Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
but never built. It carried coal and iron, passengers in express passenger boats and a series
of
Queen
pleasure boats, the last of which ceased operations in 1939. Passenger traffic de-
clined after the Glasgow to Edinburgh railway opened in 1842. The canal was bought by the
Caledonian Railway in 1868. The canal carried freight until 1914 and the last vessel passed
through in 1962. Closure came in 1963.
The bottom of the Maryhill Flight of locks leads on to the splendid Kelvin Aqueduct with its scalloped
faces
.
Interest was kept alive with regular trans-Scotland powered inflatable races and the Glas-
gow to Edinburgh canoe marathon. The whole line was restored by 2001 as the Millennium
Link with Millennium Commission funding. Seventy per cent of the Scottish population live
within an hour's drive of the link.
The old lock direct from the Clyde is now sealed off but Sealock gives access from the
tidal harbour at Bowling, where boats are often laid up at the west end. The upper basin acts
as moorings for a variety of small craft, including former fishing boats. The old custom house
was built to receive the foreign ships that used to arrive when this was the major transport
artery across Scotland. There is a disused Caledonian Railway swing bridge across the canal
- a listed monument from which the local youth jump. Although the canal follows the bank
of the River Clyde for 5km, it is not seen after the railway bridge. At this point, the river is
still quite narrow, despite being used by commercial shipping.
This end of the canal includes several bridges of what are probably a unique design. They
are double-bascule bridges, each half lifting separately. The operator needs to fit a windlass
that operates a gear train leading to a toothed sector ring and a ratchet wheel, mechanisms
from the Industrial Revolution. Crews must have cursed the effort needed to raise them.
Among the greenery is the first Roman fort site at the western end of the Antonine Wall.
The Antonine Wall was built 61km from Bowling to Kinneil, circa 142, in the reign of An-
