Scanned image of photograph showing oblique aerial view of Fort Augustus Locks and village.

Description Scanned image of photograph showing oblique aerial view of Fort Augustus Locks and village.

Date 1985

Collection RCAHMS Aerial Photography

Catalogue Number SC 799689

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of A 36818

Scope and Content Fort Augustus Locks, Caledonian Canal, Highland, from south-east This aerial view from the south-east shows the five locks which were rebuilt in 1837 and lie in the centre of Fort Augustus. The swing bridge (right of locks) can be opened to allow boats to pass between the locks and Loch Ness. The piers of a viaduct which carried the Invergarry & Fort Augustus Railway over the River Oich are visible in the top of the photograph. Several paddle steamers operated on the lochs in Victorian times. The 'Glengarry', originally called 'Edinburgh Castle II', had been on the canal since 1846 when it was broken up in 1927. Latterly this boat had been used for transporting mail, cargo and passengers from Fort Augustus to Inverness. The Caledonian Canal was designed by Thomas Telford (1757-1834) and built between 1803 and 1822 at a cost of £840,000. It was the first example of a transport network funded by the government in Great Britain. The 96.5km-long canal provides a route for boats travelling between the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean as it runs from the Beauly Firth at Clachnaharry, Inverness, to Loch Linnhe at Corpach. Only 35.4km of this length is man-made while the other 61km runs through four lochs: Loch Dochfour, Loch Ness, Loch Oich and Loch Lochy. Unfortunately at 4.2m deep the canal was too small for most sea-going ships which led to it being altered and deepened between 1844 and 1847. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/799689

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap