History of the Forth & Clyde Canal

Construction on the Forth & Clyde Canal was started in 1768. The plan was to work steadily westwards from the Forth via the River Carron but work was halted less than a decade later due to lack of funds.

A further eight years on, and money forfeited from the Jacobite Estates became available to continue the canal towards the River Clyde. It finally opened in 1790, 35 miles long and wide enough to accommodate sea-going vessels. All the road crossings were 'bascule bridges' - lifting structures which enabled boats of any height to pass underneath.

A short branch led to Port Dundas which was named in honour of the governor of the Canal Company, Lord Dundas. The Monkland Canal joined the Port Dundas Basin in 1793, and the Union Canal from Falkirk to Edinburgh opened in 1822, creating a whole Lowland waterway network. Timber, coal, clay and sand were major cargoes and there was also a regular passenger service. The advent of steam brought paddle steamers and then the distinctive 'Puffers', so called because of the noise they make. (These are now best known from the BBC's charming TV series, Tales of Para Handy.)

The Forth & Clyde was bought by the Caledonian Railway in 1867, and remained under railway ownership until nationalisation of the waterways in 1948. Rights of navigation were extinguished by Parliament in 1963. How times, and perspectives, change! It was in 1980 that a locally commissioned report reported that: "The Forth & Clyde Canal is semi-derelict with some recreational use; there is little prospect of improvement, only of gradual fragmentation." Now, due in large part to funds secured from the Millennium Commission, the restored canal once more strides the country from estuary to estuary. And with the accompanying restoration of the Edinburgh & Glasgow Union Canal (more simply known as the Union Canal), boats can once again navigate from Glasgow to Edinburgh.