History
Determined to have the Kintyre Peninsula as well, King Magnus had his warriors drag a Viking longboat across the narrow isthmus at the northern end of the peninsula. The king himself sat down in the poop and took hold of the helm-ball and thus he got possession of all the coasts lying on the larboard side.’ The Magnus Saga.
Kintyre had indeed become an island!
While the same feat was repeated by King Robert the Bruce in the 14th Century it does seem likely that it was fairly common for small boats to be dragged across the isthmus to save the long and dangerous voyage around the Mull of Kintyre.
In
the 17th and 18th centuries there were small communities of crofters
and fishermen working in and around Carradale. The introduction of
steam ships transformed Kintyre and from the 1830s until the Second
World War daily steamers went from Campbeltown to Glasgow, calling at
Carradale.
With the herring industry thriving, Carradale's first pier was built in 1858, developing and encouraging the holiday trade. This situation persisted until the Second World War, with hotels developing and a tradition of families returning year after year. Now this situation is reversing again. Carradale still has a fishing fleet, - largely dealing in shellfish. Since the 1950s, forestry has also played an important part in the village with large scale afforestation taking place.