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 785604

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of ED 6993

Scope and Content Port Hopetoun, Union Canal, Edinburgh (Port Hopetoun abandoned 1922; canal closed 1965 and navigation restored 2002) Port Hopetoun was a large enclosed basin of water that formed the eastern terminus of the canal at Lothian Road. It was surrounded by broad quays at which barges could unload their cargoes, and a range of buildings including a collection of sheds and bothies, stables and overseers' houses. The single-storeyed cottage on the left belonged to the bridge keeper who was responsible for raising the wooden drawbridge at the narrow entrance to the port to allow boats to enter the basin. The canal was officially opened in May 1822, the first boat to make the complete journey by water bringing flagstones from Denny to Port Hopetoun. The port had cellars, wharfs, shelters for passengers, warehouses, boat-building yards, an inn, and provided a connecting service by omnibus for passengers wishing to alight at Princes Street. Most of the canal trade, including coal, timber, stone, slate, brick, sand and lime, was landed at its quaysides, and it was the departure point for the passenger boats that travelled between Edinburgh and Glasgow. At first there were regular races between the night-boats of rival passenger-boat companies, but after complaints about injuries to passengers, the times of departure were altered to allow each company to leave the port at a different time. Cattle-boats also departed for Glasgow, the fare for 'fat cattle' being 'not less than one shilling and sixpence (7½ pence) per head'. These boats also carried the 'lower classes' as passengers at a fare of two shillings (10 pence). 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 Hopetoun 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/785604

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap