Forth & Clyde Canal History

The Forth & Clyde Canal connects the Irish and the North Seas stretching from Bowling in the west to Grangemouth in the East, with a short branch to Port Dundas in Glasgow.

Work was started in Grangemouth in 1768 and the connection to Bowling was finally completed in 1790. This was a welcome route for ships that could now avoid the hazardous journey around the rugged coast of Scotland while transporting their cargoes of fish, coal, slate, stone, brick, timber, iron and chemicals.

On the 37 mile canal there are 39 locks, many of these grouped at the coastal approaches leaving a long and outstandingly beautiful long summit pound between Maryhill and Falkirk.

Pressure caused by the increased use of railways, and later roads, eventually forced the canal's closure in 1963, but during its heyday back in 1768 it provided a main transport route during the industrial revolution for heavy goods and trade providing a vital transport link.

The canal was re-opened in 2001 and in 2002 saw the first turn of the Falkirk Wheel, a striking piece of engineering that replaced 9 of the 11 locks that connected the Forth & Clyde with the Union Canal from Falkirk to Edinburgh.


One of the first steam driven narrow boats was The Charlotte Dundas (1788). The Comet was introduced as a commercial steamboat (1812), and The Vulcan was the first iron hulled passenger boat in (1818). Pictured is the Gypsy Queen (1910) on the Forth & Clyde.

The super narrow 'swift boats' introduced passenger services (1831) which ran four times a day. They were pulled by horses and halved the usual journey times; carrying over 200.000 people between Glasgow and Edinburgh.