Crinan Canal

History

The Crinan Canal was built to link Loch Fyne at Ardrishaig with the Sound of Jura at Crinan, a quick link between the west coast and islands and the Clyde estuary that avoided the long voyage round the south end of the Kintyre peninsula. James Watt surveyed the area for a course in 1771, according to Scottish Canals, and John Rennie surveyed the line in 1792 for the Duke of Argyll and the Earl of Breadalbane; work began in 1794 under Rennie. The canal opened in 1801, two years late, over budget and not properly finished. Floods on 7 January 1805 damaged seventy yards of the bank across Oakfield Moss and a new line had to be dug there. Scottish Canals dates the canal's opening for business to 1809, when reservoirs were completed and it had an adequate water supply.

In the 19th century the canal carried passengers on what Scottish Canals calls the "Royal Route": Queen Victoria and her family sailed through it in 1847, and by 1857 44,000 passengers were arriving at Ardrishaig to take the route. In 1866 a specially designed steamer, the Linnet, replaced the horse-drawn barges and ran until 1929. New sea locks were built at both ends in 1930, and the canal became the responsibility of British Waterways in 1962; it is now looked after by Scottish Canals. The nine miles from Ardrishaig to Crinan have 15 locks and reach 65 feet above sea level at the summit, and Scottish Canals offers the towpath as a one-way walk along almost the whole length of the canal.