Edinburgh, Union Canal. General view of canal and towing path.

Description Edinburgh, Union Canal. General view of canal and towing path.

Date 1900 to 1930

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

Catalogue Number SC 786868

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of ED 6941

Scope and Content Union Canal, Edinburgh (closed 1965 and navigation restored 2002) The canal was 11.3m wide at the surface and 1.5m deep, and cut through embankments and stretches of rich agricultural land along much of its 50.8km length. It was spanned by a series of fixed stone-arched bridges high enough above the surface of the water to accommodate the heavily laden barges and passengers boats. The towpath, which followed the canal along its length, was broad enough to accommodate the pairs of horses that pulled the larger barges and boats. This small wooden wharf was constructed to allow local farmers to load fresh produce from the fields onto boats en route to the markets in Edinburgh. The canal was constructed as a 'direct, easy, expeditious and cheap conveyance for corn, coal, lime, manure, stone, timber, goods, wares and merchandise between the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and to and from adjacent towns and places'. The main cargoes were limestone, coal, lime, bricks, tiles, slates, earth, sand, peat and manure. Passenger services were also operated, and, in an effort to reduce travelling time, notices were put up warning the public that the horses pulling the passage-boats travelled 'at great speed' and that it was therefore unsafe to walk on the towpath. 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/786868

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap