HISTORY OF THE EDINBURGH & GLASGOW UNION CANAL

The Edinburgh & Glasgow Union Canal was constructed between 1818 and 1822 which was late in the 'Canal Age'. The Canal ran from Edinburgh to Falkirk where it was joined by a series of eleven locks to the Forth and Clyde Canal to continue the journey to Glasgow. It is famous for three magnificent aqueducts and the only canal tunnel in Scotland. Although the Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal is not straight it is unique in being a contour canal.  It runs along the lie of the land, contour 242 feet above sea level, so there are no locks between Edinburgh and Falkirk and you can walk the whole 31½ miles all on one level The canal was designed and built by Hugh Baird with advice from Thomas Telford who, while this canal was being built, was building the great Caledonian Canal from Fort William to Inverness.

Hugh Baird's design of a contour canal meant that when he arrived at river valleys he was not always at a narrow part and the result was he had to build large aqueducts. The Avon Aqueduct to the west of Linlithgow offers spectacular views. It is the second largest aqueduct in the United Kingdom. Only the aqueduct at Pontcysyllte in North Wales is larger. The Avon aqueduct is 810 feet long and 86 feet high above the river. It has twelve arches and was built to the design of Thomas Telford. The water is carried in a metal trough and, unlike the English and Welsh ones, it has towpaths on either side. This is the largest, but there are similar beautiful aqueducts over the river Almond between Broxburn and Ratho with five arches and in Edinburgh at Slateford over the Water of Leith with eight arches.

When the canal was opened in 1822 you could travel to Glasgow by day or night taking eight hours and the canal was divided into four stages with milestones every half-mile of which some remain The journey included travelling through Scotland's first canal tunnel at Falkirk, and going down the eleven locks to the Forth and Clyde Canal. 

By 1836 the railways had come to Scotland, and the Slamannan to Airdrie line had been built. The canal company thought it would be a good idea to build the Slamannan Basin just beyond the Avon Aqueduct. so passengers could get off there and take the train to Airdrie, thus cutting four hours off the journey. It is now a beautiful, quiet peaceful spot and hard to imagine it once was a hive of activity. The success of the basin was short lived. In 1842 the railway company opened the line between Edinburgh to Glasgow Railway running parallel to the canal. The basin however was extensively used for transhipment of coal and other goods. On either side of the basin were an iron foundry and an ironworks. The basin is 150 feet square and remains of the railway can be seen, the large slagheap to the south-west is waste from Steins brickworks.
The failure of the Slamannan Basin was the beginning of the end of the canal 's commercial life. By 1848 all passenger traffic had died out. Shortly after that the canal passed into the ownership of the railways. When British Transport was split up into British Rail and British Waterways, it passed to British Waterways who own it today. It is also now a scheduled Historic Monument.

The locks joining it to the Forth & Clyde Canal were filled in in 1933 and the commercial life ceased in 1936.  The canal was finally closed to through navigation in 1965 and is now blocked in several places. The worst is at Wester Hailes where it is piped and pumped for 1¼ miles and where the M8 motorway crosses it. However, things are changing. In 1986 a new aqueduct was built over the outer city bypass and a magnificent new bridge in 1990 replaced the 1965 culvert at Preston Road in Linlithgow. The buildings at the canal basin in Linlithgow, which are the headquarters of Linlithgow Union Canal Society,  were originally two single houses and two stables and are leased by the Society from British Waterways

Now at the end of the 20th century the canal is being rejuvenated and is beginning a new life. The Millennium Link project has restored of the Edinburgh & Glasgow Union and Forth & Clyde Canals from Edinburgh to Glasgow and from the Forth to the Clyde. The locks at Falkirk have been replaced by the Falkirk Wheel. The only rotating boat lift in the world

At present  the Union Canal is suitable for boating, angling and walking. It is administered by British Waterways who issue boat licences and permits for fishing. Their telephone number is 0141 332 6936.