The Caledonian Canal.We will pass by.
There was never a huge amount of boat traffic through the canal when I was young. You could wait for hours to see the locks being opened and usually it was a number of small boats what went through at once, but it was fun to watch. The huge gates were opened by a series of levers in some locks all by hand until diesel generators made the change to a more mechanical operation. Lock-keepers were employed there to do this job and there seemed to be quite few then. In the heyday of sea travel it seemed the canal was much favoured as a safer travel than around Cape Wrath, so aptly named, and the Pentland Firth.
The first survey for the canal was carried out in 1773 by James Watt and impelled by the strategic needs of the war against Napoleon when French privateers haunted our coastal waters. But work on the canal was delayed a start until 1803 and commenced under the direction of Thomas Telford, a man we heard much of at school. But the victory of the battle of Trafalgar lessened the urgency for the project and the building proceed slowly until opening in October 1822. Was it slow, is 19 years a long time to build such a fantastic engineering project for its time. I think not. At the inaugural ceremony about 70 gentlemen, we can assume noted dignitaries traversed the canal from `sea to sea` in a steam barge. In 1847 the canal was much improved and gave greater access for larger vessels. Before the advent of course of that steam sailing ships took over 2 days to traverse the length of the canal, some 60 miles. The ultimate cost of the canal, as completed in 1849 was 1.3 million pounds, seems a pretty colossal sum for these times and at the maximum effort some 300 men were engaged in the building, mostly Highlanders. One of the real highlights is the collections of locks along the length and the best group is at Neptune’s staircase, between Banavie and Corpach, some 3 miles above Fort William. The total length of the canal is some 60 miles.
Worth a visit, absolutely, a pleasant change from castles and haunted places and just a huge marvel at the building of it all. It’s as sacred to me as our River, the Ness.
Talking of Fort William and before I get into more interesting stuff I mention Rannoch Moor, not too far away from there, but into central Perth-shire and surely of all the Bens and glens, the corries and screes we will encounter, something must also be made of the vast moorlands, and this is one. Rannoch is by far the largest area of moorland, a peaty desolation, rises to over 1000 feet, and will jog some into having a place in literature for the part it plays in RL Stevenson’s book, the classic `Kidnapped. Because all in all as we tour we will pass along the road from Tyndrum to Glencoe, majestic scenery if ever there was. We pass newish Ski areas and the ample viewing of mountains. But we should not think of Rannoch as a black desolation of sour peat, treacherous bog, and heather, intersected by ditches of stagnant water and marshy pools. This area was not always a treeless waste as in every ditch you will find the roots of trees long gone, preserved in time and blackened like ebony by the peat.
And in amongst it all lies the Kingshouse hotel sticking out like a beacon and calling you in for a rest stop. Such history and all will be revealed on the next part at the new Visitor Centre at Glencoe.
