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Is the Forth and Clyde canal fully open now?


Coryton

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Hello everyone.

 

I hope this is the right place to post this....

 

I have a narrow boat booked this summer from Falkirk. It will be my first time canal boating, though I have a bit of experience on rivers. (And I've walked down plenty of tow paths and occasionally helped with lock gates).

 

Anyway, looking at the Scottish Canals web site it says: "The Forth & Clyde Canal is open to navigation from Kirkintilloch to The Kelpies and from The Falkirk Wheel to Edinburgh."

 

Looking at the Covid news updates I think this is out of date - the latest entry I can see (from 30th April) says that they plan to have full navigation from the end of May.

 

But can anyone confirm this?

 

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I would confirm that the information is correct from the hire company and Scottish Canals direct and is up to date. 

You can get up-to-date information from Scottish Canals via their website and Facebook page. 

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10 minutes ago, AllanD said:

I would confirm that the information is correct from the hire company and Scottish Canals direct and is up to date. 

You can get up-to-date information from Scottish Canals via their website and Facebook page. 

 

Thanks.

 

The hire company didn't get back to me and I didn't want to pester them as I imagine they are probably extremely busy at the moment.

 

As I said above, the Scottish Canal website says very clearly that the canal is only open as far as Kirkintilloch but I suspect that it's out of date.

 

Trying Facebook is a good idea - if Scottish Canals are giving up to date information on Facebook and leaving their web site out of date they wouldn't be the only company to do so.

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From the Scottish Canals website you can download the Skipper`s guide for the Lowland Canals which will be useful in planning for your holiday. 

Have you been told that any passage through lock and bridges must be arranged with SC in advance. 

Kirkintilloch has regular bus service into Glasgow and also has a good selection of shops, cafés and restaurants. 

The marina can be busy. 

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2 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

Scottish Canals Stoppages lists a closure at Stockingfield Bridge in August, which is I think the junction with the Glasgow Branch

No mention of Kirkintilloch though

 

https://www.scottishcanals.co.uk/canal-works-stoppage-programme/

 

Thanks - I hadn't found that handy list.

 

1 hour ago, AllanD said:

From the Scottish Canals website you can download the Skipper`s guide for the Lowland Canals which will be useful in planning for your holiday. 

Have you been told that any passage through lock and bridges must be arranged with SC in advance. 

Kirkintilloch has regular bus service into Glasgow and also has a good selection of shops, cafés and restaurants. 

The marina can be busy. 

 

Yes I've seen the Skipper's guide - a bit low resolution and I found making out the lengths of the winding holes a bit hard.

 

And I am aware that we aren't supposed to just turn up at locks and hope for the best (on the upside, it means we don't have to learn how to work them...and unlike when I've been boating in Ireland I don't think you have to pay the lockkeeper each time you go through a lock...just a flat fee to use the canal)

 

I believe that apart from the Falkirk Wheel and nearby locks there aren't any to Edinburgh, and there are just a few on the way to Glasgow.

 

Taking the boat to the Kelpies doesn't seem worth it given how many locks there are for a short distance (different of course if you're doing it to get out to sea).

 

I don't know about heading to Bowling - that also seems to have a lot of locks and I imagine that doing Edinburgh and Glasgow is probably more than enough for a week. Or maybe that means missing out on the best bit....

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Rather than take your boat down to the kelpies, you can drive  from the Wheel and see the magical horses. You don't really want to miss them and it takes a while out of your holiday to take a boat down then back up .  

 

haggis

 

 

 

 

 

 

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9 minutes ago, haggis said:

Rather than take your boat down to the kelpies, you can drive  from the Wheel and see the magical horses. You don't really want to miss them and it takes a while out of your holiday to take a boat down then back up .  

 

We won't have a car.

 

But you aren't the first person to say that it's definitely worth going to see them.

 

There seems to be a bus from Falkirk so we might do that. 

 

I don't know what the walk to them down the towpath from the bottom of the Wheel is like. A lot faster than taking the boat though I think.

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You can walk  along side the locks between the wheel and the kelpies and it is quite a pleasant walk, or you could cycle. Don't know if they hire bikes at the Wheel or not. The people you hire from will most likely know about busses as I am sure they get a lot of people wanting to visit the kelpies from the wheel. 

 

 

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Depending on when in August you are booked there can be a time restriction on the Union Canal during school terms to accommodate a rowing club. 

Details are in the Skipper guide. 

Also, there is a lift bridge just before Edinburgh Quay which will need to be arranged. 

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The website information is out of date and I raised this with Scottish Canals.  This is the reply.

 

Hi Richard,

Thanks for raising. As you know, our website isn’t fit for purpose any more, hence why we’re looking at a new website as updates are currently posted on numerous locations, making it challenging to keep on top of.

 

I have asked the team to amend the location you refer to – please see the link below which no longer refers to limited navigation:

 

www.scottishcanals.co.uk/activities/boating/forth-clyde-union-canals/

 

Would appreciate it if you could post a comment on the forum saying that it has now been amended?

 

Josie

Josie Saunders
Head of Corporate Affairs
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33 minutes ago, Waterway2go said:

The website information is out of date and I raised this with Scottish Canals.  This is the reply.

 

Hi Richard,

Thanks for raising. As you know, our website isn’t fit for purpose any more, hence why we’re looking at a new website as updates are currently posted on numerous locations, making it challenging to keep on top of.

 

 

 

The website may not be fit for purpose, but it's impressive that they got it fixed so quickly when it was pointed out.

 

Anyway - thanks for that!

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4 hours ago, haggis said:

You can walk  along side the locks between the wheel and the kelpies and it is quite a pleasant walk, or you could cycle.

spacer.png

 

... or you could use a Sinclair C5 if you had one to hand. ... one of the volunteer lockkeepers accompanying us up the flight in 2017

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52 minutes ago, PeterScott said:

... or you could use a Sinclair C5 if you had one to hand. ... one of the volunteer lockkeepers accompanying us up the flight in 2017

 

Goodness. That's quite a sight!

 

I believe they found a niche use getting people up and down the deck on oil tankers.

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Not quite sure what's happening at Stockingfield. I think the canal is open and the current works are over the M8,  which would only affect passage beyond Spiers Wharf. That's via towpath telegraph, though, so may not be reliable information :wub:

 

A lot of hire boats do visit the Kelpies, usually travelling down on one day, and back the next. Passage of the 14 locks involved takes 2.5 to 3 hours. From Lock 16 to the  Kelpies is about 3 miles, so around an hour's walk

Edited by Iain_S
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3 hours ago, Iain_S said:

A lot of hire boats do visit the Kelpies, usually travelling down on one day, and back the next. Passage of the 14 locks involved takes 2.5 to 3 hours. From Lock 16 to the  Kelpies is about 3 miles, so around an hour's walk

 

It seems a lot of hassle to go a short distance just to turn around again, especially when it can be walked - which is what we did some years ago at the Shannon end of the Shannon-Erne waterway - we left the boat there and walked as far as the tow-path went, had lunch in a handy pub, then walked back.

 

Mind you the locks did look rather fun, with buttons to press on a control panel to work them. But walking was cheaper than having to pay at each lock.

 

Then again if I had two weeks on the lowlands canals and had done the everywhere else it might seem worth taking the boat to the Kelpies just to have done the whole thing.

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 Here is some info that may be helpful....

This is an exttract from the report by Richard Millar to the last SWfA meeting.  It shows that some short 48hr closures at Stockingfiled will be required in the second phase of works, which is now listed on the website as being 16-28 August.  But it appears that Scottish Canals are being a bit choosy about who they will let through the works site on the basis that it requires some skill to navigate.   Not sure who in Scottish Canals will make that judgement!!

  

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4 hours ago, AllanD said:

 Here is some info that may be helpful....

This is an exttract from the report by Richard Millar to the last SWfA meeting.  It shows that some short 48hr closures at Stockingfiled will be required in the second phase of works, which is now listed on the website as being 16-28 August.  But it appears that Scottish Canals are being a bit choosy about who they will let through the works site on the basis that it requires some skill to navigate.   Not sure who in Scottish Canals will make that judgement!!

  

 

Thanks.

 

Where can I see the information?

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The best I can suggest is a direct phone call to Scottish Canals prior to your holiday if you are planning to travel beyond Kirkintilloch into Glasgow or Bowling. 

The information given can be hard to find online and not necessarily up to date. 

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6 minutes ago, AllanD said:

The best I can suggest is a direct phone call to Scottish Canals prior to your holiday if you are planning to travel beyond Kirkintilloch into Glasgow or Bowling. 

The information given can be hard to find online and not necessarily up to date. 

 

Thanks. I'll do that.

 

I think the best thing might be to head to Edinburgh first. If that doesn't take the whole week, we can see how far west we have time to go and by then we'll have some idea of how far we're comfortable travelling in a day.

 

I'm pretty sure we won't want to get as far as Bowling though.

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Enjoy!! 

If on the Union, I can recommend The Park Farm Bistro for a meal. It is east of Linlithgow and there is a short pontoon mooring beside it. 

Also on the West side of linlithgow there is Bridge 49, another nice place to eat but not sure about moorings. 

We used the Causeway Head moorings for an overnight, but these are mainly residential. 

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