Port Bannatyne lies on the Firth of Clyde, approximately north of Rothesay on the Scottish Isle of Bute. Rhubodach is a further north away on the A886 and a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry service to the Cowal peninsula. This ferry runs every 30 minutes during the day. In Rothesay there is a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry service to Wemyss Bay in Inverclyde. This ferry leaves every 45 minutes during the day. Substantial slate and stone houses face the sea around Kames Bay. The village's focus was the stone pier mid-way along the south shore of Kames Bay. The bay provided mooring for yachts and fishing boats.
On the seafront are a shop/Post Office, The Port Inn and the Anchor Tavern. The Port Royal Hotel, just along the road is the old village inn. It was bought in 2000 by a Russian family who renovated the building and turned the old pub into a replica of a Russian Tavern of Imperial Times. It has five guest rooms and serves fine seafood and Russian Cuisine. Above the village, with views across the sea to the Isle of Arran and the Argyll hills, is the Port Bannatyne golf-course. Built in 1912, the course now has 13 holes and wild deer grazing the herbage. The village has strong links overseas and has its own club for the French game of Pétanque, with a pitch, or piste, on the seafront. In 2005, work was started on the new yacht marina. The small boatyard has grown into a stone-built sea wall enclosure of part of the bay, providing 105 berths.
History
The village started in 1801 with the building of a small harbour on Kames Bay. Lord Bannatyne of Kames Castle, at the head of the bay, planned the village in an attempt to rival Rothesay. Initially known as Kamesburgh, by the mid-19th century, steamers were calling there regularly. In 1860 the Marquess of Bute purchased this part of the island and renamed the village Port Bannatyne in honour of the long historical association of the Bannatyne family with the area. Boat building became an important local industry. In 1879 a narrow gauge horse-drawn tram linked Port Bannatyne with Rothesay. This was electrified and extended across the island to Ettrick Bay in 1902. Port Bannatyne developed into the 20th century as a quieter alternative to Rothesay. In the Second World Warmidget submarines exercised in the bay and nearby Loch Striven. The luxury Kyles Hydro Hotel, overlooking the Port, was requisitioned by the Admiralty to serve as the HQ for midget submarine operations. In particular, it was from here that the top secret and audacious attack on the Tirpitz was masterminded.
