Feorlean

By feorlean

Calling time.

I first blipped the historic, but derelict, St Catherine's Inn in February 2011 , remarking then that it had become an eyesore.

I blipped it again in 2015 and in 2019 , as it continued to deteriorate but some months ago I read in the local paper that permission had now been given to demolish it, subject to a couple of conditions  including an agreement that there was to be signage  at the site, recording what had been there.   

There has been an inn at this spot ( a place for crossing Loch Fyne) for centuries and there was a part of this building that was listed, but in the end the lack of action and the perpetual visible reminder of the problem  (right by the main road) has presumably persuaded the Council that nothing would be served by further prolonging the agony.

Now each   time I drive past it  , I think it might be getting my last view of what was a fine building, where I remember Cathleen and I had a good dinner on a very cold night almost thirty years ago. 

So  today  on my way back from an equally good lunch at the George In Inveraray (another historic hotel,  though with a better future one hopes as it is  presently on the market) I stopped to take this picture and to reflect on how sad the saga has been, and how we need not only better regulatory  tools to deal with such things, but a firmer intention to do so too.  

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