The Monkland Canal was a 12.25-mile (19.6 km) canal which connected the coal mining areas of Monklands

Monklands, Scotland

Monklands was formerly one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region of Scotland....

 to Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow 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...

 in Scotland. It was opened in 1794, and included a steam-powered inclined plane

Canal inclined plane

An inclined plane is a system used on some canals for raising boats between different water levels. Boats may be conveyed afloat, in caissons, or may be carried in cradles or slings. It can be considered as a specialised type of cable railway....

 at Blackhill. It was abandoned for navigation in 1942, but its culverted remains still supply water to the Forth and Clyde Canal

Forth and Clyde Canal

The Forth and Clyde Canal crosses Scotland, providing a route for sea-going vessels between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. The canal is 35 miles long and its eastern end is connected to the River Forth by a short stretch of the River...

. Much of it now lies beneath the course of the M8 motorway, but two watered sections remain, and are well-stocked with fish.
The Monkland Canal was conceived in 1769 by tobacco merchants and other entrepreneurs as a way of bringing cheap coal into Glasgow from the coalfields of the Monklands area.