Caledonian Canal

The Caledonian Canal is an amazing feat of engineering. Twenty-two miles of canal built on an impressive scale linking the three lochs of the Great Glen to make a navigation between West and East coast of Scotland. The entire route covers 60 miles from Fort William to Inverness and is still heavily used by pleasure boats and some fishing vessels wanting to avoid the lengthy and hazardous journey around the north coast.

The canal was originally planned as part of a number of schemes to try and build an infrastructure in the Highlands and stem the flow of emigration from the area. Work began at each end in 1803 under the direction of Thomas Telford. Soon after digging began in Fort Augustus roughly in the centre of the Great Glen. The canal was designed on a much bigger scale than the traditional canals of the industrial revolution to take the large sea-going boats of the time. After a huge overspend that wouldn't be out of place in today's grand schemes the canal was opened in 1822. However by this time it had become a bit of a white elephant as sail had mainly given way to steam and most boats had now become too big to go through the canal or were not in such need of its sheltered route.

The Caledonian Canal is an incredible legacy to Telford's self-taught engineering skills. The huge changes in levels on the route meant that 29 locks had to be built including the 8 loch Neptune's Staircase at Corpach. Each loch is over twice as big as one in a traditional canal meaning new ways of opening the loch gates had to be devised. The canal is still manned by British Waterways staff with loch opening and swing bridge times regulated at some of the busier bottlenecks. The walk at Neptune's Staircase offers good opportunities to see both the operation of the lochs and the swing bridge and also to see boats entering and leaving the canal at the Fort William end.

Multi-day trips run the length of the canal and there are shorter cruises from Fort Augustus and Inverness taking in the chance to spot Nessie on Loch Ness. Even if you don't want to take to the water there are lots of good canal towpath routes with good views of the surrounding countryside. The walk from Gairlochy crosses the Moy swing bridge, the only original bridge on the canal. Made of cast iron it was constructed in Wales and shipped in two pieces to be put together on site. The bridge is still operated as it was when the canal opened with the bridge keeper opening one side manually and then having to go across the canal in a small row boat to open the other side. The uniform canalside houses for the canal staff add interest although be warned that many of the toilets on the route require a key and are for users of the canal only.

Telford was often described as wedded to his work, and during his time working on the canal he visited many other parts of the Highlands designing churches, manses, and even whole towns such as Ullapool. However the canal remains the showcase of his skills and the manpower of those at the other end of the shovels!