Forth and Clyde Canal - Run Down and Revival

Run Down and Revival

In 1963 the canal was closed rather than construct a motorway crossing, and so it became disused and semi-derelict. Canal locks in the Falkirk area on the Union Canal near the connection to the Forth and Clyde canal had been filled in and built over in the 1930s.

As part of the millennium celebrations in 2000, National Lottery funds were used to regenerate both canals. A boatlifting device, the Falkirk Wheel, was built to connect the two canals and once more allow boats to travel from the Clyde or Glasgow to Edinburgh, with a new canal connection to the River Carron and hence the River Forth. The Falkirk Wheel opened on 27 May 2002 and is now a tourist attraction.

The Port Dundas branch has been re-connected to Pinkston Basin, which once formed the terminus of the Monkland Canal, by the construction of 330 yards (300 m) of new canal and two locks. The project cost £5.6 million, and the first lock and intermediate basin were opened on 29 September 2006. Opening of the second lock was delayed by a dispute over land ownership.