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The Union Canal was built in the years 1818 to 1822, linking Edinburgh with Glasgow via a junction with the Forth and Clyde Canal, and today the Union Canal stretches for 31 miles between Edinburgh and Falkirk. The waterway was closed and became derelict during the 1960s, but has since been brought back into use as a leisure facility of which the Clyde - Forth cycle route takes advantage of. The towpath is ideal for cycling as it approaches and meanders through Edinburgh itself. The Canal is probably best known for its remarkable engineering works. It runs on a contour for its whole length - not a single lock on its 31 miles (although some are under construction on the approach to the new Falkirk Wheel) - and it also boasts Scotland's longest canal tunnel on the outskirts of Falkirk. But most spectacular are Scotland's three largest aqueducts, all now restored, which carry the canal over the rivers Avon and Almond and the Water of Leith. The Canal's engineer was Hugh Baird, and its chief purpose was to ease the transport of coal from West Lothian, Stirlingshire and Lanarkshire into Edinburgh. Although the Clyde - Forth cycle route uses just a section of the Union Canal, the Edinburgh City section of the Union Canal ambles through the western side of Edinburgh, providing a green corridor which is often unnoticed among the streets and houses of the city itself. Information and image © James Perry |
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