in those days was almost what you paid for a night in a local B&B. Normally I wouldn't hold the grudge after 24 years, but since the owner seems to be averse to change - the coffee shop menu hasn't changed one bit since then - I assume that the hotel is still a ripoff.

 

[A1Sailor]

I and my crew had the worst hotel breakfast I have ever had there in 1990. We thought we'd treat ourselves after a trip; we got watery orange juice, one small sausage, one fried egg and one small rasher of bacon and a few oddments for a tenner ... which in those days was almost what you paid for a night in a local B&B. Normally I wouldn't hold the grudge after 24 years, but since the owner seems to be averse to change - the coffee shop menu hasn't changed one bit since then - I assume that the hotel is still a ripoff.

Is it the same as it was 24 years ago, then? Same owner & management?

 

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

I get put off Crinan by the brooding presence of the hotel's owner, who seems to spend his waking hours stalking around morosely, looking for people to sneer at.

... got sneered at and charged £3.00 for a pint in 2005. Have not been back since.

Gosh, it sounds like Fawlty Towers....

Mike

 

[Uricanejack]

How long is it now since diesel was available in the basin in Crinan? I used to buy petrol from the hotel's pump, but that too looks as if it has been defunct for a long time.



It is excellent, I agree. The Indian restaurant is pretty good too, and very friendly. I get put off Crinan by the brooding presence of the hotel's owner, who seems to spend his waking hours stalking around morosely, looking for people to sneer at.

yes I,v been sneered at there to, same toffy nose chap I expect though it's a. While since I've been in.
He only sneers until he see,s you come of one of the nicer boats.

For me it depends who I was with. On my own sneer. With my uncle warm welcome.
I thought it was just me.

 

[wully1]

Blimey, you lot must smell or something!
Never been sneered at in Crinan, had good food and beer there too ( Colonsay Ale mmmmmm)

Or maybe it was my posh Motherwell upbringing?

I think The owner is retiring, or maybe has already.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Is it the same as it was 24 years ago, then? Same owner & management?

Yup. Nothing changes at Crinan.

 

[Quandary]

Some of you guys are as bad as me, one bad experience and f'ofski for forty years. The owner is still there and still 'prowls' about but I have not spoken with him since 1978. The place is well staffed and I presume he is keeping his eye on them. On Friday night they made a good effort to seat a family off a transitting yacht who came in after the bar was full. I quite fancy his varnished fishing boat though, and his son has made a fine job of restoring the Truant which you also often see on their moorings in front of the hotel. Give the man a break, he is grumpy all right but I can assure you, at our age we are entitled to be, he would fit right in here.
What is happening to me? standing up for the Crinan Hotel, must be entering a new stage of life or perhaps it was the fall off the boat into the yard on Thursday evening?

 

[A1Sailor]

Quandary, when you say

We are keen to encourage yachts to pause and spend a few quid in our village

do you mean Crinan or Ardrishaig?

 

[Spyro]

Give the man a break, he is grumpy all right but I can assure you, at our age we are entitled to be, he would fit right in here.

The man is there to serve the public and it's us who pay his bills. If he hasn't learned that a little goes a long way he doesn't deserve the business. it's nice to be nice. I was in the Crinan Hotel 3 years ago. last orders shouted at 10.45pm, most disappointing.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Some of you guys are as bad as me, one bad experience and f'ofski for forty years. The owner is still there and still 'prowls' about but I have not spoken with him since 1978. The place is well staffed and I presume he is keeping his eye on them. On Friday night they made a good effort to seat a family off a transitting yacht who came in after the bar was full. I quite fancy his varnished fishing boat though, and his son has made a fine job of restoring the Truant which you also often see on their moorings in front of the hotel.

I had a very nice chat with his son about Truant when she was in the basin last summer. Then Dad came along, gave his "What is this dog s**t doing here?" look and I made a thankful escape. I now make a point of saying a cheerful and polite "Good day" to him whenever I see him, just for the fun of seeing his face contort in barely suppressed loathing as he tries to maintain the decencies.

 

[Quandary]

Quandary, when you say
do you mean Crinan or Ardrishaig?

Ardrishaig, Crinan is just a hamlet with a hotel! We have shops, where else can you get your dog shampooed? cheaper booze, grumpy residents, a real West Coast community but every boat wants to get to Cairnbaan or Crinan without stopping here to be subjected to our hospitality and banter.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Ardrishaig, Crinan is just a hamlet with a hotel! We have shops, where else can you get your dog shampooed? cheaper booze, grumpy residents, a real West Coast community but every boat wants to get to Cairnbaan or Crinan without stopping here to be subjected to our hospitality and banter.

I'll back that. Ardrishaig looks like a bit of a dump compared to Crinan ... actually, Ardrishaig looks like a bit of a dump compared to anywhere - but it does have a really good range of facilities and the natives, on the whole, seem friendly. Shame it's always raining, though.

 

[Spyro]

Ardrishaig, Crinan is just a hamlet with a hotel! We have shops, where else can you get your dog shampooed? cheaper booze, grumpy residents, a real West Coast community but every boat wants to get to Cairnbaan or Crinan without stopping here to be subjected to our hospitality and banter.

we spent a very entertaining night in the Slainte Bar in Ardrishaig a few years ago. Popped in late afternoon to wait for the rain to go off before rowing out to the boat. Unfortunatly the rain didn't go off and we ended up locked in. Most of the entertainment was provided by the very drunk landlord ( he said it was his day off) It was all a bit intimidating at first as it was mostly locals in the bar but as time went on they all became very friendly. The welcome he gave the two suited germans was like something from Faulty Towers. First he announced that he spoke German and proceeded to say "Vot is your name". then tried to explain the dads army sketch (don't tell him Pike). Later on he was on his back doing the "dying fly" It all got very messy after that. His wife seemed very pleasant.

 

[A1Sailor]

I remember a very pleasant sing song in an Ardrishaig bar one night, with the boat safely berthed on the transit jetty between locks 3 & 4. It might have been 2 & 3. We awoke the following morning to discover we were now berthed in the bushes, somebody having cast us adrift. It obviously wouldn't have been one of the locals...

 

[wully1]

perhaps it was the fall off the boat into the yard on Thursday evening?

FFS, hope you didn't hurt yourself?

Mah wee boatie is now safely on her mooring so if I fall off it will be a soft, if wet and cold, landing.

I still don't understand why you lot are having a go at The Crinan Hotel. It is a very good hotel and a thriving business that's survived very well for decades. The owner is doing something right otherwise it would have folded long ago.
Anyway, someone who owns and maintains a boat like Scarbh is a good bloke in my book and young mister Ryan has inherited his dad's good taste in boats with Truant.

 

[myquest]

I had a very nice chat with his son about Truant when she was in the basin last summer. Then Dad came along, gave his "What is this dog s**t doing here?" look and I made a thankful escape. I now make a point of saying a cheerful and polite "Good day" to him whenever I see him, just for the fun of seeing his face contort in barely suppressed loathing as he tries to maintain the decencies.

I might be wrong but I'm sure there was a thread on here about an old wooden fishing boat and it's owner. Maybe these two should meet up and compare notes. Although from different eras the inference is that they seem to have the same regard for those proving the funds for their passions but with very different outcomes!

 

[JumbleDuck]

I might be wrong but I'm sure there was a thread on here about an old wooden fishing boat and it's owner. Maybe these two should meet up and compare notes. Although from different eras the inference is that they seem to have the same regard for those proving the funds for their passions but with very different outcomes!

Oddly enough the Crinan Hotel owner also has an old wooden fishing boat, Scarbh. She used to look very beautiful indeed - particularly when adorned with the owner's daughter in a bikini which might, just, have had enough material for an egg cosy - but now looks sadly neglected.