Welcome to Oban!

Oban can be a lovely place when the sun is shining and there's an event on in the harbour, but there are many parts of the town which let the side down very badly.

In the car park between Tesco and Lidl, where the campervans park beside the Black Lynn where 'Keep Oban Beautiful' ('Make Oban Beautiful' some wag suggested!) have been pulling Himalayan Balsam this afternoon for the third weekend running, is this charming town map where at one time you could shelter under the roof and plot your walks around the town. Charming it may once have been, but it's now covered in graffiti and stickers and the roof has long gone. 

Beside it is the bent sign which still directs you to the nearby toilets, now demolished, and the Tourist Information Centre, no longer 1/4 mile away but round the other side of the harbour. The car park flower beds and the gullies and kerbs are all full of weeds too, which doesn't improve the ambience of the area. Oh I forgot - there's always litter around the place too, though most of the rubbish is thrown over the fence and into the Black Lynn and thence to the sea. 

Am I having a Grumpy Old Man day, or am I just telling it like it is?  The latter, I think.

Shame on you Oban!