History Of The Union Canal
Edinburgh’s Union Canal was not always the picturesque delight that is known today. The Union Canal runs from Edinburgh to Falkirk and was initially conceived with the purpose of moving materials to Edinburgh from the mines and quarries in Lanakshire. Construction started in 1817 by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal Company. It measures 31miles or 50k and is a contour canal which means there are no locks but did require large aqueducts to cross river valleys.
There used to be a canal junction at Port Hopetoun in what we now know as Edinburgh city centre. Port Hopetoun was named after the Earl of Hopetoun and was a large basin between Semple Street and Lothian Road and Morrison Street and Fountainbridge. There is little evidence of the old basin left today after it was infilled in 1922. There now stands a cinema and offices on the site and the end of the canal in Edinburgh is the Lochrin Basin where The Four Sisters Boatel is moored. But if you look closely you will see amongst the modern glass fronted buildings a nod to a previous time. The water feature in the square next to the canal represents the old Port Hopetoun Basin.
The bridges along the canal have numbered and many have their number engraved into keystones. The keystone on the second bridge, Viewforth Bridge, is engraved with the coat of arms of Glasgow facing West and the coat of arms for Edinburgh facing east.
Some of the bridges are painted black, blue, red and gold. The colours represent different aspects of the canal. The black represents the coal that was moved along the canal on the famous canal barges. The black represents the coal transported along the canal by barge, the blue represents the water of the canal, the red represents the lives lost during the construction of the canal and the gold represents the money made from trade and economic opportunities available since the building of the canal.
The largest most difficult part of the construction was the large Aqueducts built over the river valleys. The Slateford Aqueduct is the first one you come to heading west from Edinburgh which carries the canal over the Water of Leith. Second is the Almond Aqueduct just outside Ratho and the 810-foot-long (250m) Avon Aqueduct near Linlithgow which is the second longest in the United Kingdom.
Another interesting feat of engineering on The Union Canal in Edinburgh is the famous Lemmington Lift Bridge. This can be seen from The Four Sisters Boatel and is the last bridge before entering the Lochrin Basin. The bridge was built in 1906 and moved to its current location when the canal was shortened to make the Lochrin Basin the terminus of the Union Canal. The bridge fell into disrepair in the 1960’s but its restoration was included as part of the Millennium Link Project and the regeneration of the canal in the year 2000. On 16th May 2002 the bridge restoration was complete and it was opened the first time. The bridge allows for crossing from Gilmore Park to Lemmington Road and rises to permit boats to pass underneath. Constructed with a wooden deck between 2 gantries, it is made from riveted steel with solid columns on either side where the inner workings and counter balances are housed. A permanent footbridge allows pedestrians to cross at all times. These days the bridge can be operated by boaters and key holders who have training from Scottish Canals.
To celebrate 10 years since the regeneration and reopening of the lowlands Canals a flotilla was organised from Edinburgh to Glasgow. With over 60 boats including The Four Sisters Boatel and crew and with an estimated 15000 people coming along to support and celebrate along the way it was an incredible celebration of a treasured asset to Scotland. The canal was classed as a ‘remainder waterway’ and so British Waterways were not obliged to maintain the canal. After this huge celebration and the huge amount of support for the use of the canal Ronnie Rusack MBE tirelessly and successfully campaigned for the canals to be reclassified "After 40 years of strenuously campaigning for the reopening of the Lowland canals, the reclassification is a great foundation on which to build and protect these wonderful national assets for future generations to enjoy" – Ronnie Rusack – Waterways World Magazine. The Forth and Clyde Canal is now one of Scotland’s most popular tourist attractions with millions of visitors per year and bringing millions of pounds to the Scottish economy.
