The Caledonian Canal Canal Walks with Julia Bradbury


The Caledonian Canal

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Navigating Highland glens,

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rolling countryside, river valleys,

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and city sprawl.

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Britain's canals cut a sedate path through some of the country's finest scenery.

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Canals were the transport arteries at the heart of a booming industrial age.

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A network of locks, tunnels and aqueducts

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helped carry goods to every corner of the land and beyond.

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Transforming 19th century Britain into an economic superpower.

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Today, over 2,000 miles of restored canals

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offer a gateway into a different world.

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For me and many others,

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the towpaths alongside them offer the perfect way to explore this heritage on foot.

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Hello, welcome to the Scottish Highlands,

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and look at that for a bonnie view.

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What a way to start a walk.

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This is the West Coast of Scotland where the mountains meet the sea.

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I'm here to discover how Thomas Telford

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created a coast-to-coast canal transforming these remote Highlands by linking east to west.

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Scottish-born Telford was one of the great engineers of his day.

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On the outskirts of Fort William is his most ambitious project,

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the Caledonian Canal.

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At the turn of the 19th century,

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he realised there was a way through the heart of this remote and inhospitable region.

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By following the Great Glen, one of Scotland's most dramatic natural features,

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he saw that he could join it's freshwater lochs with sections of man-made canal.

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But there had never been a canal route on this scale before.

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Telford truly had his work cut out if he was to conquer the Highlands.

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This is more than a simple story of canal building.

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It's a tale of fame, fortune and, ultimately, folly.

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This wasn't just a navigational short cut.

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By the 1800s, canal mania was well underway

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in the industrial heartlands of England.

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But it wasn't until 1801

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that Telford started to survey a new route

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that would change the face of Scotland.

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He saw that the four main locks at the Great Glen,

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including Loch Ness, the biggest and the deepest in the UK,

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lay in near perfect alignment.

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Building an additional 22 miles of man-made canal would link them

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and create a cross-country route between Fort William and Inverness.

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My walk follows the first eight miles of this 60-mile route.

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I'll be starting from the sea at Corpach

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and undoing of the shores of the first freshwater loch at Gairlochy.

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This is Corpach sea lock,

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the start or end point of a journey along the Caledonian Canal.

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Clearly, this is not your average canal

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and that is not your average narrowboat.

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Telford's plan to join two sides of the country via a waterway was definitely bold.

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At the time, there was nothing on its scale anywhere else in the UK.

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He pledged the canal would bring prosperity and employment to the impoverished Highlands

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and help fishing boats shortcut the treacherous route around the top of Scotland.

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The race was on to expand Britain's transport network

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and private speculators rushed forward to fund new schemes.

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But this route was different.

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For the first time ever, the government would provide the money.

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If successful, it would be a triumph of its age

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creating badly-needed jobs and bringing wealth to the Highlands.

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-So, what are you doing here?

-I'm the chief officer on the vessel.

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It's quite a big vessel to have on a lock.

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Yeah, it's the largest that will fit into the lock, just about.

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-Definitely bigger than your average barge or narrowboat.

-Definitely.

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Some of these smaller locks,

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-it sounds very tight when you go in.

-I bet.

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You've got measurements being given to the bridge of one or two feet on either end.

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And there's about 18 inches on either side in the smallest ones.

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-So a real skill?

-Yes.

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-What do you think of Thomas Telford?

-I think he's a brilliant engineer.

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His only problem seemed to be that a lot of the locks he built on bends

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-which makes it difficult for a vessel of this size to get through.

-Yep.

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'A cruise boat certainly isn't what I expect to see on a canal lock.'

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And as this is the beginning of my walk,

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what can I expect see along the canal?

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-Rain.

-Yes, I'm used to that, that's fine!

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Lots of rain, some nice wildlife,

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and, hopefully, at this time of year, maybe not as many of the tourists,

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but I think you'll find quite a number of people going along.

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Lovely, looking forward to it.

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Well, better leave you to it. Don't want anything to go wrong.

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-It's all right, they'll wait for me to get back on board.

-Good!

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This impressive cruise boat, which is going in the opposite direction to me,

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has already carried 54 passengers 60 miles along the entire length of the canal,

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from Inverness to here at Corpach.

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It's now setting off for the open sea and the inner Hebrides.

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What a trip.

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Well, that got things off with a bang, didn't it?

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Telford spent two years surveying the options for this route

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and returned a compelling report to the government.

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He believed the region was in crisis.

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The devastating Highland clearances had shattered traditional clan life.

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At this time, people were being evicted from their homes

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and forced off their land to make way for sheep farming.

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Dispossessed and disillusioned,

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they were leaving Scotland emigrating to the New World and the promise of a better life.

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Telford believed the canal could give his fellow-countrymen a reason to stay.

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He wrote, "A canal would not only create much-needed employment,

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"it would also be hugely beneficial to the fishing industry

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"providing jobs way beyond the canal's completion."

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This was going to be a truly massive canal on an unprecedented scale

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making it capable of carrying ocean-going boats.

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They're proper seafaring tugboats, aren't they?

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He planned a route that sliced through the dramatic faultline of the Great Glen,

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20 ft deep, 30 ft wide with a total of 28 gargantuan locks.

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This is true mountain country.

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Ben Nevis is the tallest mountain in Great Britain.

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Imagine being audacious enough, and brave enough to think you could dig a canal through this terrain.

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I mean, even on the Telford scale, this was off the chart.

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Carving a canal through these giant mountains was an astonishing challenge

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that ended up going massively over-budget

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and took much longer than ever planned.

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I'm approaching Banavie, the first village on my walk

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where I've arranged to meet someone who can tell me more about Telford's ambitious plan.

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-Nigel, just the man I needed to see.

-Hello.

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-Hello, how are you doing?

-Fine, thank you.

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'Nigel Ricks is a modern-day engineer overseeing the upkeep of this stretch of waterway.'

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I need you to tell me about Telford. I mean, obviously he was this great man, this ambitious man,

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-but this was an enormous project, wasn't it?

-Absolutely, it was the largest...

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..there was nothing like it in Britain at all, it was massive.

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It was a huge ship canal as opposed to the small canals they had in England.

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So, it was sort of beyond the imagination, really?

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Generally, yes, it was just beyond, certainly in this part the world, there was nothing ever like it.

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So who was going to fund this big idea?

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This was amazing, again, because it wasn't privately funded,

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it was public funded. The government paid, the taxpayer paid.

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-And then that was unheard of?

-Absolutely.

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It was all private enterprise, canals and such like.

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-So this was nationalisation, really?

-Yeah, very much so.

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The impetus was much greater because of the times.

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The times being times of strife, times of trouble?

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Yes, indeed, it was during the Napoleonic wars.

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There was also a mass emigration from this part of the world,

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people were leaving the Highlands in droves.

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The government wanted to stop that and to give employment.

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So, really, was this a huge master plan that covered all bases?

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Oh, very much so. Yes, indeed.

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Initially, and for the long term.

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That was the cunning plan.

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So, Thomas Telford, he was more than just an engineer, wasn't he?

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Well, yes, he was an absolute genius.

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He was a great visionary and he was so enthusiastic

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that when the canal started,

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he actually started about six months before he got the signature on the bit of paper.

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And they to had to rein him back. He was so enthusiastic, so keen.

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And let me show you just an example of his engineering genius. It's just along here. Follow me.

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It's just a couple of hundred yards further on

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to the bottom of Neptune's staircase, a dramatic flight of locks.

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Eight locks, rises 64 ft in 450 yards.

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And again, remember, when it was actually built there was nothing like it.

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Without this, the canal wouldn't have worked

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because we are in the Highlands, we are in the mountains, and water doesn't travel up, does it?

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No, it's an integral part of the whole structure.

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It's the largest flight of locks on this canal.

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-How long does it take to get through Neptune's staircase?

-Approximately an hour and a half.

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It can be slightly quicker coming down because coming down is quicker than going up

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and you've got the water.

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What all this means, of course, is that I do have a bit of a climb

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which I didn't think I would have on a canal walk.

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Yes, it's a good climb, but once you get up there and along,

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-it'll be well worth it.

-Right, I'm going to get on my way, then.

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Before you go, I'd like to give you this small pressie

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which is the Bible of the canal.

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Right, the Caledonian Canal.

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I shall read, take notes and learn.

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-Thank you very much, Nigel.

-Not at all.

-Thanks a lot.

-Bye-bye.

-See you, bye.

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This impressive flight of locks was named after Neptune,

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the Roman god of the seas

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by the navvies, the name given to the men who navigated the route

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and built it.

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Neptune's staircase might be hard work for walkers like me,

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but it also proved to be an obstacle for shipping.

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On 22nd February, 1929,

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the boat Girl Patricia

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crashed through the top lock

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and was swept into the next, damaging its gates before being brought to a stop.

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Disaster was narrowly averted and this lock wall held strong against the increase in water pressure.

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If it had collapsed, all the water in this reach

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would have cascaded down, flooding the village of Banavie.

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Three to go.

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Good thing about this route is you can't get lost,

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just follow the canal.

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Number eight. That's it for the climbing.

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The obstacles don't stop here.

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I'm also going to have to contend with the weather.

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But for the pioneering and patriotic Telford,

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he was determined to overcome all barriers.

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This wasn't just another route,

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it was the country's first social enterprise scheme and a matter of national pride,

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which he described as one of the noblest projects that was ever laid before a nation.

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For most canals built in England,

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securing a constant supply of water was an issue.

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Not here in Scotland.

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In fact, the opposite.

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There could often be too much water.

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Heavy rain meant flooding could easily threaten the banks of the canal.

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And, for me, it means a walk of showers and sunshine.

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By planting an embankment of half a million trees,

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with spruces from Sweden and 20,000 fine thorns,

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Telford strengthened the banks against the potential of devastating rising waters.

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Planting trees wasn't enough to secure the canal, though.

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Telford needed to implement some of the tricks of the trade he'd been developing elsewhere.

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After just over two miles, the canal is carried across

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a rather inconspicuous aqueduct which lies hidden below the towpath.

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I read about this in the book.

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And, you know me, I love a good snoop.

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Its purpose is to allow the rainwater from the hills

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to drain away under the aqueduct

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and therefore prevent the canal flooding.

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And it's where I am meeting Ian McLaren, the man who looks after the Seangan aqueduct.

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-Hi there, Ian.

-Hello.

-Drain problems?

-Yes, drain problems.

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-We all have drain problems.

-Oh, yes.

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-This is a really dinky little aqueduct, isn't it?

-It is, it is.

-How old is she?

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-She's coming up for 200 years old.

-Can we go in?

-Yes, certainly, yeah.

-Come on.

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Ah, yeah, the torch. We might need that.

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-It kind of gets wet in the Highlands.

-Yes, I've noticed that.

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So, because there's so much water, that was the problem for the canals,

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-because they would have flooded.

-Yes, aye.

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It's a way of getting rid of the water, not going into the canal.

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And right now, how much water's on top of us

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-because the canal is on top of us, isn't it?

-Yes, there's tons of water.

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There's nearly 20 ft of water above you.

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And this little structure is protecting us from that?

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-Yes.

-And acting as a drainage system as well?

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-As a drainage system, yes.

-It really was one of Telford's master strokes.

-Oh, it sure was.

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Absolutely fantastic for a structure nearly 200 years old

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and still to be in the condition it's in.

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-And you've been working here for how long?

-I've been here coming up for 25 years.

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-I'm actually the fourth generation.

-Really?

-From this canal, yes.

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So if we do the maths, So your grandfather, your father, your grandfather...

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-My grandmother's father worked on the canal.

-So, well over 100 years?

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-Oh, nearly 120 years.

-That's incredible.

-Yes, yes.

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-Do you have children?

-No, I will be the last.

-This is it?

-Yes.

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It stops here?

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I'm afraid British Waterways have had the whole of our family, that'll do us, I think.

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-Well, look, you know what, you've given your time, haven't you? 120-odd years.

-Yes.

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Back up on the towpath, this lovely tree-lined corridor continues,

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making for some easy-going and scenic walking.

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Eventually, the trees give way to an altogether more Highland scene.

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This is where you get a real sense of the truly mountainous terrain

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Telford had to pioneer a route through.

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That little hut over there in the distance represents skiing in this part of Scotland.

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That's the back of Ben Nevis, that's Aonach Mor,

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and the great thing about this walk is that you don't have mountains at the start,

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they're with you every step of the way.

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In this mountainous landscape,

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Telford had to be prepared for just how much rain could pour off these slopes.

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Building aqueducts and strengthening the banks weren't his only precautions.

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He also needed to have a way of letting water out of the canal

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should it simply get to full.

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I've read about this in my book.

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This was Telford's answer, the Loy Sluices.

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An overflow system that would allow water to be drained from the canal.

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So, that lovely boat would be over my shoulder along with the handsome man on a horse

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which means I must be standing just about here.

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I'm having a look over there, not a lot of water

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so the sluice gate is shut.

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The plug's in today.

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Telford might have had the answers to some of the engineering problems which the route posed,

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but he knew these would amount to nothing without a strong and dedicated workforce.

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To cut the canal line alone

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required the removal of 5.25 million cubic yards of soil.

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This would have been such incredibly arduous work.

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A wheelbarrow, pickaxe, and not much else.

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It says here, the navvies, the workers, had "a pernicious habit of drinking whisky".

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I'm not surprised.

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You'd need something, wouldn't you, to help you through a day like that.

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These Highland labourers were more used to working in isolation as subsistence crofters

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than in teams of hundreds.

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Many proved unreliable, returning to their crofts during certain seasons

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to take part in peat cutting and harvesting.

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Telford's grand plan started to falter.

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His survey hadn't accurately estimated the costs of cutting locks through rock

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and the seven-year deadline proved unrealistic.

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Instead, it was to take a total of 19 years.

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But Telford's route through the Great Glen

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has paved the way for one of the country's most popular long-distance walking trails.

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Aye up, we've got company. And they're bigger than me. Hello, hello.

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-Where are you off to?

-Fort William.

-So what have you done?

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-Have you done the whole thing, the Great Glen Way?

-Correct.

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-How many days have you been going?

-Six.

-Who's got sore feet?

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-He does.

-Blisters?

-No blisters.

-Has it been good, a good experience?

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-Yes, it's lovely.

-Even in the rain, it was good.

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Of course even in the rain!

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This part is particularly pretty.

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It's gorgeous, isn't it? It's lovely.

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Well, I'm on my way to Gairlochy, so I'm doing a mini walk.

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You've done the full thing, I'll do it next year.

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-All right, guys, lovely to meet you. Bye.

-Bye, thanks.

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'With well over two-thirds of my walk now complete,

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'I'm planning to meet Ivor McKay,

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'a man who quite literally winds his way along this canal.'

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-Hello, how are you today?

-I'm fine thank you, how are you?

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-I'm good, thank you. What are you up to?

-I'm opening the swing bridge here.

-So this is a swing bridge?

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This is a swing bridge, this is one of the...

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-..this is the only original swing bridge left in the canal.

-Right.

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-And it's near enough 200 years old.

-Can I have a go?

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-You certainly can.

-Thank you.

-If you'd like to stand over here.

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Tell me, why is it here anyway?

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Just get the momentum going and you'll be fine. That's it.

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-Here we go.

-Nice and easy.

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You don't really need to...

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-that's it.

-Here we go.

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The reason the bridge is here was to give access to the farmland on this side

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-to the farmers on the other side.

-Right.

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And to this day, it still stands that the farmer gets right of access

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when he comes down the path on his tractor.

0:21:520:21:55

-How often do you have to do this?

-Just depends how many boats we get a day.

0:21:550:21:59

In the summertime, it's very busy, you know.

0:21:590:22:02

-Can maybe do it 20 times a day sometimes.

-Keeps you fit!

0:22:020:22:06

It certainly does, aye, it's very enjoyable doing it.

0:22:060:22:09

Is that...do you live there?

0:22:090:22:11

No, this is an original lock keeper's house

0:22:110:22:13

but it's rented out now to private tenants.

0:22:130:22:16

But this house has been here since 1836.

0:22:160:22:20

And on each gable end of the house,

0:22:200:22:22

-there's small windows where the lock keeper used to...

-Keep an eye out for the boats.

-East to West for boats.

0:22:220:22:28

But now people come on holiday, they can watch you doing all the hard work.

0:22:280:22:32

That's right, aye, yes. I get lots of people here taking photographs

0:22:320:22:35

and asking about the bridge, you know.

0:22:350:22:38

-It's a lovely job.

-It's a great job.

0:22:380:22:40

I always say it's the best job in Scotland to people.

0:22:400:22:43

We all enjoy our job on the canal, you know.

0:22:430:22:45

-And we're quite proud of it, it's our heritage.

-I'm sure.

0:22:450:22:50

-And...you're nearly there.

-There we go.

0:22:500:22:55

-OK, we'll just take the handle out as well.

-Right.

-That's it.

0:22:550:23:00

So you've to cross to the other side now?

0:23:000:23:02

-Yes, open up this side over here.

-OK. Well, you know what?

0:23:020:23:05

-I'm going to leave you to it. Do you need that?

-Just leave it down there, please.

0:23:050:23:09

-Thank you.

-Lovely. Nice to meet you.

0:23:090:23:11

-Thank you.

-Enjoy yourself.

-I will do.

0:23:110:23:14

-Do you paint the boulders as well?

-Yes, we pay until the boulders we cut the grass,

0:23:160:23:20

-and we do all the maintenance about here.

-Lovely.

-Cheerio!

-See you.

0:23:200:23:23

Seeing Ivor's bridge in full swing is a great reminder

0:23:240:23:27

of just how much care goes into the canal's upkeep,

0:23:270:23:30

which today has the impressive title of being a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

0:23:300:23:35

It's also set to be enjoyed by another generation of boaters

0:23:350:23:39

as the country's first ever designated canoe trail.

0:23:390:23:42

In just a short distance, you get your clearest view

0:23:460:23:49

of the River Loy, which has been burbling alongside throughout.

0:23:490:23:53

It's been a walk brimming with impressive mountain landscapes

0:24:000:24:03

and engineering prowess,

0:24:030:24:05

but sadly it's now time for the last stretch to the Double Locks at Gairlochy.

0:24:050:24:11

Originally, there was only one lock here,

0:24:130:24:16

but in 1834, heavy rains flooded three feet above its gates,

0:24:160:24:19

threatening the entire western section.

0:24:190:24:21

For two days and two nights,

0:24:240:24:26

the lock keepers worked around the clock to stem this growing tide.

0:24:260:24:29

They built emergency turf dams and all the sluices were opened wide.

0:24:290:24:34

It was a telling warning.

0:24:370:24:39

One lock was not enough.

0:24:390:24:41

A second was added in 1844,

0:24:440:24:46

the only lock on the canal which doesn't date from the original construction.

0:24:460:24:51

The canal finally opened in 1822, 12 years later than planned,

0:25:050:25:09

and costing £905,000 rather than the £350,000 he had predicted.

0:25:090:25:15

By the time it was finished,

0:25:150:25:17

advances in shipping had made the north coast more navigable

0:25:170:25:21

and boats didn't need the canal short cut.

0:25:210:25:23

The much hoped-for commercial activity never really took off on the canal.

0:25:250:25:29

Its late completion also meant the emerging railways soon stole its advantage.

0:25:290:25:34

This canal has a new life now, people enjoying it on boats,

0:25:450:25:50

on bikes, in boots.

0:25:500:25:52

All sorts.

0:25:520:25:54

Today, it's tourism that takes up the story.

0:25:580:26:02

And the canal attracts over half a million visitors every year.

0:26:020:26:05

So, just as Telford intended, the Highlands are prospering,

0:26:080:26:12

all thanks to his canal which connects these locks

0:26:120:26:15

and has created a gateway into the magnificent scenery of the Great Glen.

0:26:150:26:20

That is a great glen. With a rainbow to boot.

0:26:490:26:53

What a journey.

0:26:530:26:55

From salt water, to a freshwater loch.

0:26:550:26:59

I'm now drawing close to the shores of Loch Lochy,

0:27:090:27:12

which Telford so cleverly realised could be part of a connecting chain,

0:27:120:27:16

forging a route through this wild cross-country valley.

0:27:160:27:20

There's my marker.

0:27:250:27:27

Look at that.

0:27:350:27:38

Telford created something on a scale that had never been seen before

0:27:460:27:50

and you can't fail to be impressed by that.

0:27:500:27:52

And yet it became a bit of a white elephant.

0:27:520:27:55

It took three times as long to build as planned. It went over budget.

0:27:550:27:59

And it was never fully utilised.

0:27:590:28:01

But he did realise a dream, an enormous dream.

0:28:010:28:04

He changed the local economy.

0:28:040:28:07

And what an exquisite walk.

0:28:070:28:10

What a legacy.

0:28:100:28:12

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0:28:170:28:20

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