Bridge 19-40 Canal Society

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The Bridge 19-40 Canal Society is a Scottish waterway society and registered charity operating community boats on the Union Canal, with bases at Winchburgh and Drumshoreland, West Lothian.

A Waterway society is a society, association, charitable trust, club, trust or "Friends" group involved in the restoration, preservation, use and enjoyment of waterways, e.g. a canal, river, navigation or other waterway, and their associated buildings and structures, e.g. locks, tunnels, etc.

Union Canal (Scotland) canal in Scotland, running from Falkirk to Edinburgh

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 (Edinburghshire), West Lothian (Linlithgowshire) and Stirlingshire, through which it flows.

Winchburgh

Winchburgh is a village in the Council area of West Lothian, Scotland. It is located approximately 10 miles (16 km) west of the city-centre of Edinburgh, 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Linlithgow and 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Broxburn.

Contents

History

The former B.U.C.H.A.N. Society, a canal society from Broxburn, decided at their 1999 AGM to extend the area covered by the society, and to change its name. The new "Bridge 19-40 Canal Society" was to operate between Bridge 19 (the first bridge in West Lothian) and Bridge 40 (at Philpstoun). The new name was also meant to convey its role as a bridge between several local communities along the Union Canal.

Philpstoun village in United Kingdom

Philpstoun is a small village in West Lothian, Scotland, situated roughly 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the historic county town of Linlithgow. The village originated in the oil shale mining boom of the 19th century. Surrounded by rich arable farm land, the village has a Community Education Centre and a Category B listed church. Philpstoun railway station closed in 1951 and Philpstoun and District Bowling Club closed in February 2012.

Activities

The society's aims include:

Disability impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions

According to many definitions, a disability is an impairment that may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, sensory, or some combination of these. Other definitions describe disability as the societal disadvantage arising from such impairments. Disability substantially affects a person's life activities and may be present from birth or occur during a person's lifetime.

Disabilities is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. An impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations. Disability is thus not just a health problem. It is a complex phenomenon, reflecting the interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives.

Along with the Seagull Trust, the Linlithgow Union Canal Society, the Edinburgh Canal Society, Forth Canoe Club and other canal-based community groups and charities, Bridge 19-40 Canal Society has campaigned for the retention, renovation and re-use of the Scottish Lowland canals.

Seagull Trust Cruises is a waterway society and Scottish charity.

Linlithgow Union Canal Society

The Linlithgow Union Canal Society is a waterway society and a Scottish registered charity based at Linlithgow Canal Centre on the Union Canal at Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland. Also known as "LUCS", it was founded in 1975 by Melville Gray to "promote and encourage the restoration and use of the Union Canal, particularly in the vicinity of Linlithgow".

Edinburgh Canal Society

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.

Bridge 19-40 regularly organises Water Safety trips for primary schools in West Lothian; their aim is to raise awareness among children about the potential dangers of water, and to discourage litter on the waterway.

Canal Society

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government with responsibility for the regulation of charities in Scotland.

Walks around Winchburgh

See also

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