View source for Lochranza

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name                    = Lochranza
| type                             = [[Village]]
| scots_name                       =
| gaelic_name                      = Loch Raonasa <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gaelicplacenames.org/databasedetails.php?id=895/|title=Lochranza|publisher=Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba ~ Gaelic Place-names of Scotland|access-date=30 December 2014}}</ref>
| country                          = Scotland
| map_type                         = Scotland
| population                       = 251
| population_ref                   = <ref>{{cite web
 |title       = Committee reports and agendas
 |publisher   = North Ayrshire Council
 |year        = 2003
 |url         = http://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/ChiefExec/ArchiveCommRA.nsf/e9ee67f48fbb9003802569d700533758/af42fb4b81fd051a80256a34003f14c7?OpenDocument
 |access-date  = 24 July 2007
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928090348/http://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/ChiefExec/ArchiveCommRA.nsf/e9ee67f48fbb9003802569d700533758/af42fb4b81fd051a80256a34003f14c7?OpenDocument
 |archive-date = 28 September 2007
 |df          = dmy-all
}}
</ref>
| population_density               = n/a <!-- previously cited source [http://www.ayrshire-jsu.gov.uk/download/popdennorth1.pdf]
                                 gives NO data on Lochranza. The figure cited (7.01 persons per hectare) is that
                                 for Lamlash, not Lochranza.
                              -->
| os_grid_reference                = NR929506
| edinburgh_distance               = {{convert|96|mi|km|abbr=on}}
| london_distance                  = {{convert|443|mi|km|abbr=on}}
| coordinates                      = {{coord|55.705|-5.295|display=inline,title}}
| post_town                        = ISLE OF ARRAN
| postcode_area                    = KA
| postcode_district                = KA27
| dial_code                        = 01770
| constituency_westminster         = [[North Ayrshire and Arran (UK Parliament constituency)|North Ayrshire and Arran]]
| civil_parish                     = [[Kilbride, Argyll and Bute|Kilbride]]<ref>{{cite web
 |title=Kilbride 
 |publisher=UK & Ireland Genealogy 
 |date=2002 
 |orig-year=quoting gazetteer of 1882 
 |url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/BUT/Kilbride/index.html 
 |access-date=24 July 2007 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101106114859/http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/BUT/Kilbride/index.html 
 |archive-date=6 November 2010 
}}
</ref>
| unitary_scotland                 = [[North Ayrshire]]
| lieutenancy_scotland             = [[Ayrshire and Arran]]
| constituency_scottish_parliament = [[Cunninghame North (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Cunninghame North]]
| website                          = [http://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/  North Ayrshire]
| static_image_name                = File:Lochranza. - panoramio (1).jpg
| static_image_width               = 280px
| static_image_caption             = Panoramic of Lochranza Bay, May 2008 
}}

'''Lochranza''' ({{langx|gd|Loch Raonasa}}) is a village located on the [[Isle of Arran]] in the [[Firth of Clyde]], [[Scotland]]. The population, somewhat in decline, is around 200 people.

==Geography==
[[File:Lochranza, Aran.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Countryside near Lochranza]]
Lochranza is the northernmost of Arran's villages and is located in the northwestern corner of the island. The village is set on the shore of Loch Ranza, a small [[sea loch]]. Ferries run from here to [[Claonaig]] on the mainland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.calmac.co.uk/destinations/ports/port-details.htm?whereSearchTerm=30|title=Port Details - Lochranza|publisher=Caledonian MacBrayne|access-date=30 December 2014}}</ref> The village is flanked to the northeast by the landmark hill [[Torr Meadhonach]].

===Geology===
Lochranza has a [[field research|field study centre]], where schools from all over the UK come to study the locality's interesting [[geology]] and the nearby [[Hutton's Unconformity]] to the north of Newton Point, where the "father of modern geology" [[James Hutton]] found his first example of an [[Unconformity|angular unconformity]] during a visit in 1787.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3F65 |title=Hutton's Unconformity - Lochranza, Isle of Arran, UK - Places of Geologic Significance on Waymarking.com |access-date=20 October 2008 }}
*{{cite web |url=http://geowords.com/histbookpdf/a22.pdf |title=Hutton's unconformities |author=Hugh Rance |year=1999 |format=pdf |work=Historical Geology: The Present is the Key to the Past |publisher=QCC Press |access-date=20 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203173042/http://www.geowords.com/histbookpdf/a22.pdf |archive-date=3 December 2008 |url-status=dead }}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.arranmuseum.co.uk/hutton's_unconformity1.htm |title=Hutton's Unconformity |date=18 July 2008 |publisher=[[Isle of Arran]] Heritage Museum |access-date=20 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121073501/http://www.arranmuseum.co.uk/hutton%27s_unconformity1.htm |archive-date=21 November 2008 }}</ref>

===Climate===
Lochranza is reputed to have the fewest hours of sunshine of any village in the United Kingdom, and is the most shaded village in the entire world according to world climate experts {{Citation needed|date=November 2018}}, since it lies in a north-facing glen on an island with a particularly high level of rainfall. The streets do not have any street lights so it can be dark in the winter months.

===Wildlife===
[[File:Lochranza deer.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Red deer on Lochranza golf course]]
The area around Lochranza Castle is a favoured spot to observe [[red deer]], as the village is home to a healthy red deer population and, on the northern shore, [[grey seal]]s are found year-round. [[Otter]]s and [[golden eagle]]s are also spotted in the area.

==Economy==
Formerly a herring fishing port, the village economy is now geared more towards tourism after the reopening of the pier in 2003. [[Lochranza Castle]]<ref>{{cite web
  | last = Garner
  | first = C.
  |author2=Wright, P.
   | title = Lochranza Castle
  |date=July 1999
  | url = http://www.darkisle.com/l/lochranza/lochranza.html
  | access-date = 24 July 2007
}}
</ref> is a fine ruin of a 16th-century L-plan castle, across the road from the Lochranza [[youth hostel]].

Lochranza is the site of the Arran Distillery, built in 1995 and producing the [[Arran Single Malt]].<ref>{{cite web
 |title=Distillery: "the true spirit of nature" 
 |publisher=Isle of Arran Distillers 
 |url=http://www.arranwhisky.com/lmenu/distillery.asp 
 |access-date=24 July 2007 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070624114201/http://www.arranwhisky.com/lmenu/distillery.asp 
 |archive-date=24 June 2007 
 |url-status=dead 
}}
</ref> The distillery is one of the major industries of the island. The bar of the Lochranza Hotel, to the north of the distillery, has one of the largest collections of Scotch whisky available by the measure in the country: over 350 different Scotch whiskies are available.<ref>{{cite web
  | title = Lochranza Hotel
  | url = http://www.lochranzahotel.co.uk/index.html
  | access-date = 23 November 2012}}
</ref>

Lochranza has a [[golf course]] with eleven holes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lochranza |url=http://www.golfonarran.com/lochranza/ |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=Golf on Arran |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Transport ==
[[File:MV Loch Tarbert.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[MV Loch Tarbert|MV ''Loch Tarbert'']] at Lochranza slipway]]

[[Caledonian MacBrayne]] operates a regular ferry service to [[Claonaig]] on [[Kintyre]] between March and October. There are seven daily crossings to Claonaig which operates at a roughly 90-minute frequency, and a once-daily service to [[Tarbert, Kintyre|Tarbert]] on [[Loch Fyne]] during the winter departing at 1345 daily from October to March. The usual vessel on this route is the {{MV|Catriona}}, which replaced the {{MV|Loch Tarbert}} in September 2016.

A new pier was constructed in 2003,<ref>{{cite web
  | last = Peters
  | first = Derek
  | title = Opening Lochranza Pier
  | date = June 2003
  | url = http://waverley2003.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/030629/index.htm
  | access-date = 24 July 2007
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070808055706/http://waverley2003.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/030629/index.htm
  | archive-date = 8 August 2007
  | url-status = dead
  }}</ref> allowing larger vessels easier access with the possibility to disembark passengers for a short tour of the village. Regular vessels which use the pier include the [[paddle steamer]] [[PS Waverley|''Waverley'']] and the ''Lord of the Glens'', a small cruise ship.
{{s-rail-start|noclear=yes}}
{{s-rail|title=Ferry}}
{{rail line |previous=|next=[[Tarbert, Kintyre|Tarbert]]|route=[[Caledonian MacBrayne]]<br><small>Ferry<br>(winter only)</small> |col={{CalMac color}} }}
{{rail line|previous=|next=[[Claonaig]]|route=[[Caledonian MacBrayne]]<br><small>Ferry<br>(summer only)</small> |col={{CalMac color}} }}
{{s-end}}
Lochranza is on the 324 bus route between [[Brodick]] and [[Blackwaterfoot]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arran bus timetable |url=https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/West%20Scotland/Arran%20322_323_324_Timetables_050721.pdf |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=Stagecoach}}</ref>

==Culture==
It is said that a local midwife once had an encounter with the Queen of the Fairies at Lochranza.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lochranza - Mysterious Britain & Ireland |url=http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/scotland/arran/folklore/lochranza.html |publisher=Mysterious Britain & Ireland |access-date=29 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728221413/http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/scotland/arran/folklore/lochranza.html |archive-date=28 July 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

The village is also celebrated in verse:

{{cquote|''On fair Lochranza streamed the early day,<br /> Thin wreaths of cottage smoke are upward curl'd<br /> From the lone hamlet, which her inland bay <br />And circling mountains sever from the world''
| 5 = ''The Lord of the Isle'' | 4 = [[Sir Walter Scott]]
 }}
{{-}}

The actress [[Katharine O'Donnelly]] was raised in the village.

[[Northend Thistle F.C.|Northend Thistle Football Club]] are based in Lochranza. They were once labelled "the worst football team in Europe", with a winless streak of 19 years,<ref>{{cite news |title=THE EWE CAMP; ARRAN SWEATERS NOT SO BAA-D What does team with sheep for groundsmen do after first win for 19 years? Flock to pub. |date=2011-06-17 |newspaper=[[Daily Record (Scotland)|Daily Record]] |first=Gary |last=Ralston}}</ref> and featured on [[Fox Sports (Asian TV network)|ESPN Asia]], [[Soccer Saturday]] and [[Sportscene|BBC Sport Scotland]].<ref name="bbc">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/scotland/45467060 |title='We play in the Ewe Camp & wear Barcelona's colours' |website=[[Sportscene|BBC Sport Scotland]] |date=2018-09-10}}</ref> Northend Thistle play at the Ewe Camp, voted one of the top grounds to visit in the country.<ref>{{cite news |title=Arran's Ewe Camp squeezes into top 100 football venues |newspaper=[[The Arran Banner]] |date=2021-02-19}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
*[http://www.fieldstudies.co.uk/online/index.asp  Aerial photograph of the bay]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101128092334/http://syha.org.uk/hostels/islands/lochranza.aspx  Youth Hostel]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070615133031/http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/BUT/Kilbride/lochranza.html Lochranza in 1882]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061230205751/http://www.whoownsscotland.org.uk/page_cache/bu/lochranza_acruach.htm Who owns Lochranza?]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211204/http://www.scotland-photo-library.co.uk/photonet/arran2000/10.html  Photo of the bay]
*[http://www.francisfrith.com/search/scotland/strathclyde/arran/photos/arran_a93001.htm Castle c.1890]

{{Arran}}

[[Category:Ports and harbours of Scotland]]
[[Category:Villages in the Isle of Arran]]
[[Category:Firth of Clyde]]
[[Category:Parishes in the County of Bute]]