How Scotland Is Reinventing Its Centuries-Old Canals for Paddlers

[demmiblue]

In the past 20 years, the country has transformed its decrepit coal-transport infrastructure into a thriving recreational wonderland

“Four!” Kassie shouted from across the canal. I twisted in my kayak seat to get a better look. It took me a minute to see what she was pointing to. Near the shore, one lone, rusted wheel stuck up over the water’s surface like the flag of a sinking ship. That’s when I realized what Kassie was counting: submerged shopping carts. She’d seen four already—and it had only been a few hours.

So this is the kind of scenery we’re in for, I thought, grimacing as I used my paddle to bat away a floating beer bottle. We’d just begun a four-day kayaking trip along Scotland’s Glasgow to Edinburgh Canoe Trail. At that point, we were both wondering if we’d made a huge mistake. Neither of us had any idea that we were on the verge of discovering one of Scotland’s most inspirational—and unlikely—environmental success stories.

When I’d first mentioned the prospect of visiting my friend Kassie in London, she’d recommended we spend a few days getting out of the city and going on an adventure. The plan was to paddle the 200-year-old Forth and Clyde Canal into the Union Canal. Together, the two canals form a historic, 54-mile route that bisects Scotland.
Swans on Forth and Clyde canal

Of course, when we mentioned the plan to our Scottish friends, they were anything but supportive.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/how-scotland-is-reinventing-its-ancient-canals-for-paddlers-180980399/

[DURHAM D]

1. What a wonderful story and great pics.

Thanks for posting.

[Botany]

2. Worth the read

Worth the read. Scotland is doing some amazing large scale green infrastructure projects. This canal restoration project along with Scotland's rewilding work is nice to see. (Just like Doug Tallamy's Homegrown National Park Project.)


Maybe Scotland can take back the land on its N.E. coast that Trump turned into golf course and restore the shore line dunes.
He promised thousands of jobs and that golf course has produced < 100.

[AllaN01Bear]

6. trump is full of hogwash.

[70sEraVet]

3. WOW! Thanks, demmi! Inspiring article.

I am blown away by the staggering melding of the historic with the super-modern innovation.
Our own country was once thought of as the ' Brave New World'. We certainly are in grave danger of being left behind, as so many of our citizens and leaders are trying to claw us back in time - so fearful of progress, that they use the word 'woke' as an insult.

[AllaN01Bear]

5. we have been falling apart since the 1960s. they live on past glories . white houses,

white picket fences and little allice dosnt live here any more . i dont want to pay my taxes in a whinny voice .

[AllaN01Bear]

4. have been following several canal restos on youtube for a while . haven heard from them.

what fun.

[IronLionZion]

7. The falkirk wheel is ambitiously impressive

[flying rabbit]

10. That was cool!

[IronLionZion]

11. I love how it uses hardly any energy

due to the weight balance

[homegirl]

8. Seven years ago

with my two daughters I had the fantastic experience of a six day barge trip on the Caledonian Canal. Oh, how I want to go back to my ancestral homeland.

Thank you for the beautiful photos, I will treasure them.

Just a comment-when I first visited Scotland in 1955 the Highlands were mostly bare. Last trip the reforestation program has created a new lumber industry and is stunning to see. Very forward thinking.

[Lonestarblue]

9. Great article!

Made me want to go for a ride on the canals!

The grant for the Falkirk Wheel was $93 million dollars. I couldn’t help thinking about an article in yesterday’s Post about the $1.6 billion given to Leonard Leo’s 501(c) nonprofit masquerading as a social welfare organization but in reality a Christian Nationalism political group. The donor legally donated all his stock in a business and because of our tax laws was able to completely avoid $400 million he would have paid on his taxable gains. Now imagine that $400 was added to the US Treasury for projects that could move the US forward. We have plenty of waterways that need cleanup.

And imagine how much money would be available for infrastructure like modern train systems rather than the third-world system we have billionaires and near billionaires had to pay their fair share of taxes. We have been disinvesting in our country for decades thanks to Republican tax cuts. And we have the Roberts court to thank for Citizens United that opened the floodgates to dark money politics. In 2020, groups aligned with Democrats spent $1.5 billion while Reublican groups ent $900 million. Those groups pay no taxes. The 501(c) classification needs to be revisited because these groups are not social welfare organizations.