Coulport (village)

Coulport (Scottish Gaelic: An Cùl Phort - literally the Back Port or Ferry) is a village on the east side of Loch Long and the west side of the Rosneath Peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. It is 5 miles (8 km) north-north-west of Cove. It marks the end of the B833 shore road, although the village can also be reached by a high-quality but unclassified access road (primarily designed for naval traffic) directly from Garelochhead. The village looks across to the small settlement of Ardentinny on the west shore to which, in the 18th/19th century, there was a ferry. John Kibble, the son of a Glasgow metal merchant, was one of several wealthy Glasgow merchants who had large villas built at Coulport in the nineteenth century either as permanent residences or summer retreats. Several still survive, some now flatted, others in a dilapidated condition. Kibble's Coulport House was the original location of the giant conservatory known as the Kibble Palace (now in Glasgow's Botanic Garden). Since the 1960s Coulport has been most associated with the Trident missile storage and the nearby Royal Naval Armaments Depot (RNAD Coulport) situated there as part of HMNB Clyde.

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RNAD Coulport

Royal Naval Armaments Depot Coulport, shortened to RNAD Coulport, on Loch Long in Argyll, Scotland, is the storage and loading facility for the nuclear warheads of the United Kingdom's Trident programme. The base, near the village of Coulport, has up to 16 reinforced concrete bunkers built into the hillside on the eastern shore of Loch Long. It is the last depot in Britain to retain the "RNAD" designation, indicating a Royal Naval Armaments Depot. The depot was established during the Cold War as the storage, maintenance and loading facility for Polaris nuclear weapons. Today, Coulport is mainly used for handling Trident warheads. Two docks are located on the shoreline at the foot of the hill. There, weapons are loaded onto Vanguard-class nuclear submarines before they go on patrol and unloaded before they return to base at nearby Faslane. An older jetty is known as the Polaris Jetty, while the newer, covered explosive handling jetty (EHJ) is used for handling Trident warheads.

Loch Long

Loch Long is a body of water in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The sea loch extends from the Firth of Clyde at its southwestern end, to the Arrochar Alps at the head of the loch. It measures approximately 20 miles (30 kilometres) in length, with a width of between one and two miles (two and three kilometres). The loch also has an arm, Loch Goil, on its western side. Loch Long forms part of the coast of the Cowal Peninsula, and forms the entire western coastline of the Rosneath Peninsula. Loch Long was historically the boundary between Argyll and Dunbartonshire; however, boundary redrawing in 1996 meant that it moved wholly within the council area of Argyll and Bute.

1.9 km

Ardpeaton

Ardpeaton is a settlement on the Rosneath Peninsula in Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. On the east shore of Loch Long. The population is under 1000.

2.2 km

Rahane

Rahane is a clachan (small village) in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, on the west bank of the Gare Loch in the Rosneath peninsula, 2.3 miles (3.7 km) south of the larger settlement of Garelochhead and 11 miles (18 km) northwest by road from the town of Helensburgh. The area contains much Forestry Commission managed stock.