The 200th anniversary of the Union Canal

This year marks 200 years since the opening of the Union Canal, linking a waterway from Edinburgh to Glasgow. As printed in The Caledonian Mercury dated, Monday 6 May 1822, “On Saturday the first boat, since the junction, arrived at Port Hamilton, with flag stones from Denny….”

As well as transporting goods back and forth, a passenger service between the two cities operated using fast boats called Swifts carrying passengers on a six and a half hour journey averaging nine miles per hour.

View of Port Hamilton – c1920

However, the introduction of the Edinburgh to Glasgow Railway only twenty years later meant the once busy passenger service was effectively finished.

The decline in commercial use was slower but eventually led to the Canal’s closure in the 1960s.

A new millennium saw the Union Canal revitalised by funding which financed the closed section at Wester Hailes to be dug out, new bridges and walkways and the route reopened.

Help us celebrate by viewing a brief history of the Union Canal and the many industries that flourished on its banks by visiting Our Town Stories where you’ll also find many fantastic historical images.

F M Crystal’s Union Canal

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Union Canal.

Our latest exhibition on Capital Collections features some wonderful images taken in the early 1920s by Francis M Crystal, who although not a professional photographer (he was a doctor) captured many images of the canal and surroundings. We know that he lived for many years in Gilmore Place, so this area would have been very familiar to him.

Union Canal looking west to Viewforth Bridge with North British Rubber Works c 1920

F. M. Chrystal has captured the atmosphere and every day activity of life around the Canal. By the time the photographs were taken, the Union Canal had ceased to be the working canal it once was, although many factories and breweries were still located in the nearby areas of Fountainbridge and Slateford. Buildings and houses surrounding the Canal had fallen into disrepair and were starting to be demolished to make way for new streets.

Some of the images show the leisure side to the canal, where pleasure boat companies were starting to offer boat trips and rowing boat hire.

Take a trip back 100 years and see how life along the Union Canal has changed in the F. M. Chrystal’s Union Canal exhibition.

Cakes and ale: what’s on at Fountainbridge Library

News of upcoming events at Fountainbridge Library:

A history of Brewing in Edinburgh (and beer tasting)

Join the Scottish Brewing Archive for a night of tales, photographs and history of brewing in Edinburgh. There might not be so much rolling of barrels anymore but there’ll be plenty of fascinating stories.

Monday 7th September 6.30pm-7.30pm  – Book online for this event

Add your memories to Edinburgh Collected

Do you have photos, mementos or memories you’d like to share of the local area? Come along and add it to Edinburgh Collected. We have experts on hand to record your stories and upload you photos

Wednesday 9th September 4pm – 6pm (no booking required. Drop in anytime during the slot)

A sail down memory lane: the history of the Union Canal

Join Gemma from the Scottish Waterways Trust as she shares stories and the history of the Union Canal, especially the area that supported the industry of Fountainbridge and its many factories and breweries. Made all the better with coffee and cake on us!

Wednesday 9th September 6.30pm-7.30pm – Book online for this event

The story of the Union Canal

The Union Canal opened in 1822, running from Edinburgh to Falkirk, linking the Capital To Glasgow. It was constructed to bring coal to the city and many industries thrived along its banks.

However, the introduction of the railways led to its slow commercial decline in the 1930s until it was closed over in the 1960s. Revitalised by Millennium funding, the Canal reopened in 2001 and is now a bustling thoroughfare for cyclists, commuters and cruisers as well as an area of redevelopment.

Our latest story on Our Town Stories takes you along the stretch of the Union Canal from Ratho to Fountainbridge and tells its story from its beginnings in the early 19th century to present day. You’ll discover the hidden history of the Canal’s connection to body snatchers, slaughter houses and rubber boots!

Planes, trains and horse-drawn trams

Trams have once again been sighted on the streets of Edinburgh and so, what better opportunity to delve into our archives to find out how the citizens of Edinburgh got about town in centuries past.
Not so very long ago, our ancestors had to rely on their own two feet or horse-power to travel. A succession of developments in transport benefited not only trade and industry, but also gave people the means to escape the city to the seaside, countryside or suburbia.

Our latest story on Our Town Stories, Edinburgh by road, rail and waterway, is your historical passport to getting around town.

The Union Canal

The Union Canal was opened in 1822. It ran from Tollcross in Edinburgh to meet the Forth and Clyde Canal at Falkirk, thus linking the capital to Glasgow. After extensive renovation in the 1990s the Canal is now a popular area for recreation, with non-commercial craft using the waterway and many cyclists, walkers and runners using the towpath.

On Wednesday 7 October, at Fountainbridge Library, Alison Stoddart from Edinburgh City Libraries will give a talk entitled Fountainbridge and the Union Canal past and present, using illustrations from Capital Collections.

The talk will take place from 2.30 – 4.00pm but places are limited: free tickets are available in advance from Fountainbridge Library.