Edinburgh, Union Canal. General view of canal showing basin and overbridge.

Description Edinburgh, Union Canal. General view of canal showing basin and overbridge.

Date 1900 to 1930

Collection Collection of photographs by George Chrystal and Francis Maxwell Chrystal, photographers, Edinburgh,

Catalogue Number SC 785601

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of ED 6992

Scope and Content Port Hamilton, Union Canal, Edinburgh, looking towards the entrance (Port Hamilton abandoned 1922; canal closed 1965 and navigation restored 2002) Port Hamilton, a large rectangular basin of water that formed an offshoot of the canal west of Semple Street, was the second basin for the Union Canal to be constructed in Edinburgh. It was designed to handle coal, and named in honour of the Duke of Hamilton whose coalfields supplied most of its cargo. Boats entering the narrow neck of the port had to pass under this elevated wooden footbridge. Port Hopetoun, the eastern terminal basin of the canal, opened in 1822. Its main cargo was coal, although other major cargoes included timber, stone, slate, brick, sand and lime. In the mid-19th century as Port Hopetoun struggled to accommodate the increased canal trade, and a second basin, Port Hamilton, was built to handle coal traffic. The coal was brought from '7 miles beyond Glasgow', as well as in considerable quantities from the Duke of Hamilton's coalfields at Redding and Brighton. When the canal trade declined in the early 20th century, the area around the port deteriorated rapidly, and in 1922 the basin was abandoned. The canal was shortened to finish on the south side of Fountainbridge, and Port Hamilton was eventually filled in. The Union Canal, the last of Scotland's major canals, was a commercial venture begun in 1818 and completed in 1822. It was built principally as a means of importing coal and lime into Edinburgh, and ran from Port Hopetoun in Edinburgh to join the Forth & Clyde Canal at Camelon, Stirlingshire. However, within 20 years of completion most of its passenger traffic was lost to the railways, and the Edinburgh basins closed in 1922. The rest of the canal remained navigational until 1965 when it was finally closed by an Act of Parliament. In 2002, Britain's largest canal restoration project, The Millennium Link, restored navigation, and with an extension to the Union Canal and a link with the Forth & Clyde Canal through the Falkirk Wheel, boats were once more able to travel between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/785601

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap