The Caledonian Canal

Map of Inland Waterways of Scotland: Caledonian Canal, Forth & Clyde Canal, Crinan Canal (Imray)

Para Handy

The Vital Spark: The Illustrated Para Handy

The Caledonian Canal

In the 17th century Kenneth McKenzie, later known as the Brahan Seer, foretold a time when ships would sail east and west behind Tomnahurich, the isolated hill and graveyard southwest of Inverness. In 1726 Captain Edward Burt considered linking the three lochs running through the Great Glen. Later that century the Commissioners for Forfeited Estates instructed James Watt to undertake a survey. He concluded that a canal was perfectly feasible. John Knox, the Scottish-born London bookseller and publisher, gave support. The Napoleonic Wars gave the final boost.

In 1801 Thomas Telford was asked by the government to carry out a wide-ranging study. He reported on 5 April 1803 that a canal would cost £350,000 and take seven years to construct, and he strongly recommended it on life-saving grounds. He maintained that upward of thirty vessels had been wrecked on the Caithness coast.  Parliament acted quickly and the Authorising Act
received the Royal Assent on 27 July; commissioners were appointed and Telford became engineer for the construction. More surveys followed and a 'final' cost of £474,500 plus land purchase costs was agreed.
Various fund-provision acts followed. In the event, construction took 19 years and cost £912,000 after facing civil engineering and other difficulties that could scarcely have been foreseen.  Employment policy was to use as much local labour as possible; but the Highlanders had different priorities from their employer. At the appropriate seasons they would absent themselves for the annual peat cutting, potato harvesting or herring fishing. Others overindulged in whisky, and Telford constructed a brewery so as to wean the Highlanders from their 'pernicious habit'. The labour force peaked at 1425 men in the year 1811, by which time labourers' pay had risen from 1/6d to 2/6d per day.

The grand opening, the first passage through the canal, was on 23 and 24 October 1822 for craft of up to 140 tons. Major renewals were needed in 1847 and in 1964 much of the artificial canal was drained for repairs to its bottom and sides, especially in the 29 lock chambers. Gates have been modernised and automated and bridges rebuilt. The maximum sizes for vessels admitted to the canal are a length of 160 feet and a beam overall of 35 feet, with a 9 foot draught.  Corpach Sea Lock will now admit craft of 1000 tons to the traffic basin.

The traditional fishing fleets still make occasional use of the canal but cargo boats are now a rare sight. However, yachting and yacht charter have boomed.  Of the sixty miles of navigational water only about twenty miles is artificial channel, the balance comprising Loch Lochy and Loch Oich, summit at 102 feet above sea level, Loch Ness and Loch Dochfour.  The favoured tourist viewing point is Fort Augustus, where the five-lock staircase forms the centrepiece of the village, with a view along Loch Ness, and perhaps Nessie ?