Kintyre and Argyll - more background on our trip

US Stealth Bomber

After visiting Campbeltown and Kintyre l read a piece that l found quite interesting and answered a lot of questions.
When we moved down from Tarbert to Campbeltown and our camp site at Machrihanish we took the wrong road out of town and ended up heading towards the so called Campbeltown Airport. The place was massive with buildings and hangers lining the full length of the site with security fencing and observation towers, albeit in a run down state. Nevertheless it was a significant military base, and the book highlighted that until 1997 the base was RAF Machrihanish, a secret operating NATO facility that was used by the US for their stealth bombers during the gulf war.
The runway at 10,000 ft, 1.9 miles long is the second longest in the UK. The area was also used for US Navy Seal exercises. 

As we drove round it still looked as if it was being used, but for what, who knows.



On a lighter note, the first hole at Machrihanish Golf course is regularly voted "THE BEST FIRST HOLE IN THE WORLD" an opinion endorsed by none other than Jack Nicklause.

As you tee off, your back faces the coast of Northern Ireland only 12 miles away. No wonder the landscape is similar.