Alan Drury's photos with the keyword: Oban

Oban (/ˈoʊbən/ OH-bən; An t-Òban in Scottish Gaelic meaning The Little Bay) is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, the town can play host to up to 25,000 people.Oban occupies a setting in the Firth of Lorn. The bay is a near perfect horseshoe, protected by the island of Kerrera; and beyond Kerrera, the Isle of Mull. To the north is the long low island of Lismore and the mountains of Morvern and Ardgour.

McCaig's Tower also known as McCaig's Folly, is a prominent tower on Battery Hill overlooking the town of Oban in Argyll, Scotland. It is built of Bonawe granite taken from the quarries across Airds Bay, on Loch Etive, from Muckairn, with a circumference of about 200 metres (660 ft) with two-tiers of 94 lancet arches (44 on the bottom and 50 on top). It is a Grade B Listed historic monument. The structure was commissioned, at a cost of £5,000 sterling (£500,000 at 2006 prices using GDP deflator), by the wealthy, philanthropic banker (North of Scotland Bank), John Stuart McCaig. John Stuart McCaig was his own architect.The tower was erected between 1897 and his death, aged 78 from cardiac arrest, on 29 June 1902 at John Square House in Oban. McCaig's intention was to provide a lasting monument to his family, and provide work for the local stonemasons during the winter months. McCaig was an admirer of Roman and Greek architecture, and had planned for an elaborate structure, based on the Colosseum in Rome. His plans allowed for a museum and art gallery with a central tower to be incorporated. Inside the central tower he planned to commission statues of himself, his siblings and their parents. His death brought an end to construction with only the outer walls completed.Although his will included £1,000 per year for maintenance, the will was disputed by his heirs; their appeal to the court was successful.

MV Isle of Lewis operates on the Oban - Castlebay, Isle of Barra

MV Clansman operates on the Oban - Coll/Tiree; Oban - Colonsay route

MV Hebridean Princess is a cruise ship operated by Hebridean Island Cruises. She started life as the MacBrayne car ferry and Royal Mail Ship, initially RMS then MV Columba, based in Oban for the first 25 years of her life, carrying up to 600 passengers, and 50 cars, between the Scottish islands. RMS Columba was the last of three car ferries built in 1964 by Hall, Russell & Company, Aberdeen for the Secretary of State for Scotland.The Secretary of State for Scotland ordered a trio of near-identical car ferries for the Western Isles. They were chartered to David MacBrayne Ltd and were all equipped to serve as floating nuclear shelters, in the event of national emergency.This included vertical sliding watertight doors that could seal off the car deck, immediately aft of the hoist.Columba was the last of the three to enter service. Columba took up the Isle of Mull service, replacing the elderly ships MV Lochearn and MV Lochmor. She continued on this route for nine years. Columba's interiors, and those of her sisters MV Hebrides and MV Clansman, were designed by a young Scottish designer, John McNeece, who was to go on to design the interiors of numerous cruise ships over the next 40 years. In 1968, additional buoyant seating was added on the after deck, boosting her passenger complement from 600 to 870. Cars were loaded via a forward hydraulic hoist.Below the car deck were sleeping berths for 51. She was the first vessel to make Sunday sailings, which started in 1972 and were combined with short cruises. There was some opposition to the innovation. 1972 was her last year on the Mull station. That winter, Columba relieved at Stornoway and then took up MV Clansman's roster at Mallaig. Night sailings to Lochboisdale and Castlebay only lasted one year and in 1974 Columba only had the light Mallaig – Armadale, Skye roster. On the withdrawal of the veteran King George V, Columba was restored to Oban, serving Coll and Tiree, Colonsay, Iona, Lochaline and Tobermory. In winter Columba became the regular relief at Uig and, until 1979, of MV Iona on the Outer Isles run. Columba continued in service after her sisters, MV Hebrides and MV Clansman. Even in CalMac operation, she gave special cruises, including St Kilda and Kishorn Yard as destinations.From 1985 she was the last dedicated hoist-loading vessel in service. In 1988, she was acquired by a new venture, Hebridean Island Cruises of Skipton to offer luxury cruises. She underwent a major refit at George Prior Engineering in Great Yarmouth in 1989, emerging as the cruise ship, MV Hebridean Princess. She began operating on 26 May 1989 and provides cruises around the Western Isles of Scotland. More recently, itineraries have been extended to include Ireland, the Orkney and Shetland islands, the Norwegian Fjords and the Isles of Scilly. Initially, she retained a car-carrying capability, giving the option of leaving at intermediate ports. Within two years the car-carrying capacity was removed and additional cabins constructed to allow a dramatic increase in the crew-to-guest ratio. By 1997, a crew of 37 was serving just 49 passengers in considerable luxury. From 21 July to 29 July 2006, HM Queen Elizabeth II chartered Hebridean Princess for a holiday around the Scottish Islands to mark her 80th birthday. The Queen reportedly paid £125,000 for the use of the ship.[14] In June 2009, All Leisure Group, which also owns the Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery lines, purchased the company.The company name was changed from Hebridean International Cruises (used when MV Hebridean Spirit was operating deep-sea itineraries), to its current name, but the ship continues to operate as it did before the take over. In 2010 HM Queen Elizabeth II chartered Hebridean Princess for another holiday around the Scottish Islands, sailing from Stornoway on 23 July for two weeks.

MV Clansman is a ferry owned by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited and operated by Caledonian MacBrayne, operating from Oban on the west coast of Scotland. The present MV Clansman is the fifth vessel to carry the name in the CalMac fleet over the years. The most recent predecessor was the 1964 built hoist loading ferry. Launched on 27 March 1998 at Appledore Shipbuilders in North Devon, she entered service four months later. As the third largest vessel in the fleet, she brought new levels of capacity and passenger comfort to the routes. The main complaint passengers had was Clansman's lack of open deckspace. The design of the ship was such that exterior areas for passengers came at a premium. Calmac remedied this problem by adding an extension, above the area aft of the bar during her annual overhaul in 2003 Clansman has an almost identical sister ship, MV Hebrides, built in 2000 to a similar specification. In April 2016, Clansman currently serves Coll, Tiree and Colonsay from Oban, with MV Isle of Lewis operating a daily dedicated service to Castlebay. A new daily return service from Lochboisdale to Mallaig commenced in April 2016, thus ending South Uist's direct link with Oban. A cafeteria is situated at the bow, with an observation lounge directly above. Aft are a series of lounges, shop and bar. Above is crew accommodation and a relatively small amount of open deck space. She lacks a forward deck. The car deck has room for approximately 90 cars. It also has a mezzanine deck on the starboard side which can be raised or lowered to allow loading of up to 10 more cars. Recently, the upper deck was extended aft to allow for more open deck space and some deck space sheltered from the elements. Designed specifically for the Oban – Castlebay / Lochboisdale and Oban – Coll / Tiree services, Clansman replaced MV Lord of the Isles. At 99m in length, she is the largest vessel that can safely navigate the numerous channels on her routes. She was however too large to call at Tobermory which was dropped from the Coll/Tiree sailings on her introduction. Each winter since her introduction, Clansman has relieved the larger Calmac units for their annual refit, leaving the route she was built for with Lord of the Isles. She has seen service at Lewis, Uig, Mull and Arran. A breakdown on 17 June 2010 resulted in Clansman being taken out of service for crankshaft repairs, and problems found meanwhile reassembling the engine resulted in an extended disruption to services. CalMac tried to arrange for a replacement vessel, however none could be found available for lease.Out of action for six weeks, the Clansman returned to service later in the summer. After running extra services in August to cater for the Barra Fest music festival, she broke down again en route to Barra after the port engine developed a fault. The repair was effected quickly but the event caused further disruption during the busiest time of the year. From 30 September to 17 October 2016, Clansman relieved on the Uig triangle in place of the MV Hebrides, after the Hebrides was sent to dry dock to repair damage sustained in a collision in Lochmaddy Harbour.

MV Coruisk is a Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited ferry built in 2003, operated by Caledonian MacBrayne and serving the west coast of Scotland. Following her launch at Appledore's yard in early 2003, Coruisk left on her delivery voyage on August 2. She carried out berthing trials on the Clyde before taking over the Mallaig to Armadale route on August 14. She was officially named at Armadale by Baroness Ray Michie of Gallanach at a special ceremony. Initial technical problems required MV Pioneer to resume the service for some time. On 24 August, Coruisk lost power and struck a reef at the Mallaig harbour entrance, losing one of her propulsion units. She went to the Clyde for repairs and did not return to Mallaig that season. The following winter season at Dunoon was only slightly more successful, with slow berthing and many passenger complaints adding to her worsening reputation.Subsequent seasons have been less eventful. A temporary modification is made for the winter seasons to accommodate the gangways at Wemyss Bay and Rothesay. The design of Coruisk is unique.As well as bow and stern ramps, allowing drive-through operation, she also has a port side ramp, allowing side-loading on the Clyde in winter months. The bow ramp is protected by an open visor, similar to those found on Orkney and Shetland inter-island ferries. Clearance on the car deck is 5.1m. Above the car deck are two passenger decks, one containing the main lounge areas with toilets and a small shop/kiosk. A small external deck area on the same level, both fore and aft of the lounges, has stairways leading to the open deck above. Crew accommodation is on the upper deck. Sitting even further up, the bridge gives the master a view down over bow and stern. Schottel electric azimuth thrusters incorporate rotating pods protruding beneath the hull, with two propellers on each. Although similar to Voith Schneider units, the vessel proved much harder to control and manoeuvre. Until 2016, Coruisk was the sole vessel on the Mallaig to Armadale service in summer, relieving on the Upper Clyde in winter (when MV Lochnevis adds Armadale to her Small Isles roster). Since 2011, when the company's Dunoon service became passenger-only, Coruisk mainly relieved at Rothesay. During the winter period, Coruisk often provides a support service for the Argyll Ferries service from Gourock to Dunoon.In March 2014 she ran into the pier at Dunoon sustaining serious damage but managed to make her own way to Greenock to be assessed for repairs. In 2016, Coruisk became the second vessel on the Oban - Craignure route alongside MV Isle of Mull during the summer timetable period. She was replaced at Mallaig for the 2016 season by the much smaller MV Lochinvar and MV Lord of the Isles (in between the latter's Lochboisdale - Mallaig sailings). This reshuffling of the Mallaig fleet has been largely criticised by campaigners calling for Coruisk to remain at Mallaig with MV Lord of the Isles. In January 2017, it was announced that Coruisk would remain on the Oban - Craignure route for a second summer season: the Skye crossing being operated by MV Lord of the Isles and MV Loch Fyne until the new ferries for Arran and the Uig Triangle are due in service in 2019.

NLV Pharos is a lighthouse tender operated by the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB), the body responsible for the operation of lighthouses and marine navigation aids around the coasts of Scotland and the Isle of Man. NLV Pharos and her sister ship, Galatea (2006) were built by Stocznia Remontowa SA, Gdańsk, Poland as part of a £38 million contract. Galatea serves the same role for Trinity House on the coast of England, Wales and the Channel Islands. NLV Pharos is the tenth NLB vessel to carry the name, replacing the ninth Pharos in March 2007. The first Pharos, which operated as a lighthouse vessel from 1799 to 1810, was a simple wooden sloop 49 feet long (approx 15 metres) and 18 feet wide (approx 5½ metres). Pharos was the great lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World NLV Pharos is based in Oban and works mainly in Scottish and Manx waters, servicing over 200 automatic lighthouses, buoys, and beacons. She is also able to carry out hydrographic surveying and wreck finding and other commercial work under contract.