Connel Bridge
The steel cantilever of 1903 over the Falls of Lora at the mouth of Loch Etive, built for the railway and now carrying the road.
Connel Bridge is the great steel cantilever that carries the A828 over the mouth of Loch Etive at Connel, north of Oban, where the loch narrows to a few hundred feet before meeting the Firth of Lorn.
Directly beneath it run the Falls of Lora, tidal rapids that pour over a rock ledge whenever the sea falls below the level of the loch, and the fierce current made it impossible to build piers in the water; so the bridge was built out from each bank instead.
It was begun in 1898 and opened in August 1903 to carry the Ballachulish branch of the Callander and Oban Railway, engineered by Sir John Wolfe Barry with Henry Marc Brunel, son of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built with some 2,600 tons of steel from Arrol's works in Glasgow. From 1914 cars could cross too, one at a time and never with a train on it, paying a toll; when the railway closed in 1966 the bridge became a road bridge and the toll was lifted.
The bridge carries the A828 at Connel, north of Oban.
The Falls of Lora are best seen from the shore on a falling tide.
- Where
- Connel, on the A828 north of Oban.
- When
- Any time; the falls run on the ebb.
Connel, on the A828 north of Oban.
The Oyster Inn, ConnelAn inn by the Falls of Lora at Connel, dating back to the 18th-century Ferryman's Inn, with a seafood restaurant, the Gluepot bar and rooms.Under a mile 1 min by road
Poppies, Saulmore2 miles 4 min by road
Ben Lora Cafe & BookshopA family-run café and bookshop in Benderloch, north of Oban, a short walk from Tralee beach.2 miles 4 min by road
Dunstaffnage CastleOne of Scotland's oldest stone castles, built by the MacDougalls before 1240 on a rock at the mouth of Loch Etive.3 miles 6 min by road
Ocean Explorer CentreThe marine scientists' visitor centre at Dunbeg, with a giant globe, microscopes on the Firth of Lorn and free entry.3 miles 6 min by road
Airds BayA quiet pebble bay on Loch Etive by Taynuilt, looking up the loch into roadless hills.8 miles 11 min by road
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Places to stay near the bridge, and when each is next free.
Glencruitten House- To stay
- In Oban
- 4 miles from Connel Bridge
Uisge Bothy- Sleeps 2
- In Oban
- 4 miles from Connel Bridge
Beatha- Sleeps 2
- In Oban
- 4 miles from Connel Bridge
The Drury- Sleeps 22
- In Oban
- 4 miles from Connel Bridge
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