Forth to Firth Canal Pathway

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The Firth of Clyde to Firth of Forth canal pathway is a 106 kilometre (66.5 mile) long footpath and cycleway that runs across Scotland, from Bowling, near Glasgow, to Lochrin Basin (Edinburgh Quay) in Edinburgh. The path runs on the towpaths of the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals and is entirely off road. The path is well maintained and its surface is good. It is well used by walkers and cyclists. Accessing the path is very easy since there are railway stations close to the path for its entire length. The path is best followed from the Clyde to the Forth because the prevailing wind is from the south west.

Contents

[edit] Route of the path

The path begins [if you travel west to east you will usually have the wind and weather at your back] at Bowling Basin where the Forth & Clyde Canal enter the Firth of Clyde. The canal runs east through Clydebank, Boghouse Locks, Clobberhill Locks, Temple Locks and Maryhill Locks. It passes close to the former Singer Sewing Machine Works which once employed 19,000 people and exported sewing machines all over the world, including many to pre-Revolutionary Russia. At Stockingfield Junction, in the north-west of Glasgow there is a branch which runs to Port Dundas, close to the centre of Glasgow. This branch is not part of the path.

From Stockingfield Junction the canal path runs north east, through Bishopbriggs, and Kirkintilloch, to Falkirk where the Forth & Clyde Canal joins with the Union Canal. A branch of the Forth & Clyde Canal runs from Falkirk to the River Carron, near Grangemouth. This branch is not part of the path.

The Falkirk Wheel allows boats to travel between the two canals. It replaces the eleven locks that used to allow boats to traverse the 110 feet height difference between the two canals. Unlike the Forth and Clyde Canal with its many lock systems, the Union Canal is a contour canal and there is only one lock [near the Falkirk Wheel].

The path continues along the towpath of the Union Canal, through Linlithgow, past the red shale bings which are all that remains of Scotland's oilshale industry, and through the outskirts of Edinburgh.

The path ends at the canal port at Lochrin Basin [Edinburgh Quay], near Tollcross, in the centre of Edinburgh. If desired the pathway can be extended a further one to two miles through the centre of Edinburgh and down to Leith, where toes can be dipped in the North Sea at Leith Docks.

Railway lines run close to the path for most of its length. Bowling Station, on the line from Glasgow, is close to the start of the path. Both Glasgow main line railway stations are in the centre of the city, only a few hundred yards apart. The line which has run close to the path from Bowling to Glasgow terminates at Glasgow Central Station. The railway line which runs close to the rest of the path runs from Glasgow Queen Street Station to Edinburgh Haymarket Station. Trains are frequent on both lines. In Linlithgow the canal is only a few hundred yards from the railway station. Edinburgh's Waverley Station and Haymarket Station are only a short distance from Lochrin Basin.

The path can be completed in three, roughly equal, sections.

  1. Bowling Basin (Bowling Station) to Auchinstarry Basin (Croy Station)
  2. Auchinstarry Basin to Linlithgow Canal Centre (Linlithgow Station)
  3. Linlithgow Canal Centre to Lochrin Basin (Haymarket and Waverley Stations)

[edit] Places of interest along the path

  • The Falkirk Wheel
  • At Broxburn on the Union Canal the path runs between a number of red shale bings. The world's oil industry was started near here by James 'Paraffin' Young who build an industry to extract oil from shale. The bings are the remains of an industry which once employed 10,000 people in the area. Some of the bings have been removed to provide foundation material for motorways, but many remain.
  • The Kelvin Aqueduct in Glasgow is 400 feet long and 70 feet high.
  • The Avon Viaduct is west of Linlithgow and is 810 feet long and 86 feet high. It is the second largest viaduct in Britain.
  • The Almond Aqueduct is west of Ratho and takes the canal 75 feet above the River Almond.
  • The Slateford Aqueduct on the outskirts of Edinburgh takes the canal over the Water of Leith.
  • The Falkirk Tunnel is the oldest and longest canal tunnel in Scotland. It is 631 meters long, 5.5 meters wide and 6 meters high.

[edit] Maps and guides

[edit] Photographs

Auchinstarry Basin

Falkirk Wheel

Avon Viaduct

Union Canal

Bowling Basin

Bowling Basin

Bowling Basin

Forth & Clyde

Union Canal

Forth & Clyde

Forth & Clyde

Forth & Clyde

Under the Erskine Bridge

[edit] Alternative coast to coast route

Sustrans have devised an alternative coast to coast route. This starts at Gourock on the Firth of Clyde and then goes to Bells Bridge in Glasgow, via Paisley. It then goes to Edinburgh via Airdire, the Bathgate Railway Path, the Water of Leith Walkway and the Union Canal towpath. This route is longer at 171 miles and only 98 miles of the path are off road.

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