Aerial photograph showing Laggan Locks at entrance to Loch Lochy. Digital image of A 36804

Description Aerial photograph showing Laggan Locks at entrance to Loch Lochy. Digital image of A 36804

Date 1985

Collection RCAHMS Aerial Photography

Catalogue Number SC 801475

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of A 36804

Scope and Content Aerial view, Laggan Locks, Caledonian Canal, Highland, from south-west This aerial view from the south-west shows the locks which were completed by 1822 with a lock being repaired in 1910. Three piers extend into Ceann Loch (part of Loch Lochy); the west pier (bottom centre), the east pier (bottom right) and a modern pier (bottom left). People that worked on the site would have occupied the buildings around the locks. During the building of the locks it was discovered that there was a layer of decomposed and vegetable matter. Water could not penetrate this exceptionally hard substance and it was decided that it could form the base for the locks. Much of the rubble stone used in the construction of the locks came from the nearby Kilfinnan Burn, with freestone being transported from the Firth of Clyde. The Caledonian Canal was designed by Thomas Telford (1757-1834) and built between 1803 and 1822 at a cost of £840,000. It was the first example of a transport network funded by the government in Great Britain. The 96.5km-long canal provides a route for boats travelling between the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean as it runs from the Beauly Firth at Clachnaharry, Inverness, to Loch Linnhe at Corpach. Only 35.4km of this length is man-made while the other 61km runs through four lochs: Loch Dochfour, Loch Ness, Loch Oich and Loch Lochy. Unfortunately, at 4.2m deep, the canal was too small for most sea-going ships which led to it being altered and deepened between 1844 and 1847. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/801475

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap