The
Union Canal is a 31.5-mile (50.7 km) canal in
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, from
LochrinLochrin is a small area in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is in the south-west corner of the city centre, part of the Tollcross area, and beside Fountainbridge. Lochrin contains a wide mixture of retail shops, leisure facilities, other businesses and tenement housing...
Basin,
FountainbridgeFountainbridge is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, a short distance west of the city centre, adjoining Tollcross to the east, Bruntsfield to the south, Dalry to the west and Haymarket to the north....
,
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
to
FalkirkFalkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow....
, where it meets the
Forth and Clyde CanalThe Forth and Clyde Canal crosses Scotland, providing a route for sea-going vessels between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. The canal is 35 miles long and its eastern end is connected to the River Forth by a short stretch of the River...
.
Location and features
The Union Canal is often described as a
contour canalA contour canal is an artificially-dug navigable canal which closely follows the contour line of the land it traverses in order to avoid costly engineering works such as boring a tunnel through higher ground, building an embankment over lower ground, or constructing a canal lock to change the...
, following a 73 metres (239.5 ft) contour throughout its length. Originally, the only locks were those at Falkirk, to make the link to the Forth and Clyde canal. Now, there is one lock just before the
Falkirk WheelThe Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift located in Scotland, UK,connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal, opened in 2002. It is named after the nearby town of Falkirk which is in central Scotland...
and a double lock just above. There is also a new tunnel where the canal passes under the
Antonine WallThe Antonine Wall is a stone and turf fortification built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. Representing the northernmost frontier barrier of the Roman Empire, it spanned approximately 39 miles and was about ten feet ...
. The canal maintains its level by embankments, cuttings and major aqueducts, rather than following the original contour.
The canal has many
aqueductAn aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
s, including the
Slateford AqueductThe Slateford Aqueduct is a navigable aqueduct in Slateford, Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by Hugh Baird and completed in 1822 with advice from Thomas Telford....
that takes the canal over the Water of Leith in Edinburgh, the
Almond AqueductThe Almond Aqueduct is a navigable aqueduct in Scotland, west of Ratho. Measuring long, it carries the Union Canal above the River Almond, from Edinburgh into West Lothian. It can be reached by car and by cyclists on the Union Canal path.-External links:**...
near
RathoRatho is a village and civil parish in the west of Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. It was formerly in the old county of Midlothian. Newbridge and Kirkliston are other villages in the area. The Union Canal passes through Ratho. Edinburgh Airport is situated only 4 miles ...
and the 810 feet (246.9 m)
Avon AqueductThe Avon Aqueduct is a navigable aqueduct on the Union Canal near Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom. It is long and high; it is the longest and tallest aqueduct in Scotland, and the second longest in Britain...
near
LinlithgowLinlithgow is a Royal Burgh in West Lothian, Scotland. An ancient town, it lies south of its two most prominent landmarks: Linlithgow Palace and Linlithgow Loch, and north of the Union Canal....
, the second longest in the United Kingdom.
The Edinburgh end of the canal no longer reaches quite as far as it did (to 'Port Hopetoun' and 'Port Hamilton' basins which were filled in after the canal closed). Instead, the canal stops at
LochrinLochrin is a small area in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is in the south-west corner of the city centre, part of the Tollcross area, and beside Fountainbridge. Lochrin contains a wide mixture of retail shops, leisure facilities, other businesses and tenement housing...
Basin at
FountainbridgeFountainbridge is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, a short distance west of the city centre, adjoining Tollcross to the east, Bruntsfield to the south, Dalry to the west and Haymarket to the north....
.
Many of the stone bridges have keystones on which is engraved the number of the bridge. However, the keystones of Viewforth bridge, the second bridge from the start of the canal at Edinburgh Quay, is emblazoned with the coats of arms of Glasgow and Edinburgh, facing west and east respectively.
History and archaeology
It was originally known as the
Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal, to celebrate the uniting of the two cities by the new
canalCanals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
network, but this name is rarely used today.
The canal was designed by
Hugh BairdHugh Baird was a Scottish civil engineer, who designed and built the Union Canal. Born at Westertown, Bothkennar, Stirlingshire, he was the son of Nicol Hugh Baird, surveyor to the Forth and Clyde Canal, and was the younger brother of engineer Charles Baird.Nicol Baird died in 1807, and Hugh Baird...
, who oversaw the engineering work while it was being built between 1818 and 1822. Two of its construction workers were the famous murderers Burke and Hare.
The
solitonIn mathematics and physics, a soliton is a self-reinforcing solitary wave that maintains its shape while it travels at constant speed. Solitons are caused by a cancellation of nonlinear and dispersive effects in the medium...
, a form of wave, was first observed on the Union Canal in 1834, while its discoverer
John Scott RussellJohn Scott Russell was a Scottish naval engineer who built the Great Eastern in collaboration with Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and made the discovery that gave birth to the modern study of solitons.-Personal life:John Scott Russell was born John Russell on 9 May 1808 in Parkhead, Glasgow, the son of...
was travelling along the canal in a horse-drawn boat. A modern
aqueductAn aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
over the
Edinburgh City BypassThe Edinburgh City Bypass, designated as A720, is one of the most important trunk roads in Scotland. Circling around the south of Edinburgh, as the equivalent of a ring road for the coastal city, it links together the A1 towards north-east England, the A702 towards north-west England, the M8...
is named after Russell.
Originally used for transporting
coalCoal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
, competition from the railways caused it to close to commercial use in the 1930s. The locks, connecting it to the Forth and Clyde Canal at
FalkirkFalkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow....
, were filled in and built over.
In 2004, an archaeological investigation by a team from
Headland ArchaeologyHeadland Archaeology comprises a holding company Headland Group Ltd and the trading subsidiaries Headland Archaeology Ltd, Headland Archaeology Ltd and Archaeological Investigations Ltd....
uncovered the stern of a 21 metre long wooden
bargeA barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
. The vessel was discovered on the south bank of the Union Canal. The remains represent the final berth of an early to mid 19th century canal barge or scow, a type of horse drawn vessel that was the main freight carrier of the time. Typical cargoes included coal and lime from Lanarkshire although there were a number of passenger carriers too; the actual function of this vessel is unknown. The vessel was dismantled and removed from the canal in order to record the techniques used in its construction. Additional work will seek to identify the species, age and provenance of the timbers.
Modern uses
The canal is now used recreationally by
canoeA canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
ists at the
Forth Canoe ClubThe Forth Canoe Club, founded in 1934, is Scotland's oldest surviving canoe club. It is a founding member of the Scottish Canoe Association.The club originally met at Granton in North Edinburgh on the Firth of Forth...
and
rowersWatercraft rowing is the act of propelling a boat using the motion of oars in the water. The difference between paddling and rowing is that with rowing the oars have a mechanical connection with the boat whereas with paddling the paddles are hand-held with no mechanical connection.This article...
from schools and
universitiesEdinburgh University Boat Club is one of the oldest sports clubs within The University of Edinburgh, in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland....
, e.g. the St Andrew Boat Club. The
Edinburgh Canal SocietyThe Edinburgh Canal Society is a charitable canal society on the Union Canal in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Society's main base is Ashley Terrace Boathouse at Lockhart Bridge, near Harrison Park in the Polwarth area of Edinburgh....
, the
Bridge 19-40 Canal SocietyThe Bridge 19-40 Canal Society is a waterway society and a registered Scottish Charity operating community boats on the Union Canal, with bases at Winchburgh and Drumshoreland, West Lothian, Scotland, UK .-History:...
and
Linlithgow Union Canal SocietyThe Linlithgow Union Canal Society is a waterway society and a Scottish registered charity based at Linlithgow Canal Centre on the Union Canal at Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland...
promote general use of the canal. They hire rowing boats and
narrowboatA narrowboat or narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of Great Britain.In the context of British Inland Waterways, "narrow boat" refers to the original working boats built in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries for carrying goods on the narrow canals...
s, and they provide regular boat trips on the canal for the general public. Re-Union Canal Boats operate a social enterprise building and maintaining trip boats.
The
Millennium LinkThe Millennium Link is one of the biggest engineering projects ever undertaken by British Waterways. The Union Canal and the Forth & Clyde Canal were joined by a flight of locks...
, a project to restore both the Union and Forth and Clyde Canals, saw the two canals joined once again at the Falkirk end of the Union Canal, in 2000, by means of the
Falkirk WheelThe Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift located in Scotland, UK,connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal, opened in 2002. It is named after the nearby town of Falkirk which is in central Scotland...
.
The
Falkirk Helix-Project Overview:The Helix project will transform under-used land between Falkirk and Grangemouth into a thriving urban greenspace covering some 300 hectares....
is a new six year project which will connect the Union Canal with the sea, by way of another unique boatlift in the shape of
kelpieThe kelpie is a supernatural water horse from Celtic folklore that is believed to haunt the rivers and lochs of Scotland and Ireland; the name may be from Scottish Gaelic cailpeach or colpach "heifer, colt".-Description and behaviour:...
s, the mythical water-horses, to be created by the Scottish sculptor Andy Scott
This area is currently being redeveloped for commercial and residential use, starting with Edinburgh Quay.
British WaterwaysBritish Waterways is a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom, serving as the navigation authority in England, Scotland and Wales for the vast majority of the canals as well as a number of rivers and docks...
decided in June 2008 to market the area between Edinburgh Quay and Ashley Terrace Bridge as Edinburgh Canal Quarter. With the canal now largely restored for both boating and for walkers and cyclists on the towpath, it is enjoying new life. Holiday barges are common in the spring and summer, while in area nearer the city centre there are even year-round residents living on
narrowboatA narrowboat or narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of Great Britain.In the context of British Inland Waterways, "narrow boat" refers to the original working boats built in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries for carrying goods on the narrow canals...
s. A "floating restaurant" boat operates by arrangement.
Raft races have become an annual event, having been held in Edinburgh from 2007 to 2011, and using found "junk" material for the
raftA raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is the most basic of boat design, characterized by the absence of a hull...
s. The Linlithgow Union Canal Society has been hosting its cardboard boat race for many years, at Linlithgow Basin.
See also
- Canals of the United Kingdom
The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a colourful history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's role for recreational boating...
- History of the British canal system
The British canal system of water transport played a vital role in the United Kingdom's Industrial Revolution at a time when roads were only just emerging from the medieval mud and long trains of pack horses were the only means of "mass" transit by road of raw materials and finished products The...
- Charles Baird
Charles Baird was a Scottish engineer who played an important part in the industrial and business life of 19th century St. Petersburg...
, Hugh Baird's brother
- Forth to Firth Canal Pathway
The Firth to Forth canal pathway runs from the Firth of Clyde to Firth of Forth and is a long footpath and cycleway that runs across Scotland, between Bowling, west of Glasgow, and Lochrin Basin in Edinburgh. The path runs on the towpaths of the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals and is entirely off...
- Falkirk Helix
-Project Overview:The Helix project will transform under-used land between Falkirk and Grangemouth into a thriving urban greenspace covering some 300 hectares....
- World Canals Conference
The World Canals Conference is an annual conference about canals and other waterways worldwide. The first conference took place in 1988, and the 2008 conference will be the twenty-first...
External links