Castle Toward Castle Toward is an outdoor education facility , based in a nineteenth - century country house on the southern tip of the Cowal peninsula in Argyll , Scotland . History . Toward Castle . The original Toward Castle dates from the 15th century . Now ruined , it was owned by the Clan Lamont until 1809 . The ruins lie around south - east of the later building . Castle Toward . The present Castle Toward was built in 1820 by Kirkman Finlay , former Lord Provost of Glasgow , as his family ' s country house . Later owned and extended by the Coats family of Paisley , the house is a castellated mansion , with Italian plasterwork installed in the public rooms in 1920 . The grounds incorporate the ruins of the sixteenth century Toward Castle , the Chinese ponds , wooded areas , access to the shore , and views over the Firth of Clyde . During the Second World War the castle was used as a combined operations centre ( COC No . 2 ) , HMS " Brontosaurus " . The castle , and of woodland , were purchased by the Corporation of Glasgow in the 1940s . The building was used initially as a residential school for children recovering from illness or living in deprived home conditions . It then became available for residential education for children from all Glasgow Primary Schools and operated for 50 years as an outdoor education centre , being used by up to 400 , 000 children from Glasgow and Renfrewshire . With the reorganisation of local government in Scotland in 1996 , ownership passed to Argyll and Bute Council and such centres were threatened with closure . A rescue operation was mounted by Castle Toward ’ s principal , Peter Wilson , and a company , Actual Reality was formed , which kept the castle in use as an outdoor activity centre , along with the council - owned centre at Ardentinny . There have been several attempts by the council to sell the estate , but all have met with fierce opposition . On 13 November 2009 Argyll and Bute Council closed the castle on the grounds that it was unfit for purpose . This followed directly Actual Reality ' s request to upgrade the fire protection system following an audit of the castle in co - operation with Strathclyde Fire Brigade . There is currently a growing online campaign to save Castle Toward , including a Facebook campaign which has attracted over 4000 members in its first month . Current uses . Toward Castle is now a residential training centre operated by Actual Reality . Outdoor education activities include high ropes , kayaking , and orienteering , as well as gorge walks and hill walks . For younger children there are wide games , amongst other outdoor games . Its long history has led to a multitude of ghost stories , much perpetuated by the young people who visit . The grounds of the outdoor education centre were used as a location for the children ' s BBC Television series " Raven " , featuring the actor James MacKenzie , up to and including the seventh series at the start of 2008 . As well as outdoor education , the house is also used for residential courses for young people in music and art . The Glasgow Schools ' Symphony Orchestra and West of Scotland Schools ' Concert Band visit regularly . The castle ' s composer - in - residence is John Maxwell Geddes , who wrote a " Postlude for Strings " in protest at plans to sell the castle .