Edinburgh Canal Society
Encyclopedia
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
society on the Union Canal
Union Canal (Scotland)
The Union Canal is a 31.5-mile canal in Scotland, from Lochrin Basin, Fountainbridge, Edinburgh to Falkirk, where it meets the Forth and Clyde Canal.-Location and features:...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The Society's main base is Ashley Terrace Boathouse
Boathouse
A boathouse is a building especially designed for the storage of boats, normally smaller craft for sports or leisure use. These are typically located on open water, such as on a river. Often the boats stored are rowing boats...
at Lockhart Bridge, near Harrison Park in the Polwarth
Polwarth, Edinburgh
Polwarth is a mainly residential area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is bounded by Bruntsfield and Merchiston to the east and south, Gorgie and Dalry to the north, and Craiglockhart to the west....
area of Edinburgh.
The society was founded in 1985 and is a founder member of the Scottish Inland Waterways Association
Scottish Inland Waterways Association
The Scottish Inland Waterways Association was a registered charity and association of canal societies and individual canal enthusiasts in Scotland....
.
In partnership with the Forth Canoe Club
Forth Canoe Club
The Forth Canoe Club, founded in 1934, is Scotland's oldest surviving canoe club. It is a founding member of the Scottish Canoe Association.The club originally met at Granton in North Edinburgh on the Firth of Forth...
, the Linlithgow Union Canal Society
Linlithgow Union Canal Society
The Linlithgow Union Canal Society is a waterway society and a Scottish registered charity based at Linlithgow Canal Centre on the Union Canal at Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland...
, the Bridge 19-40 Canal Society
Bridge 19-40 Canal Society
The Bridge 19-40 Canal Society is a waterway society and a registered Scottish Charity operating community boats on the Union Canal, with bases at Winchburgh and Drumshoreland, West Lothian, Scotland, UK .-History:...
, the Seagull Trust
Seagull Trust
Seagull Trust Cruises is a waterway society and Scottish charity in Scotland, UK.The Trust was formed in 1978 and offers free canal cruising for disabled and disadvantaged persons and groups. It is the largest service provider of its kind within the UK. It is run entirely by volunteers...
and other canal societies on the Scottish Lowland Canals, Edinburgh Canal Society campaigned for many years to have the Union Canal rebuilt, refurbished and re-opened.
The culmination of the campaign was the joining of the Union Canal and the Forth & Clyde Canal by way of the Falkirk Wheel
Falkirk Wheel
The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift located in Scotland, UK,connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal, opened in 2002. It is named after the nearby town of Falkirk which is in central Scotland...
. Edinburgh Canal Society was one of the official Millennium Link
Millennium Link
The Millennium Link is one of the biggest engineering projects ever undertaken by British Waterways. The Union Canal and the Forth & Clyde Canal were joined by a flight of locks...
Project Partners.
Boats and Boathouse
The society owns a wooden historical launch with KelvinKelvin Diesels
Kelvin Diesels is a manufacturer of marine diesel engines based in Glasgow, Scotland. The company's engines are used in a variety of vessels such as fishing boats and small tugs.- History :...
engines; the vessel had sunk in the early 1990s in Fisherrow
Fisherrow
Fisherrow is a harbour and former fishing village at Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland, UK, to the east of Portobello and Joppa, and on the left bank of the River Esk.-History:...
harbour at Musselburgh
Musselburgh
Musselburgh is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, six miles east of Edinburgh city centre.-History:...
after a violent storm. A society member happened to be passing just as the disposal lorry arrived, and the vessel was rescued. In 1999, she was removed to Mackay's boatyard in Arbroath
Arbroath
Arbroath or Aberbrothock is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus in Scotland, and has a population of 22,785...
, with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
. The same boatyard had earlier restored Robert Scott
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
's RRS Discovery
RRS Discovery
The RRS Discovery was the last traditional wooden three-masted ship to be built in Britain. Designed for Antarctic research, she was launched in 1901. Her first mission was the British National Antarctic Expedition, carrying Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their first, successful...
in Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
. Obtaining the correct Kelvin
Kelvin Diesels
Kelvin Diesels is a manufacturer of marine diesel engines based in Glasgow, Scotland. The company's engines are used in a variety of vessels such as fishing boats and small tugs.- History :...
engine at first seemed impossible, but by another chance encounter, a Kelvin E2 engine was obtained from a warehouse in Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
.
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
boats for hire or charter.
The society's boathouse
Boathouse
A boathouse is a building especially designed for the storage of boats, normally smaller craft for sports or leisure use. These are typically located on open water, such as on a river. Often the boats stored are rowing boats...
is one of a large range of iconic buildings and structures on the Scottish Lowland Canals. It was sited originally where the University Rowing Club's boathouse is at present. In 1987 the boathouse was dismantled and rebuilt in modified form at its present site, and it is constantly being refurbished, to the delight of amateur and professional photographers.
In 2008, the Boathouse and one of the rowing boats were a filming location for a creative documentary, commissioned in Ireland and named An Paísti Beo Bocht, about the life of Patrick MacGill
Patrick MacGill
Patrick MacGill was an Irish journalist, poet and novelist, known as "The Navvy Poet" because he had worked as a navvy before he began writing.MacGill was born in Glenties, County Donegal...
, the Irish journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, nicknamed "The Navvy Poet" due to his earlier occupation as navvy
Navvy
Navvy is a shorter form of navigator or navigational engineer and is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects...
on the canals.
In 2009, members of the Society and others were involved in the setting up of the first Edinburgh Canal Festival between Edinburgh Quay and the Society's boathouse at Harrison Park. This event is now an annual one and will take place again in 2012.
Journeys and Rallies
- 17 May 2001 Kelvin's first trip beneath Forth Bridge from Port EdgarPort EdgarPort Edgar is a marina situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth immediately to the west of the southern end of the Forth Road Bridge in the town of South Queensferry, Scotland. In previous years it had been the site of HMS Lochinvar. In the inter war period Port Edgar was the a destroyer...
- 24 May 2001 Port Edgar to CarronRiver Carron (Forth)The River Carron is a river in central Scotland. This river has given its name to towns in Falkirk, a variety of regional features, a type of cannon, a line of bathtubs, two warships and an island in the Southern Hemisphere.-River Carron:The river rises in the Campsie Fells before flowing into...
Sea Lock, Opening of Forth & Clyde Canal - 25 May 2001 CarronRiver Carron (Forth)The River Carron is a river in central Scotland. This river has given its name to towns in Falkirk, a variety of regional features, a type of cannon, a line of bathtubs, two warships and an island in the Southern Hemisphere.-River Carron:The river rises in the Campsie Fells before flowing into...
Sea Lock to Lock 15 - 26 May 2001 CamelonCamelonCamelon is a large settlement within the Falkirk council area, Scotland. The village is in the Forth Valley, west of Falkirk, south of Larbert and east of Bonnybridge...
to AuchinstarryAuchinstarryAuchinstarry is a village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK, near to Kilsyth, Dullatur and Queenzieburn. It is the site of a Roman fort.Auchinstarry Basin is on the Forth and Clyde Canal, and a £1.2m regeneration project has created a mooring basin for boats with 56 pontoon berths, a hard standing...
Basin - 27 May 2001 Auchinstarry to TempleTempleA temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
(Lock 27) - 28 May 2001 Temple to BowlingBowlingBowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
Basin - 25 August 2001 Wester HailesWester HailesWester Hailes is an area in the south west of Edinburgh, Scotland.Depending on the definition, Wester Hailes sometimes takes in Sighthill, the Calders and other surrounding areas, and may be said to contain the areas of Murrayburn, Clovenstone, Westburn and Dumbryden.Wester Hailes borders on...
to Leamington Bridge; Formal Opening of Wester Hailes section of Union Canal - 20 May 2002 Harrison Park to Falkirk WheelFalkirk WheelThe Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift located in Scotland, UK,connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal, opened in 2002. It is named after the nearby town of Falkirk which is in central Scotland...
for Official Opening by HM The Queen on 20 May 2002. - 2 October 2002 Wester Hailes Gala Day
- 28 March Formal opening of Speir's Wharf
- 1 and 2 April 2003 GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
to Falkirk Wheel to LinlithgowLinlithgowLinlithgow is a Royal Burgh in West Lothian, Scotland. An ancient town, it lies south of its two most prominent landmarks: Linlithgow Palace and Linlithgow Loch, and north of the Union Canal.... - 17 to 23 April 2003 Leamington Bridge via Falkirk Wheel, Glasgow (Speir's Wharf), Bowling Basin, River ClydeRiver ClydeThe River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
, Carron Sea Lock, to Port Edgar via InverkeithingInverkeithingInverkeithing is a town and a royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, located on the Firth of Forth. According to population estimates , the town has a population of 5,265. The port town was given burgh status by King David I of Scotland in the 12th century and is situated about 9 miles north from...
. - 23 May and 13 August 2003 Harrison ParkHarrison ParkHarrison Park is a stadium in Leek, Staffordshire. It is home to Leek Town F.C. currently of the Northern Premier League, and Leek C.S.O.B.. Capacity is 3,600.-Overview:...
to FalkirkFalkirkFalkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow....
Top Lock - 25 Sept. 2003 World Canals ConferenceWorld Canals ConferenceThe World Canals Conference is an annual conference about canals and other waterways worldwide. The first conference took place in 1988, and the 2008 conference will be the twenty-first...
, Wester Hailes - 23 March 2004 Falkirk Wheel Lower Basin to Carron Sea Lock
- 4–6 April 2004 KincardineKincardineKincardine or Kincardine-on-Forth is a small town located on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, in Fife, Scotland. The town was given the status of a Burgh of barony in 1663. It was at one time a reasonably prosperous minor port...
Pier to Craigforth WeirWeirA weir is a small overflow dam used to alter the flow characteristics of a river or stream. In most cases weirs take the form of a barrier across the river that causes water to pool behind the structure , but allows water to flow over the top...
, StirlingStirlingStirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...
to Carron Sea Lock - 16 April 2004 FalkirkFalkirkFalkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow....
to RathoRathoRatho is a village and civil parish in the west of Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. It was formerly in the old county of Midlothian. Newbridge and Kirkliston are other villages in the area. The Union Canal passes through Ratho. Edinburgh Airport is situated only 4 miles ...
, EdinburghEdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area... - 1 May 2004 Kelvin TWO launched at MacLean's Yard, RenfrewRenfrew-Local government:The town of Renfrew gave its name to a number of local government areas used at various times:*Renfrew a town to the west of Glasgow*Renfrewshire, the present unitary local council area in which Renfrew is situatated....
- 18 to 30 May 2004 Lancaster CanalLancaster CanalThe Lancaster Canal is a canal in the north of England, originally planned to run from Westhoughton in Lancashire to Kendal in south Cumbria...
via Preston, BilsborrowBilsborrowBilsborrow is a village on the A6 road and the Lancaster Canal, in the Wyre District, in the English county of Lancashire. It is approximately east of Myerscough...
, GarstangGarstangGarstang is a town and civil parish within the Wyre borough of Lancashire, England. It is ten miles north-northwest of the city of Preston and eleven miles south of Lancaster, and had a total resident population of 4,074 in 2001....
, GalgateGalgateGalgate is a village in the City of Lancaster, just south of Lancaster University, and about south of Lancaster itself in the English county of Lancashire.-Etymology:...
, Hest BankHest BankSlyne-with-Hest is a civil parish in the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. It had a population of 3,163 recorded in the 2001 census. The parish is north of Lancaster and consists of two villages; Slyne, on the A6 road, and Hest Bank on the coast....
, Glasson DockGlasson DockGlasson Dock, also known as Glasson, is a village in England, south of Lancaster, at the mouth of the River Lune. It is in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire.-History:...
, LancasterLancaster, LancashireLancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...
, Bolton-le-SandsBolton-le-SandsBolton-le-Sands is a large village and civil parish of the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. The parish had a population of 4,098 recorded in the 2001 census,...
, CarnforthCarnforth- References :...
and TewitfieldTewitfieldTewitfield is a village in Lancashire, England, UK, near Borwick and Carnforth, and in the parish of Priest Hutton.Tewitfield Locks is the current terminus of the navigable Lancaster Canal, and the Lancaster Canal Trust, the Northern Reaches Restoration Group and others are campaigning for the...
. - 28–30 May 2004 KelvinKelvin DieselsKelvin Diesels is a manufacturer of marine diesel engines based in Glasgow, Scotland. The company's engines are used in a variety of vessels such as fishing boats and small tugs.- History :...
Rally, ShardlowShardlowShardlow is a village in Derbyshire, England about 8 km southeast of Derby and 12 km southwest of Nottingham. It is part of the civil parish of Shardlow and Great Wilne, and the district of South Derbyshire. It is also very close to the border with Leicestershire which follows the River Trent, ...
, Trent & Mersey Canal - 15 June 2004 Ratho
- 9 Aug 2004 Kelvin 1 and Kelvin 2 at WinchburghWinchburghWinchburgh is a village situated within the geographical county of West Lothian, Scotland. It is located approximately west of the city-centre of Edinburgh, east of Linlithgow and northeast of Broxburn.-Public transport:...
- 22 March 2005 Edinburgh Quay Official Opening
- 22 May 2006 Falkirk Top Lock to Harrison Park
- Start of regular Sunday Shuttles from ECS boathouseBoathouseA boathouse is a building especially designed for the storage of boats, normally smaller craft for sports or leisure use. These are typically located on open water, such as on a river. Often the boats stored are rowing boats...
to Edinburgh Quay and return
External links
- Kelvin Diesel Engines
- City of Edinburgh Council publication, ref. to ECS on the Union Canal
- Official entry on waterscape.com
- Article in The Scotsman on 2007 Canal Week
See also
- Areas of EdinburghAreas of EdinburghEdinburgh, the capital of Scotland, is divided into areas that generally encompass a park , a main local street , a high street and residential buildings...
- World Canals ConferenceWorld Canals ConferenceThe World Canals Conference is an annual conference about canals and other waterways worldwide. The first conference took place in 1988, and the 2008 conference will be the twenty-first...
- Falkirk HelixFalkirk Helix-Project Overview:The Helix project will transform under-used land between Falkirk and Grangemouth into a thriving urban greenspace covering some 300 hectares....
- Office of the Scottish Charity RegulatorOffice of the Scottish Charity RegulatorThe Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator is a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government, with responsibility for the regulation of charities in Scotland...