The Crinan Canal is a canal located in the west of Scotland,United Kingdom. The Crinan Canal owes its name to the village of Crinan which rises near its western end.The Crinan Canal links Ardrishaig on Loch Gilp to the Sound of Jura, providing a waterway between the Clyde and the Inner Hebrides, without the need for a detour around the Kintyre Peninsula, and in particular the Mull of Kintyre. The canal has no height limits, and it is a popular route for yachts traveling from the Firth of Clyde to the west coast of Scotland. It is three meters deep.
In 1847 a yacht sailed across the canal with Queen Victoria. Her journey attracted a lot of interest and the canal became a tourist attraction. In addition to the transport of cargo, the transport of tourists boomed.
Today the canal is used mainly by yachts and other pleasure vessels. The Crinan Canal is said to be “the most beautiful ford in the country”.
Access : Coordinates: / The Crinan Channel is a channel in Argyll and Bute, in the west of Scotland, about 14 miles long and which connects Loch Gilp with Loch Crinan.
Highlights :
- There are 15 locks in the Crinan Canal. There are six swing bridges and a roller bridge over the water. At the highest point of the canal, it is 64 feet above sea level.
- It is named after the village of Crinan, which is located at its western end, on the shores of Loch Crinan, as it joins this town with the village of Ardrishaig in Loch Gilp (east). Loch Crinan is a bay in the Strait of Jura, and Loch Gilp is an estuary of Loch Fyne.
- Work to build the canal began in 1794, and the canal was opened in 1801 with an original design by John Rennie, but with numerous errors in the floodgates that were repaired in 1816 by Thomas Telford. Its purpose was to facilitate commercial transport between Glasgow and the mouth of the Clyde, and the Hebrides, without having to go around the south of the Kintyre Peninsula and especially through Cape Kintyre, a place of open sea and dangerous to some.
Go next : the village of Crinan / Cairnbaan , a village situated on the Crinan Canal, in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland.
