The Largely Forgotten Forth & Clyde Canal

The Forth and Clyde Canal snakes its way across Glasgow in the midst of a mostly forgotten, post-industrial landscape. Opened in 1790, the canal was an engineering marvel as it connected with the Union Canal to provide a sea-to-sea link across central Scotland from Glasgow to Edinburgh. Providing an early route for seagoing vessels it suffered as larger ships were the norm and rail became a faster way to move goods. Since the canal was generally closed in the 1960s, obsolete industrial buildings that once lined the canal—very few remain now—-have largely been replaced with a motley mixture of warehouses, apartments and unused green spaces. Although the canal has been the target of numerous city plans, it has yet to reach its fantastic potential as a green corridor and urban front yard for residential, recreational, and commercial use. In any city with fewer remnants of industrial history, canal improvements would be front and center.