The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line starts in London and ends in Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles (220 km) with 166 locks. It has arms to places including Leicester, Slough, Aylesbury, Wendover and Northampton.
Airdrie is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on a plateau roughly 400 ft above sea level, and is approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of Glasgow city centre. As of 2012, the town had a population of around 37,130. Historically part of Lanarkshire, Airdrie forms part of a conurbation with its neighbour Coatbridge, in the territory formerly known as the Monklands district.
British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotland and Wales.
North Lanarkshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk, Stirling, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian. The council covers parts of the traditional counties of Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire and Stirlingshire.
The Forth and Clyde Canal is a canal opened in 1790, crossing central Scotland; it provided a route for the seagoing vessels of the day between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde at the narrowest part of the Scottish Lowlands. It is 35 miles (56 km) long and it runs from the River Carron at Grangemouth to the River Clyde at Bowling, and had an important basin at Port Dundas in Glasgow.
The Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal, later known as the Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal, was a canal in the west of Scotland, running between Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone which later became a railway. Despite the name, the canal was never completed down to Ardrossan, the termini being Port Eglinton in Glasgow and Thorn Brae in Johnstone. Within months of opening, the canal was the scene of a major disaster.
Coatbridge is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about 8 1⁄2 miles east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. The town, with neighbouring Airdrie, is part of the Greater Glasgow urban area. While the earliest known settlement of the area dates back to the Stone Age era, the founding of the town can be traced to the 12th century, when a Royal Charter was granted to the monks of Newbattle Abbey by King Malcolm IV. Coatbridge, along with its neighbour Airdrie, forms the area known as the Monklands.
Kilsyth is a town and civil parish in North Lanarkshire, roughly halfway between Glasgow and Stirling in Scotland. The estimated population is 9,860. The town is famous for the Battle of Kilsyth and the religious revivals of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The town now has links with Cumbernauld at one time being part of Cumbernauld and Kilsyth District Council. The towns also have the same members of parliament at Holyrood and Westminster.
The Union Canal, full name the Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal, is a canal in Scotland, running from Falkirk to Edinburgh, constructed to bring minerals, especially coal, to the capital. It was opened in 1822 and was initially successful, but the construction of railways, particularly the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, which opened in 1842, diminished its value as a transport medium. It fell into slow commercial decline and was closed to commercial traffic in 1933. It was officially closed in 1965. The canal is listed as three individual scheduled monuments by Historic Scotland according to the three former counties, Midlothian, West Lothian and Stirlingshire, through which it flows.
Calderbank is a village outside the town of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies west of the M73, on the west bank of the North Calder Water. The village lies 13 miles east of Glasgow city centre and around 34 miles west of Edinburgh. Other nearby towns include: Airdrie, Coatbridge, Bellshill and Motherwell. It has a population of about 1,610.
The Millennium Ribble Link is a linear water park and new navigation which links the once-isolated Lancaster Canal in Lancashire, England to the River Ribble. It was opened in July 2002.
The Monkland Canal was a 12 1⁄4-mile-long (19.7 km) canal designed to bring coal from the mining areas of Monklands to Glasgow in Scotland. In the course of a long and difficult construction process, it was opened progressively as short sections were completed, from 1771. It reached Gartcraig in 1782, and in 1794 it reached its full originally planned extent, from pits at Calderbank to a basin at Townhead in Glasgow; at first this was in two sections with a 96-foot (29 m) vertical interval between them at Blackhill; coal was unloaded and carted to the lower section and loaded onto a fresh barge. Locks were later constructed linking the two sections, and the canal was also connected to the Forth and Clyde Canal, giving additional business potential.
Ratho is a village in the Rural West Edinburgh area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Its population at the 2011 census was 1,634 based on the 2010 definition of the locality. It was formerly in the old county of Midlothian. Ratho Station, Newbridge and Kirkliston are other villages in the area. The Union Canal passes through Ratho. Edinburgh Airport is situated only 4 miles (7 km) away. The village has a high ratio of its older houses built from whin stone due to a whin quarry nearby. The older, historical, part of the village was designated a Conservation Area in 1971 by Midlothian County Council.
Twechar is a small former mining village in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland close to the boundary with North Lanarkshire. It lies between the larger towns of Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch. The Forth and Clyde Canal runs close to the village to the north, and closely follows the line of the Antonine Wall. There are visible remains of the wall on Bar Hill and the Roman Fort is a local tourist attraction.
The Forth and Clyde canal pathway runs between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde and is a 106-kilometre-long (66 mi) footpath and cycleway that runs across Scotland, between Bowling, west of Glasgow, and Lochrin Basin in Edinburgh. The path runs on the towpaths of the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals and is entirely off road. The path is well maintained and its surface is generally good, although there are some stretches particularly between Falkirk and the outskirts of Edinburgh where wet weather leads to muddy conditions unsuitable for road intended bicycles. It is well used by walkers and cyclists, and designated as one of Scotland's Great Trails by Scottish Natural Heritage. It also forms part of the National Cycle Network, being designated as Route 754. Sustrans advises that the path is best followed from the Clyde to the Forth because the prevailing wind is from the south west. Much of the path is also suitable for experienced horseriders, although in some places low bridges, narrow aqueducts and gates may restrict access for horses.
The Edinburgh Canal Society is a charitable canal society on the Union Canal in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Society's main base is Ashley Terrace Boathouse at Lockhart Bridge, near Harrison Park in the Polwarth area of Edinburgh.
Seagull Trust Cruises is a waterway society and Scottish charity.
Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life, formerly known as Summerlee Heritage Park, is an industrial & social history museum in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is situated on the site of the Victorian Summerlee Iron Works and the former Hydrocon Crane factory. The main Hydrocon factory building became the museum’s exhibition hall but it has been substantially changed and adapted since. The museum aims to show Lanarkshire's contribution to engineering, mining, steel working, weaving and farming, and also show the lives of the people of the area. It includes interactive displays and a temporary exhibition space.
Canal & River Trust holds the guardianship of 2,000 miles of canals and rivers, together with reservoirs and a wide range of heritage buildings and structures, in England and Wales. Launched on 12 July 2012, the Trust took over the responsibilities of the state-owned British Waterways.
New College Lanarkshire is a further education institution in Scotland in North Lanarkshire. The college was created on November 2013 from the merger of Cumbernauld College and Motherwell College, and in 2014 it absorbed Coatbridge College. It has over 25,000 students.
It is also home to Auchinstarry Quarry which is a very popular rock-climbing destination, boasting a very wide range of climbing.
