Edinburgh, Union Canal. General view of canal and rubber mill.

Description Edinburgh, Union Canal. General view of canal and rubber mill.

Date 1900 to 1930

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

Catalogue Number SC 785621

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of ED 7013

Scope and Content Lochrin Basin, Union Canal, Edinburgh, looking east from Viewforth Bridge (closed 1965 and navigation restored 2002) This wide basin at Viewforth, bordered by broad quays to the north (left) and a collection of low timber boat-houses along Lower Gilmore Place to the south (right), was established as the canal's new eastern terminal basin after the original terminal basin at Port Hopetoun closed in 1922. The basin was dominated by the great bulk of the North British Rubber Works building (left) to the north, one of the few surviving industries still dependent on drawing a source of water from the canal in the early 20th century. The large wooden barges (right) used on the canal were called 'lighters' and were pulled by two horses. The canal initially brought much trade into Edinburgh. Coal was the principal cargo, but grain and building materials such as timber, slate, brick, sand and stone were also transported into the city. There was comparatively little trade out except in 'merchant goods' and manure. The bulk of the goods were landed at Port Hopetoun, a single large basin that formed the eastern terminus of the canal at Lothian Road. However, as the canal trade declined in the early 20th century, so did the area around Port Hopetoun, becoming 'one of the most hideous features of Edinburgh'. The terminus was closed in 1922 and a new terminus established south of Fountainbridge, taking its name, Lochrin Basin, from an earlier basin of the same name. 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/785621

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap