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 785622

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of ED 7014

Scope and Content North British Rubber Works, Lochrin Basin, Union Canal, Edinburgh (closed 1965 and navigation restored 2002) This wide basin at Viewforth, bordered by broad quays and the great bulk of the North British Rubber Works building to the north (right), was established as the canal's new eastern terminal basin after the original terminal basin at Port Hopetoun closed in 1922. The basin is unusual, with high sides, and has the general appearance of a tidal dock. At its western approach, an elegant stone bridge (Bridge No 1) at Viewforth carries an access road over the canal. When the commercial trade on the canal dwindled in the early 20th century, it remained an important supplier of water to industrial establishments in Falkirk, Linlithgow and Edinburgh, and, in particular, to the North British Rubber Works south of Fountainbridge. Other industries continued to rely on the canal for transport including Nobel's chemical factory at Redding which made explosives, vitriol and detonators, and the Winchburgh brick works. The latter was the last commercial user of the canal and stopped sending barge loads of bricks to Edinburgh in 1937 when the aqueduct over Slateford Road was closed for reconstruction. 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/785622

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap