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Wednesday 21 November 2012

River Kelvin & the Forth & Clyde Canal

Ring Ring...Ring Ring....Hello?
"Hi Joe it's Bruce listen I'm a bit bored fancy a quick stroll along the River Kelvin then cut back along the Forth & Clyde Canal"?.....
"Sounds great  I'll meet you on the Bridge at the Kelvin Hall".
OK see you there.
After what seemed like an eternity Bruce checks his phone
"the white cliffs of dover" you'll never get here I'm heading off on my own
once I've checked the weather with Sean
"Glorious that is the only word to use to describe today's weather
clear skies & temperatures above average for the time of year".


Route
The Kelvin is bridged at several points throughout Glasgow. Most notable is the Great Western Bridge on Great Western Road in the city's West End. Below this bridge is an underground station that bears the name Kelvinbridge, a name commonly attached to the area. Other bridges include Partick Bridge on Dumbarton Road, the bridge at Queen Margaret Drive and a number in the grounds of Kelvingrove Park.
Also notable is the Kelvin Aqueduct which carries the Forth and Clyde Canal over the river. It was Britain's largest when it was opened. The river is used as an overflow for the canal.

The Forth and Clyde 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 Forth near Grangemouth to the River Clyde at Bowling, and had an important basin at Port Dundas in Glasgow.
Successful in its day, it suffered as the seagoing vessels were built larger and could no longer pass through. The railway age further impaired the success of the canal, and in the 1930s decline had ended in dormancy.
In 1963 the canal was closed rather than construct a motorway crossing, and so it became disused and semi-derelict. Canal locks in the Falkirk area on the Union Canal near the connection to the Forth and Clyde canal had been filled in and built over in the 1930s.
As part of the millennium celebrations in 2000, National Lottery funds were used to regenerate both canals. A boatlifting device, the Falkirk Wheel, was built to connect the two canals and once more allow boats to travel from the Clyde or Glasgow to Edinburgh, with a new canal connection to the River Carron and hence the River Forth. The Falkirk Wheel opened on 27 May 2002 and is now a tourist attraction.

The Port Dundas branch has been re-connected to Pinkston Basin, which once formed the terminus of the Monkland Canal, by the construction of 330 yards (300 m) of new canal and two locks. The project cost £5.6 million, and the first lock and intermediate basin were opened on 29 September 2006. Opening of the second lock was delayed by a dispute over land ownership.

 
Walk start & end as the Kelvin meets the Clyde
Monument to the Cameronians
Glasgow University
The Vital Spark by George Wylie
Giant Hogweed
White water on the Kelvin
Canal Viaduct crossing the River
Lock
Glasgow pretends to be Amsterdam
Lock Marker
Reflection on calm waters
 
New Build's by Mondrian?
New Neighbours
Doo Hut
Wharf
Bud Neils Lobey Dosser, Rank Badjin & El Fideldo
Info on bud Neil
Time for a Pint in the Three Judges