Comments

View 3 Images

Long before the convenience of a swift drive across the M8, the Union Canal served as a seamless route for travellers journeying between Edinburgh and Glasgow, with its path leading right up to Lothian Road. ‌

Upon reaching Edinburgh, voyagers would disembark at the city centre's eastern terminus of the canal . Known as Port Hopetoun, this basin was a city fixture for nearly a century before it was ultimately deserted. ‌

Passenger boats, known as Swifts, took a total of seven hours to reach Falkirk, and an additional six hours to arrive in Glasgow. In 1836, the canal's heyday, 200,000 people were commuting on this intercity waterway. ‌

Constructed between 1818 and 1822, the basin also facilitated the import of coal, grain and building materials, as wel

See Full Page