Helensburgh Heritage
Helensburgh Heritage Trust
ARDENCONNEL House in Rhu these days consists of high quality flats . . . but in days gone by it was a holiday hotspot.
The B-listed mansion was built by the Buchanan family in the late 18th century, and its uses have included family home, holiday home, and Sergeants Mess.
A POPULAR spot in Helensburgh for walkers is the Duchess Wood Local Nature Reserve.
The Duchess Wood, which used to be known as the Bluebell Wood for obvious reasons, has been loved and used by many generations of local people.
TRAFFIC roars past the Faslane Peace Camp, with few people in the vehicles realising that a gem of a mansion is hidden by the trees. But there is considerable doubt over its future.
HELENSBURGH has always been a popular destination for day trippers and holidaymakers, despite its variable weather.
The visitors have been vital to the burgh’s economy and this was just as true a century ago. A Helensburgh guide book from the early 1900s noted: “Tourist people are no fools; well they know good summer quarters as the troutling knows the pools.”
ONE of the sadder sights on Helensburgh seafront is the magnificent mansion Cairndhu boarded up and starting to deterioriate.
Hopefully a new use will be found for this former home, wartime degaussing base, hotel and then care home, as it a gem well worth preserving.
A DAMAGED glacial boulder from 10,000 years ago catches the eye of walkers on the popular Upland Walkway footpath near its junction with the Highlandman’s Road on the hillside above Helensburgh and Rhu.
But as more and more walkers use the footpath, concern is growing about the need to preserve the relic of the past.
A SEARCH has been launched for information about one of the stunning mansions in Rhu, Laggary House, and its occupants.
The B-listed building which towers over the Laggary Park development in what was originally its grounds is an Italianate house with towers, in honey-coloured sandstone, and now contains four flats.