General view from E Digital image of E5924 CN

Description General view from E Digital image of E5924 CN

Date 31/7/2001

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number SC 678602

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of E 5924 CN

Scope and Content Manse Road Basin, Union Canal, Linlithgow, West Lothian, from east This shows two boats docked in the basin with cottages in the background which were probably originally inhabited by canal workers and their families. The cobbled ramp on the left would have been used to launch boats and to unload or load cargo from barges. The boat (centre) is called 'Thistle Down' and is available for hire like many other boats at the basin. This basin has become a centre for the regeneration of the canal as it is the base for the Linlithgow Union Canal Society, which was founded in 1975. This organisation operates canal trips on a replica Victorian steam packet boat and a modern steel vessel. They have also converted a cottage and stables into a tearoom and museum. The government authorised the construction of the Union Canal in 1817 and appointed Hugh Baird (1770-1827) as the chief engineer. The main purpose of the canal was to provide an economical route for the transportation of coal and lime between Edinburgh and Glasgow via the Forth & Clyde Canal (1768-90). The 51km-long canal was opened in 1822 at a cost of £461,760, almost double the estimate, and it ran from Lock 16 at Camelon, Falkirk to Fountainbridge, Edinburgh. Except where the two canals are joined at Falkirk, the canal was built with no locks because it followed the contours of the hills. The Union Canal was closed in 1965, two years after the Forth & Clyde Canal, and the construction of new roads meant that it was impossible for boats to travel along the full length of these watercourses. However, the £84.5m Millennium Link project enabled both canals to reopen in 2002. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/678602

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap