Edinburgh, Union Canal. General view of canal and housing.

Description Edinburgh, Union Canal. General view of canal and housing.

Date 1900 to 1930

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

Catalogue Number SC 786866

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of ED 6940

Scope and Content Houses beside Union Canal, Edinburgh (canal closed 1965 and navigation restored 2002) These rows of two-storeyed houses and low, single-storeyed cottages, dating from the early or mid-19th century, were built close to the canal bank to provide accommodation for canal workers and their families. When the canal opened in 1822 it was designed to provide 'cheap coal and fuel, an abundant supply of water gratuitously, and employment for thousands'. Although the canal's main trade was in coal, trade in general into Edinburgh increased rapidly, with timber, stone, slate, brick, sand and lime all being transported into the city on a regular basis. A large workforce was required to staff the cargo boats, and to work on the fast and efficient day and night passenger services that operated between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Maintenance men called banksmen were required to maintain the canal banks, check for leaks and free the canal from weed in summer and ice in winter, and farriers, grooms and stable boys were required to look after the horses that pulled the barges. Other workers were involved in various private business enterprises set up at regular stages along the canal banks, including blacksmiths, masons, joiners, carpenters, ropemakers, saddlers, boatbuilders and innkeepers. Many of the 'navvies' (labourers) who had come from all over Great Britain and Ireland to cut the canal settled down to live and work along its banks. 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/786866

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap