Edinburgh, Union Canal. General view of bridge at Port Hopetoun/Hamilton.

Description Edinburgh, Union Canal. General view of bridge at Port Hopetoun/Hamilton.

Date 1900 to 1930

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

Catalogue Number SC 785638

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of ED 7269

Scope and Content Fountainbridge Lifting Bridge, Union Canal, Edinburgh (bridge re-sited at Leamington; canal closed 1965 and navigation restored 2002) This hydraulically-powered vertical lift bridge, dating from c.1908, stood at Fountainbridge near the approach to Port Hopetoun, the eastern terminal basin of the canal at Lothian Road. The deck of the bridge could be raised between gantries at each side of the road to allow boats to pass through, and foot passengers could cross the canal at this point by an elevated wooden footbridge (visible on this side of the bridge). Trade on the canal gradually decreased in the early 20th century. In 1907, 56 barges carried 120,000 tons of goods annually, but by 1921 there were only 32 boats carrying a mere 20,000 tons. The canal gradually became weedy and inadequately dredged, and through traffic with the Forth & Clyde Canal virtually ceased. In 1922 Port Hopetoun and the coal basin at Port Hamilton were abandoned, and the canal shortened to finish on the south side of Fountainbridge. This hydraulic bridge was now redundant, and shortly after the basins were closed, was re-sited further west on the canal at Leamington Road. 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/785638

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap