Manse Road basin and bridge no. 43, view from WSW

Description Manse Road basin and bridge no. 43, view from WSW

Date 31/7/2001

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

Catalogue Number E 5910 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 796887

Scope and Content Manse Road Basin, Union Canal, Linlithgow, West Lothian, from west-south-west This shows two boats docked in the basin, with Bridge No 43 in the background. The bridge has a railed parapet which is continued in stone beside the road (right) which leads down to the former stables. The road on the left leads to Linlithgow and the towpath (left) continues underneath the bridge. This basin would have been where barges docked which were bringing goods into or transporting them out of Linlithgow. It 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.

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