The Buildings of Port Appin

These fictional Port Appin buildings are both based on actual properties.  The Kilberry Inn is a few miles from Tarbert (Argyll).  Turn off the Campbeltown A83 at the edge of town and go 14 miles along the B8024, a back road to Ormsary which rejoins the main A83 just south of Ardrishaig.  The Kilberry Inn is a building fronting the road and has the dimensions of converted farm dwellings which interested me straight away.  The actual building has a twee look about it, not OTT but rather charming and the old telephone box and 21st century branding adds to the appeal.  I had to model it!  

The two storey L shaped building being used here as part of a hotel complex was spotted in Campbeltown, 50 miles south of Kilberry, when I was driving around the side streets. It’s Ivybank House on the corner of Kirk Street and New Quay Street, opposite the splendid Craigdhu Mansions.  There are some excellent properties in the town that I’d like to model but I think they would be totally out of place on the diminutive Port Appin diorama.  In this view I’ve placed the two buildings together to give the impression of a hotel with outbuildings.  Seems to work well.  I’ve deliberately not included people in the photo, check Google Earth, you simply don’t see them on every corner.

Extras are attached showing Ivybank in construction stages, June 2015 and Kilberry Inn completed in March 2015.


The cars are from the Oxford range of 1:76th '00' scale  motor vehicles.