View from north west

Description View from north west

Date 18/9/2001

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number SC 1935645

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of E 15023 CN

Scope and Content Bowling Harbour Lock (Lock 40), Forth & Clyde Canal, West Dunbartonshire, from north-west This shows the entrance from Bowling Harbour to Lock 40 which was built between 1846 and 1849. The large metal beams and the railings of the western lock gates are shown at each side of the channel. The harbour wall has been badly damaged with the continuous pounding of the sea and the remains of what appears to be an old boat or landing stage is visible on the left. Lock 40 is one of two sea locks which lead into Canal House Basin. The other lock is disused and was blocked off at the sea end in the late 20th century. With each lock the boat would move into the centre of the lock and water would either be added or drained till the water level was at the desired level for the boat to continue its journey. The Forth & Clyde Canal was built between 1768 and 1790. It could have been completed sooner but funds ran out in 1777 and more money was not found by the government until 1784. John Smeaton (1724-92) was the designer and first chief engineer for the project. He was replaced in 1777 by Robert Mackell (d.1779), and in 1785 Robert Whitworth (1734-99) took over the building of the final section of the canal from Glasgow. When the canal was completed in 1790 it ran from the River Forth at Grangemouth, in the east, to Bowling on the River Clyde in the west of Scotland. The canal was linked to Edinburgh when the Union Canal was opened in 1822. The Forth & Clyde Canal was closed in 1963 and the Union Canal in 1965 and the construction of new roads meant that it was impossible for boats to travel along the full length of these watercourses. However, the £84.5m Millennium Link project enabled the canals to reopen in 2002. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1935645

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap