Union Canal, Fountainbridge. Iron bridge, before removal to Leamington. Digital image of ED 7417

Description Union Canal, Fountainbridge. Iron bridge, before removal to Leamington. Digital image of ED 7417

Date 1900 to 1930

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

Catalogue Number SC 785656

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of ED 7417

Scope and Content Fountainbridge Lifting Bridge, Union Canal, Edinburgh, before removal to Leamington (bridge re-sited at Leamington; canal closed 1965 and navigation restored 2002) This hydraulically-powered vertical lift bridge, constructed c.1908, stood at Fountainbridge near the approach to Port Hopetoun, the eastern terminal basin of the canal. This photograph, taken after 1922 when Port Hopetoun was abandoned, shows the bridge shortly before it was moved to a new site on the canal further west at Leamington Road. At the height of the canal trade in the mid-19th century Port Hopetoun was a busy and active port, employing a large workforce to unload the barges that brought coal, timber, stone, slate, brick, sand and lime into Edinburgh from the west. When commercial traffic on the canal began to dwindle in the early 20th century, the area around the port deteriorated, and the port was eventually closed and drained in 1922. The canal was shortened to finish on the south side of Fountainbridge where a new terminus was established. This hydraulic bridge, now redundant, was re-sited at Leamington Road, replacing a little wooden drawbridge which originally stood at the site. 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/785656

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap