Union Canal (Scotland)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Union Canal is a 31.5 mile (50 km) contour canal in Scotland, from Lochrin Basin in Edinburgh to Falkirk, where it meets the Forth and Clyde Canal. It was originally known as the Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal, to celebrate the uniting of the two cities by the new canal network, but this name is rarely used today.
The canal was designed by Hugh Baird who oversaw the engineering work while it was being built between 1818 and 1822. Two of its construction workers were the famous body snatchers Burke and Hare.
The soliton was first demonstrated on the Union Canal in 1834. A modern aqueduct over the Edinburgh City Bypass is named after the discoverer of the soliton, John Scott Russell.
Originally used for transporting coal, 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 Falkirk were filled in and built over.
The canal is now used recreationally by canoeists at the Forth Canoe Club and rowers from schools and St Andrew Rowing Club. The Edinburgh, Ratho and Linlithgow Canal Societies promote general use of the canal and hire rowing and narrowboats.
The Millennium Link (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 the year 2000, by means of the Falkirk Wheel.
The Union Canal is a contour canal – 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 Wheel and a double lock just above. There is also a new tunnel where the canal crosses the Antonine Wall.
The Edinburgh end of the canal no longer reaches the site of Lochrin Basin, which was filled in after the canal closed. Instead the canal stops a little to the south and west of Lochrin Basin, at the site of another basin at Fountainbridge. This area is currently being redeveloped as Edinburgh Quay for commercial and residential use.
[edit] References
- Lindsey, Jean, (1968), The Canals of Scotland, David & Charles Publishers, ISBN 0-71534-240-1
- Massey, Alison, (1983), The Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal, Falkirk Museums Publication, ISBN 0-90658-624-0
[edit] See also
- Canals of the United Kingdom
- Charles Baird, Hugh Baird's brother
- Forth to Firth Canal Pathway
