CanalPlanAC

Forth and Clyde Canal (Main Line)

 
 
Information about the waterway

The Forth and Clyde Canal (Main Line) is a broad canal and is part of the Forth and Clyde Canal. It runs for 34 miles and 1 furlong through 39 locks from River Carron - Forth and Clyde Canal Junction (where it joins the River Carron) to Clyde Canal Junction (where it joins the River Cylde).

The maximum dimensions for a boat to be able to travel on the waterway are 67 feet and 2 inches long and 16 feet and 5 inches wide. The maximum headroom is 9 feet and 10 inches. The maximum draught is 6 feet.

It has junctions with the Forth and Clyde Canal (Port Dundas Branch - Main Line) at Stockingfield Junction; with the Forth and Clyde Canal (Helix Cut) at Sea Lock Basin and with the Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal at Union Canal Junction.

Notable features of the waterway include Falkirk Locks, Maryhill Locks, Clobberhill Locks and Kelvin Aqueduct

Originally surveyed in 1726 but no action resulted; the route was resurveyed in 1764 and received its Act of Parliament in 1768. The canal was opened in 1790 but closed in 1963. It was restored as part of the 78 million pound "Millennium Link" project, which also includes the Edinburgh and Glasgow Union canal and was re-opened by the Queen on the 24th May 2002.

The navigational authority for this waterway is Scottish Canals

Relevant publications — Waterway Maps:

River Carron - Forth and Clyde Canal Junction
Junction with the River Carron Navigation leading to the Firth of Forth
Sea Lock No 2 ¼ furlongs 0 locks
Sea Lock Basin ¾ furlongs 1 lock
Carron Cut Lock No 3 2½ furlongs 1 lock
Carron Road Bridge 5 furlongs 2 locks
Abbotshaugh Lock No 4 1 mile 2 locks
Bainsford Bridge
Canal narrows for 290yds east of the bridge
1 mile and 4¾ furlongs 3 locks
Bainsford Lock No 5 1 mile and 5 furlongs 3 locks
Falkirk Lock No 6 1 mile and 7¼ furlongs 4 locks
Falkirk Lock No 7 2 miles and 1½ furlongs 5 locks
Falkirk Lock No 8 2 miles and 2¼ furlongs 6 locks
Falkirk Lock No 9 2 miles and 3 furlongs 7 locks
Falkirk Lock No 10 2 miles and 3¾ furlongs 8 locks
Camelon Road Narrows
Possible site of an old lock No 11
2 miles and 4¼ furlongs 9 locks
Camelon Road Bridge 2 miles and 4¾ furlongs 9 locks
Falkirk Lock No 11 2 miles and 5 furlongs 9 locks
Falkirk Lock No 12 2 miles and 5½ furlongs 10 locks
Falkirk Lock No 13 2 miles and 6¼ furlongs 11 locks
Falkirk Lock No 14 2 miles and 6¾ furlongs 12 locks
Falkirk Lock No 15 2 miles and 7¾ furlongs 13 locks
Falkirk Top Lock No 16 3 miles and ½ furlongs 14 locks
Falkirk Top Lock Winding Hole 3 miles and ¾ furlongs 15 locks
Union Inn (Falkirk)
Canalside
3 miles and 1 furlong 15 locks
Union Canal Junction Footbridge 4 miles and ½ furlongs 15 locks
Union Canal Junction
Junction of Forth and Clyde and Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canals
4 miles and ¾ furlongs 15 locks
Union Canal Junction Railway Aqueduct 4 miles and 1 furlong 15 locks
Camuirs Burn Aqueduct 4 miles and 3¼ furlongs 15 locks
Rowantree Burn Aqueduct 4 miles and 5¾ furlongs 15 locks
Bonnybridge Aqueduct No 4 5 miles and 7¼ furlongs 15 locks
Bonnybridge Lift Bridge 5 miles and 7½ furlongs 15 locks
Seabegs Aqueduct 6 miles and 4¾ furlongs 15 locks
Underwood Aqueduct 7 miles and ½ furlongs 15 locks
Underwood Lock No 17 7 miles and 2½ furlongs 15 locks
Castlecary Lock No 18 7 miles and 7 furlongs 16 locks
Castlecary Lock No 19 8 miles and 1¼ furlongs 17 locks
Castlecary Bridge 8 miles and 2½ furlongs 18 locks
Cumbernauld Road Bridge 8 miles and 3 furlongs 18 locks
Red Burn Aqueduct 8 miles and 4¾ furlongs 18 locks
Wyndford Bridge No 14 9 miles and 1¾ furlongs 18 locks
Wyndford Lock No 20 9 miles and 1¾ furlongs 18 locks
Wyndford Lock Narrows 9 miles and 2½ furlongs 19 locks
Wyndford Lock Winding Hole 10 miles and 1½ furlongs 19 locks
Craigmarloch Basin 11 miles and 4¼ furlongs 19 locks
Craigmarloch Bridge No 15 11 miles and 6 furlongs 19 locks
Auchinstarry Winding Hole 12 miles and 2¾ furlongs 19 locks
Auchinstarry Basin 12 miles and 6½ furlongs 19 locks
Auchinstarry Bridge 12 miles and 7¼ furlongs 19 locks
Auchinstarry Bridge (demolished) 12 miles and 7¾ furlongs 19 locks
Twechar Bridge 14 miles and 4½ furlongs 19 locks
Twechar Aqueduct
also called Shirva Aqueduct
15 miles and 1¼ furlongs 19 locks
Tintock Aqueduct No 9 15 miles and 7¾ furlongs 19 locks
Auchendavie Aqueduct 16 miles and 3½ furlongs 19 locks
Hillhead Road Bridge 17 miles and 4½ furlongs 19 locks
Luggiebank Road Winding Hole 17 miles and 4¾ furlongs 19 locks
Luggie Aqueduct No 11 17 miles and 5¾ furlongs 19 locks
New Lairdsland Road Bridge 17 miles and 6¼ furlongs 19 locks
Townhead Bridge 17 miles and 7¼ furlongs 19 locks
Kirkintilloch Marina 18 miles and 1½ furlongs 19 locks
Kirkintilloch Footbridge
Unusual footbridge
18 miles and 2 furlongs 19 locks
Glasgow Road Bridge 19 miles and 2½ furlongs 19 locks
Hungryside Bridge 20 miles and ½ furlongs 19 locks
Cadder Bridge 20 miles and 6¾ furlongs 19 locks
Balmuildy Bridge 21 miles and 5 furlongs 19 locks
Lambhill Bridge 23 miles and 5 furlongs 19 locks
Lambhill Railway Aqueduct No 12 24 miles and ¾ furlongs 19 locks
Halloween Pend Aqueduct 24 miles and ¾ furlongs 19 locks
Stockingfield Narrows 24 miles and 4½ furlongs 19 locks
Stockingfield Junction
Junction with the Port Dundas branch
24 miles and 4¾ furlongs 19 locks
Stockingfield Junction Aqueduct No 14 24 miles and 5 furlongs 19 locks
Maryhill Road Aqueduct No 15 24 miles and 7½ furlongs 19 locks
Maryhill Top Lock No 21 25 miles and ¾ furlongs 19 locks
Maryhill Lock No 22 25 miles and 1¼ furlongs 20 locks
Maryhill Lock No 23 25 miles and 1½ furlongs 21 locks
Maryhill Lock No 24 25 miles and 1¾ furlongs 22 locks
Maryhill Bottom Lock No 25 25 miles and 2¼ furlongs 23 locks
Kelvin Aqueduct (eastern end) 25 miles and 2½ furlongs 24 locks
Kelvin Aqueduct (western end) 25 miles and 3 furlongs 24 locks
Cleveden Road Bridge 25 miles and 5¼ furlongs 24 locks
Gas Board Aqueduct No 17 25 miles and 5¼ furlongs 24 locks
Stobcross Rail Aqueduct 25 miles and 7¼ furlongs 24 locks
Temple Lock No 26 26 miles and ¼ furlongs 24 locks
Temple Rail Aqueduct 26 miles and ¾ furlongs 25 locks
Lock 27 PH (Glasgow)
Canalside
26 miles and ¾ furlongs 25 locks
Temple Lock No 27 26 miles and 1 furlong 25 locks
Temple Road Bridge 26 miles and 1½ furlongs 26 locks
Howth Drive Bridge 26 miles and 2½ furlongs 26 locks
Old Farm Road Bridge 26 miles and 4½ furlongs 26 locks
Westerton Footbridge 27 miles and ¾ furlongs 26 locks
Clobberhill Top Lock No 28 27 miles and 3¼ furlongs 26 locks
Clobberhill Middle Lock No 29 27 miles and 3¾ furlongs 27 locks
Clobberhill Bottom Lock No 30 27 miles and 4¼ furlongs 28 locks
Clobberhill Lock No 31 27 miles and 6 furlongs 29 locks
Clobberhill Lock No 32 27 miles and 6½ furlongs 30 locks
Great Western Road Bridge (north) 28 miles and ½ furlongs 31 locks
Great Western Road Bridge (south) 28 miles and ¾ furlongs 31 locks
Bard Avenue Footbridge 28 miles and 2½ furlongs 31 locks
Boghouse Top Lock No 33 28 miles and 4 furlongs 31 locks
Boghouse Middle Lock No 34 28 miles and 4¾ furlongs 32 locks
Boghouse Bottom Lock No 35 28 miles and 5¾ furlongs 33 locks
Boghouse Lock No 36 28 miles and 7¼ furlongs 34 locks
Dunreath Avenue Bridge 28 miles and 7¾ furlongs 35 locks
Kirkwood Avenue Footbridge 29 miles and 1¾ furlongs 35 locks
Argyll Road Bridge 29 miles and 7½ furlongs 35 locks
Seaforth Road Footbridge 30 miles and ½ furlongs 35 locks
Seaforth Road Covered Footbridge 30 miles and 1 furlong 35 locks
Seaforth Road and A8014 Road Bridges 30 miles and 1¼ furlongs 35 locks
Boquhanran Railway Aqueduct No 21 30 miles and 6 furlongs 35 locks
Boquhanran Road Aqueduct No 22 30 miles and 6½ furlongs 35 locks
Trafalgar Street Footbridge 30 miles and 7½ furlongs 35 locks
Dalmuir Drop Lock and Bridge
Constructed during the restoration of the canal to get the navigation under an existing bridge
31 miles and 1¼ furlongs 35 locks
Duntocher Burn Aqueduct 31 miles and 4¼ furlongs 36 locks
Farm Road Bascule Footbridge 31 miles and 4½ furlongs 36 locks
Ferry Road Swing Bridge 32 miles and 5¼ furlongs 36 locks
Erskine Bridge 32 miles and 6 furlongs 36 locks
Dalnottar Lock No 37 32 miles and 6¼ furlongs 36 locks
Portpatrick Road Bascule Footbridge 33 miles and 2¼ furlongs 37 locks
Bowling Lock Wharf 33 miles and 5¾ furlongs 37 locks
Bowling Lock No 38 33 miles and 6¼ furlongs 37 locks
Bowling Lock Basin 33 miles and 6½ furlongs 38 locks
Basin Bascule Footbridge 33 miles and 6¾ furlongs 38 locks
Basin Railway Bridge 33 miles and 6¾ furlongs 38 locks
Bowling Basin 33 miles and 7¼ furlongs 38 locks
Bowling Basin Sea Lock 33 miles and 7¾ furlongs 38 locks
The Bay Inn
A five minute walk over the railway bridge from the basin mooorings, then east along Dumbarton Road.
34 miles and ¼ furlongs 39 locks
Clyde Canal Junction
Junction of the River Clyde and the Forth and Clyde Canal
34 miles and 1 furlong 39 locks
 
 
Maps
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External websites
 Youtube — associated with Forth and Clyde Canal
The official reopening of the canal
  Facebook Page - Union Inn — associated with Union Inn (Falkirk)
Public House
  Lock Twenty Seven Public House — associated with Lock 27 PH (Glasgow)
Public House
 Bay Inn — associated with The Bay Inn
Public House
 
Wikipedia

Wikipedia has a page about Forth and Clyde Canal

The Forth and Clyde Canal is a canal opened in 1790, crossing central Scotland; it provided a route for the seagoing vessels of the day between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. This allowed navigation from Edinburgh on the east coast to the port of Glasgow on the west coast. The canal is 35 miles (56 km) long and it runs from the River Carron at Grangemouth to the River Clyde at Bowling, and had an important basin at Port Dundas in Glasgow.

Successful in its day, it suffered as the seagoing vessels were built larger and could no longer pass through. The railway age further impaired the success of the canal, and in the 1930s decline had ended in dormancy. The final decision to close the canal in the early 1960s was made due to maintenance costs of bridges crossing the canal exceeding the revenues it brought in. However, subsidies to the rail network were also a cause for its decline and the closure ended the movement of the east-coast Forth River fishing fleets across the country to fish the Irish Sea. The lack of political and financial foresight also removed a historical recreational waterway and potential future revenue generator to the town of Grangemouth. Unlike the majority of major canals the route through Grangemouth was drained and backfilled before 1967 to create a new carriageway for port traffic.

The M8 motorway in the eastern approaches to Glasgow took over some of the alignment of the canal, but more recent ideas have regenerated the utility of the canal for leisure use.

Other Wikipedia pages that might relate to Forth and Clyde Canal
[Forth and Clyde Canal Pathway] The Forth and Clyde canal pathway runs between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde and is a 106-kilometre-long (66 mi) footpath and cycleway that [The Kelpies] spirits), located between Falkirk and Grangemouth, standing next to a new extension to the Forth and Clyde Canal, and near River Carron, in The Helix, [Union Canal (Scotland)] in 2001 and reconnected to the Forth and Clyde Canal in 2002 by the Falkirk Wheel. It is now in popular use for leisure purposes. The canal was conceived [Clyde puffer] The Clyde puffer is a type of small coal-fired and single-masted cargo ship, built mainly on the Forth and Clyde canal, and which provided a vital supply [Forth and Cart Canal] The Forth and Cart Canal was a short 1⁄2-mile (800-metre) link canal which provided a short cut between the Forth and Clyde Canal, at Whitecrook, and the [Grangemouth branch railways] for freight traffic. The Forth and Clyde Canal opened in 1790, connecting the River Clyde at Bowling with the Firth of Forth at Grangemouth. As well as [Kilsyth] Edinburgh, and is very close to the Roman Antonine Wall, the Forth and Clyde Canal and the main Glasgow to Edinburgh railway line, with the nearest railway [Clydebank] the River Clyde. The land was situated close to the Forth and Clyde Canal and to the main road running west out of Glasgow to Dumbarton, and so was conveniently [Maryhill] of the Forth and Clyde Canal through their estate, which provided some much-needed money. The canal reached the estate in 1775, but the canal company
 
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