To find peace in the heart of Scotland's central belt, just take a leisurely barge along the restored Forth and Clyde Canal JT'S EASY to close a canal, much harder to re-open it. Finished in the 1790s, the Forth and Clyde Canal was the artery of Scotland's Industrial Revolution, but as its commercial use declined, so too did the canal, and it was closed in 1962. For three decades the canal was forgotten by all, apart from those who dumped old cars and shopping trolleys in it and canal enthusiasts who were crying in the wilderness.
But in the Nineties there was an ambitious plan to re-open the entire length of the canal as a Millennium Project, reinstating locks, repairing banks and developing an infrastructure for recreational boating. In 2001, and £84 million later, the canal was eventually re-opened and since then various organisations have been making great efforts to ensure the venture is a success.
Although the term Forth and Clyde is used to designate the 37 miles from Bowling on the Clyde to Grangemouth on the Forth, the network of reopened canals is greater, including, as it does, the Union Canal into Edinburgh and the branch line off the Forth and Clyde into Glasgow, now making it possible to visit Scotland's two great cities by pleasure craft. The hub of the canal system, where the Union joins the Forth & Clyde, is the town of Falkirk.
Here is the unmissable Falkirk Wheel, where 21st-century engineering has been applied to solve one of the problems created by the restoration of an 18th-century canal, at a cost of £18m. Originally the Union was joined to the Forth and Clyde by 11 locks, but the lengthy time it takes to get boats through the locks led to the radical solution - the world's first rotating boat lift, the Wheel. We were eager to get afloat and took to our barge at the Black Prince group's Falkirk depot. A well-established company on the English canals, Black Prince has recently moved to Palkirk and is adding another four boats to the six already berthed there.
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Shortly after leaving Falkirk there are four locks to negotiate before arriving at the village of Banknock, with its restored lockkeepers' houses. The 67ft Elgar boat was tight in the locks and had to be taken through one or two diagonally. The locks on me canal are still operated by muscle power as they were 200 years ago, but the helpful British Waterways staff will lock-hop ahead of you to prepare your way if you contact them in advance. An afternoon start makes Banknock a good place to berth overnight.
Soon there will also be good berthage at Auchinstarry. Opposite the cliff walls of the old quarry a 56-berth mooring basin is due for completion later this year. All along this section of the canal you can see the sites of the Antonine Wall, built by the Romans.
Everywhere are the remains of old wharves for the collieries, quarries and factories which were served by the canal, though some are gradually being restored for use, such as the Stables Restaurant on the canal at Bishopbriggs, outside Glasgow.
We stopped for a while at the Seagull Trust in Kirkintilloch, which specialises in canal boating opportunities for the disabled.
Kirkintilloch soon gives way to the outskirts of Glasgow, and at Cadder it's worth visiting the kirk where the graveyard has headstones dating back to the 17th Century.
Inside the Glasgow city boundaries is Possil Loch, an RSPB reserve and an important wintering ground for wildfowl and more than 50 species of birds.
We saw swans, ducks, geese, herons and cormorants - indicating a plentiful supply of pike, perch roach and eels. We also saw rabbits, mink and roe deer canalside at Maryhill.
Maryhill was the hub of Glasgow's canal system, where the Forth and Clyde headed for Bowling, while another section branched off at Stockingfield Junction towards the city and to Port Dundas-The canal was so important to MaryhilTs industrial survival, the town hall of the burgh featured stained-glass panels of canal horses and barges.
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Regeneration plans could include housing along the canal, as well as a marina and arts centre. There's even talk of a hotel at the Maryhill Locks.
If you head into Port Dundas at Stockingfield you will miss these locks. They are worth a walk from Port Dundas along the canal banks, or even a detour on your boat At Maryhill there’s a wonder of engineering to rival the Falkirk Wheel - the Kelvin Aqueduct, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, hi 1790, the aqueduct almost bankrupted the company building and was reputed to be the biggest constructed since Roman times. Visitors flocked to see it, including crowned heads of Europe. Its aesthetic impact and engineering importance makes this Scotland's Pont du Gard. Bowling and the Clyde is only 13 miles away but, due to the number of locks to be negotiated, it takes a full day to get there and another back. Exploring west form Falkirk, to Bowling and Port Dundas, could easily engage you for a week.
At the headquarters of British Waterways (Scotland) at Possil Basin, just before Port Dundas, is a group of buildings dating from the 18th Century. This is a secure spot to berth and a 15-minute journey from the heart of Glasgow. Here, too, you can see the past and hopefully future of the canal - the magnificent Spiers Wharf, where former warehouses have been restored as luxury flats and offices. My father-in-law worked as a labourer here in the Thirties, unloading grain and sugar from the canal barges which docked at Spiers Wharf. The decline of the canal had always saddened him. I wish he had lived long enough to see its rebirth. To cycle the same route along the tow path take your bike to Falkirk High station. To Ride on the Falkirk Wheel, £8, £4 for children, telephone 08700 500 208. |
