Hidden Scotland
Sign in
The Tinkers' Heart, white quartz pebbles set in a heart in the old road surface.
Argyll and Bute

Tinkers’ Heart

A heart of white quartz stones set in an old road junction above Loch Fyne, the only permanent memorial to Scotland's Travellers, a scheduled monument since 2015.

Welcome

Above the head of Loch Fyne, near Cairndow, a few white stones lie set into the old tarmac of a road junction that is now part of a field.

Look closer and they make a heart: twenty-five quartz pebbles around the edge and a twenty-sixth in the middle, the whole thing not quite two metres across.

This is the Tinkers' Heart, and it is the only known permanent memorial to Scotland's Travellers, the travelling people who have been part of the country's life for centuries. Nobody knows for certain who first set the stones, but the Travellers' own tradition holds it as a place for weddings, blessings and remembering, and families still come here.

In 2014 the Traveller and writer Jess Smith led a petition to protect it, and in July 2015 it became a scheduled monument. It lies where the old Strachur road met the road through Hell's Glen. Look at it from the edge, and leave the stones as you find them.

A short drive awayLoch Fyne Oyster BarOysters at the head of the loch.7 min by roadSee itChilled counter and shelves of jars inside the Loch Fyne Deli and Shop
Before you go

The heart lies in a field and can be seen at any time, free.

Please look without stepping on it.

Where
By the A815 near Cairndow, at the old junction with the Hell's Glen road.
Protected
A scheduled monument since 30 July 2015.
Where it is

At the old junction of the A815 and the Hell's Glen road, the B839, near Cairndow at the head of Loch Fyne.

Close byLoch Fyne.
  1. The Fyne Ales farm buildings in the glen from above.Fyne AlesA family farm brewery at the head of Loch Fyne, with a tap room, a courtyard beer garden and weekend tours.5 miles7 min by road
  2. Beinn Ìme above an old stone bridge in autumn colour.Beinn ImeThe highest of the Arrochar Alps, 1,012 metres above Loch Long, climbed from Succoth with rocky Beinn Narnain.6 miles7 min by road
  3. The blacksmith at the glowing forge.Strachur Smiddy Museum and CraftsA village blacksmith's shop at Strachur, worked by four generations of Montgomerys and kept as a museum with a working forge.8 miles11 min by road
  4. The castle among woods beyond the River Aray and its bridge, from above.Inveraray CastleThe Duke of Argyll's castle along the loch.14 miles21 min by road
  5. The road climbing Glen Croe to the Rest and Be Thankful between steep green hills.Rest and be ThankfulThe pass over to Loch Long.15 miles21 min by road
Directions
A dark timber cabin with a pitched metal roof stands among ferns and birch trees.CairndowKabnSleeps 2 · 1.5 miles
The courthouse front between whitewashed houses at the top of the town.AttractionsInveraray Jail3.8 miles over the water
Shelves of pink and orange bottles beside a wooden coffee shop counterCafeCampbell Coffee3.8 miles over the water
The white houses of Inveraray on their point in Loch Fyne, from above.AttractionsInveraray3.9 miles over the water
Chilled counter and shelves of jars inside the Loch Fyne Deli and ShopRestaurantsLoch Fyne Oyster Bar5.2 miles
A coffee on a timber table at the Boat Shed.CafeThe Boat Shed Café8.0 miles
Seal Cabin, Argyll and ButeArgyll and ButeSeal CabinSleeps 2 · 8.3 miles
Red Squirrel Cabin, Argyll and ButeArgyll and ButeRed Squirrel CottageSleeps 6 · 8.3 miles
Walkers descend a rocky hillside path beside a tumbling burnAttractionsThe Cobbler8.3 miles
Stay nearby

Places to stay near the memorial, and when each is next free.

A dark timber cabin with a pitched metal roof stands among ferns and birch trees.Kabn
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Cairndow
  • Under a mile from the Tinkers' Heart
Free 17–19 NovRed Squirrel Cabin, Argyll and ButeRed Squirrel Cottage
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Argyll and Bute
  • 6 miles from the Tinkers' Heart
Check datesSeal Cabin, Argyll and ButeSeal Cabin
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Argyll and Bute
  • 6 miles from the Tinkers' Heart
Check datesTimber cabin with copper roof beside a loch, shaded by oak treesUisge Bothy
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Oban
  • 19 miles from the Tinkers' Heart
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in Argyll and ButeAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
Hidden Scotland, the magazine

Scotland, in print.

Every photograph commissioned, every word written by somebody who went. Printed twice a year, made in Scotland.

Get Issue 13Read it here
Find out more

For further reading, before you go.