1.
Scottish Gaelic
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Scottish Gaelic or Scots Gaelic, sometimes also referred to as Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish. The 2011 census of Scotland showed that a total of 57,375 people in Scotland could speak Gaelic at that time, the census results indicate a decline of 1,275 Gaelic speakers from 2001. A total of 87,056 people in 2011 reported having some facility with Gaelic compared to 93,282 people in 2001, only about half of speakers were fully literate in the language. Nevertheless, revival efforts exist and the number of speakers of the language under age 20 has increased, Scottish Gaelic is neither an official language of the European Union nor the United Kingdom. Outside Scotland, a group of dialects collectively known as Canadian Gaelic are spoken in parts of Atlantic Canada, mainly Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. In the 2011 census, there were 7,195 total speakers of Gaelic languages in Canada, with 1,365 in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island where the responses mainly refer to Scottish Gaelic. About 2,320 Canadians in 2011 also claimed Gaelic languages as their mother tongue, with over 300 in Nova Scotia, aside from Scottish Gaelic, the language may also be referred to simply as Gaelic. In Scotland, the word Gaelic in reference to Scottish Gaelic specifically is pronounced, outside Ireland and Great Britain, Gaelic may refer to the Irish language. Scottish Gaelic should not be confused with Scots, the Middle English-derived language varieties which had come to be spoken in most of the Lowlands of Scotland by the modern era. Prior to the 15th century, these dialects were known as Inglis by its own speakers, from the late 15th century, however, it became increasingly common for such speakers to refer to Scottish Gaelic as Erse and the Lowland vernacular as Scottis. Today, Scottish Gaelic is recognised as a language from Irish. Gaelic in Scotland was mostly confined to Dál Riata until the 8th century, when it began expanding into Pictish areas north of the Firth of Forth, by 900, Pictish appears to have become extinct, completely replaced by Gaelic. An exception might be made for the Northern Isles, however, however, though the Pictish language did not disappear suddenly, a process of Gaelicisation was clearly underway during the reigns of Caustantín and his successors. By a certain point, probably during the 11th century, all the inhabitants of Alba had become fully Gaelicised Scots, by the 10th century, Gaelic had become the dominant language throughout northern and western Scotland, the Gaelo-Pictic Kingdom of Alba. Its spread to southern Scotland, was even and totalizing. Place name analysis suggests dense usage of Gaelic in Galloway and adjoining areas to the north and west as well as in West Lothian, less dense usage is suggested for north Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, the Clyde Valley and eastern Dumfriesshire. In south-eastern Scotland, there is no evidence that Gaelic was ever widely spoken, the area shifted from Cumbric to Old English during its long incorporation into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria
2.
Falkirk
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Falkirk is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley,23.3 miles north-west of Edinburgh and 20.5 miles north-east of Glasgow, Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the 2001 census. The population of the town had risen to 34,570 according to a 2008 estimate, the town is at the junction of the Forth and Clyde and Union Canals, a location which proved key to its growth as a centre of heavy industry during the Industrial Revolution. In the 18th and 19th centuries Falkirk was at the centre of the iron and steel industry, the company was responsible for making carronades for the Royal Navy and later manufactured pillar boxes. In the last 50 years heavy industry has waned, and the economy relies increasingly on retail, despite this, Falkirk remains the home of many international companies like Alexander Dennis, the largest bus production company in the United Kingdom. Falkirk has an association with the publishing industry. The company now known as Johnston Press was established in the town in 1846, the company, now based in Edinburgh, produces the Falkirk Herald, the largest selling weekly newspaper in Scotland. Attractions in and around Falkirk include the Falkirk Wheel, The Helix, Callendar House and Park, in a 2011 poll conducted by STV, it was voted as Scotlands most beautiful town, ahead of Perth and Stirling in 2nd and 3rd place respectively. The Scottish Gaelic name was translated into Scots as Fawkirk, then amended to the modern English name of Falkirk. The Latin name Varia Capella also has the same meaning, Falkirk Old Parish Church stands on the site of the medieval church, which may have been founded as early as the 7th century. The Antonine Wall, which stretches across the centre of Scotland, passed through the town and remnants of it can be seen at Callendar Park. Much of the best evidence of Roman occupation in Scotland has been found in Falkirk, including a hoard of Roman coins. In the 18th century the area was the cradle of Scotlandss Industrial Revolution, james Watt cast some of the beams for his early steam engine designs at the Carron Iron Works in 1765. The area was at the forefront of construction when the Forth. The Union Canal provided a link to Edinburgh and early railway development followed in the 1830s and 1840s, the canals brought economic wealth to Falkirk and led to the towns growth. Through time, trunk roads and motorways followed the same canal corridors through the Falkirk area, many companies set up work in Falkirk due to its expansion. A large brickworks was set up at this time, owned by the Howie family. During the 19th century, Falkirk became the first town in Great Britain to have an automated system of street lighting, designed and implemented by a local firm
3.
Abellio ScotRail
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Abellio ScotRail, operating services under the name ScotRail, is the national train operating company of Scotland. A subisidary of Abellio, it has operated the ScotRail franchise since 1 April 2015, in November 2013, Transport Scotland announced that Abellio, Arriva, FirstGroup, MTR Corporation and National Express had been shortlisted to bid for the new ScotRail franchise. In October 2014, the franchise was awarded to Abellio, the franchise will operate for seven years with a three-year extension available contingent on performance criteria being met. Abellio began operating the franchise on 1 April 2015, on 6 September 2015, Abellio ScotRail commenced operating services on the Borders Railway. In June 2016 the RMT union announced that train guards would be going in strike several times during the months in protest of more driver only trains. An agreement was reached in September 2016, bringing an end to the dispute and it was agreed that the new Class 385 trains will have the doors controlled by both the driver and guard, with the driver opening the doors and the guard closing them. On 20 January 2017 the Managing Director of ScotRail and the ScotRail alliance stepped down from his role after 18 months in the company, within a few days Alex Hynes was named as the new Managing Director. The franchise agreement requires the introduction of Great Scottish Scenic Railway trains on the West Highland, Far North, Kyle, Borders Railway, steam special services are also promoted by Abellio ScotRail. Abellio ScotRail operates 354 stations in Scotland, not included are Glasgow Prestwick Airport station, owned and operated by the airport, as well as both Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central, which are managed by Network Rail. Abellio ScotRail operates Lockerbie even though none of its services call there and it also took over management of Dunbar, previously operated by Virgin Trains East Coast, in June 2015. Abellio ScotRails fleet is maintained at Edinburgh Haymarket, Glasgow Eastfield, Glasgow Shields Road, Corkerhill, Abellio ScotRail began operations with the rolling stock below, mainly transferred from First ScotRail, Abellio ScotRail has mentioned the following as part of the future rolling stock. This new rolling stock will result in 10 Class 156, eight Class 158 and 21 Class 170s returning to their leasing companies, five of the 156s, all the 158s and 16 of the 170s released will join Northern when their leases expires in 2018. Transport Scotland negotiated to retain an extra 13 Class 170s to support services through Fife to Aberdeen, media related to Abellio ScotRail at Wikimedia Commons Official website
4.
North British Railway
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The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick, the line opened in 1846, and from the outset the Company followed a policy of expanding its geographical area, and competing with the Caledonian Railway in particular. In doing so it committed huge sums of money, and in doing so incurred shareholder disapproval that resulted in two leaving the company. Nonetheless the Company successfully reached Carlisle, where it made a partnership with the Midland Railway. It also linked from Edinburgh to Perth and Dundee, but for years the journey involved a ferry crossing of the Forth. Eventually the North British built the Tay Bridge, but the structure collapsed as a train was crossing in high wind, the company survived the setback and opened a second Tay Bridge, followed soon by the Forth Bridge, which together transformed the railway network north of Edinburgh. Early on, mineral traffic became dominant and brought in more revenue than the passenger services. At the grouping of the railways in 1923, the North British Railway was the largest railway company in Scotland, in that year it was a constituent of the new London and North Eastern Railway. Early railways in Scotland had been involved with conveyance of minerals—chiefly coal. The opening of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in 1842 showed that a longer distance general purpose railway could be commercially successful, during the construction of the E&GR, the money market had eased somewhat and a rapid development of long distance railways took place in England. Scottish promoters began to consider how central Scotland could be connected to the growing English network, and it was assumed for some time that only a single route was commercially viable. During this frenzy, a group of businesspeople formed the North British Railway Company to build a line from Edinburgh to Berwick (later named Berwick-on-Tweed with a branch to Haddington and they got their authorising Act of Parliament in 1844. The Newcastle and Berwick Railway was building its line, and in time they would part of a through chain of railways between Edinburgh and London. However the Caledonian was unable to secure subscriptions to present a Parliamentary Bill in 1844. The Chairman of the North British Railway, John Learmonth, saw that capturing as much territory as possible for the North British was essential in the competitive struggle, in the 1845 session of Parliament Learmonth secured authorising Acts for numerous branch lines, mostly to forestall incursion by competitors. Also in the 1845 session, the Caledonian Railway was authorised, the Caledonian was to prove a bitter rival. The Edinburgh and Perth Railway failed to get Parliamentary authorisation, all these plans for expansion were committing huge sums of money even before the main line was ready. At last on 22 June 1846 the line to Berwick and Haddington was open to the public, there were five trains daily, with an additional ten short journeys between Edinburgh and Musselburgh
5.
London and North Eastern Railway
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The London and North Eastern Railway was the second largest of the Big Four railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948, at that time, it was divided into the new British Railways Eastern Region, North Eastern Region, and partially the Scottish Region. Sir Ralph Wedgwood was the Chief Officer for its first 16 years, the North Eastern Railway had the largest route mileage,1,757 miles, the Hull and Barnsley Railway just 106.5 miles. The M&GNJR was incorporated into the LNER in 1936, in 1933, on the formation of the London Passenger Transport Board, the LNER acquired the remaining operations of the Metropolitan Railway Company. The LNER was the majority partner in the Cheshire Lines Committee, the LNER covered the area north and east of London. It included the East Coast Main Line from London to Edinburgh via York and Newcastle upon Tyne, most of the country east of the Pennines was within its purview, including East Anglia. The main workshops were in Doncaster, with others at Darlington, Inverurie and Stratford, the LNER inherited four of Londons termini, Fenchurch Street (ex-London and Blackwall Railway, Kings Cross, Liverpool Street, and Marylebone. In addition, it ran suburban services to Broad Street and Moorgate, on 13 February 1923, an express passenger train overran signals at Retford, Nottinghamshire and was in a rear-end collision with a freight train. On 23 December 1923, a passenger train overran signals and was in collision with a light engine at Belford. On 28 July 1924, a train overran signals and collided with another at Haymarket station, Edinburgh. On 12 May 1926, during the General Strike, a passenger train was deliberately derailed south of Cramlington. On 7 August 1926, a multiple unit overran signals and was in collision with a freight train at Manors station, Newcastle upon Tyne. The accident was caused by the tying down the controller with a handkerchief. When he leant out of the train he struck an overbridge and was killed, the train was able to continue moving until the collision. On 14 February 1927, two trains were in a head-on collision at Hull Paragon station, Yorkshire due to a signalmans error. Twelve people were killed and 24 were injured, on 27 February 1927, an express passenger train collided with a light engine at Penistone, Yorkshire due to a signalmans error. On 17 August 1928, a train collided with a lorry on a level crossing at Shepreth. On 27 June 1928, a train was in a head-on collision with a parcels train that was being shunted at Darlington
6.
Train station
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A train station, railway station, railroad station, or depot is a railway facility where trains regularly stop to load or unload passengers or freight. It generally consists of at least one platform and a station building providing such ancillary services as ticket sales. If a station is on a line, it often has a passing loop to facilitate traffic movements. The smallest stations are most often referred to as stops or, in parts of the world. Stations may be at level, underground, or elevated. Connections may be available to intersecting rail lines or other modes such as buses. In British usage, the station is commonly understood to mean a railway station unless otherwise qualified. In the United States, the most common term in contemporary usage is train station, Railway station and railroad station are less frequent. Outside North America, a depot is place where buses, trains, or other vehicles are housed and maintained and from which they are dispatched for service. The two-storey Mount Clare station in Baltimore, Maryland, which survives as a museum, first saw service as the terminus of the horse-drawn Baltimore. The oldest terminal station in the world was Crown Street railway station in Liverpool, built in 1830, as the first train on the Liverpool-Manchester line left Liverpool, the station is slightly older than the Manchester terminal at Liverpool Road. The station was the first to incorporate a train shed, the station was demolished in 1836 as the Liverpool terminal station moved to Lime Street railway station. Crown Street station was converted to a goods station terminal, the first stations had little in the way of buildings or amenities. The first stations in the modern sense were on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, manchesters Liverpool Road Station, the second oldest terminal station in the world, is preserved as part of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. It resembles a row of Georgian houses, dual-purpose stations can sometimes still be found today, though in many cases goods facilities are restricted to major stations. In rural and remote communities across Canada and the United States, such stations were known as flag stops or flag stations. Many stations date from the 19th century and reflect the architecture of the time. Countries where railways arrived later may still have such architecture, as later stations often imitated 19th-century styles, various forms of architecture have been used in the construction of stations, from those boasting grand, intricate, Baroque- or Gothic-style edifices, to plainer utilitarian or modernist styles
7.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
8.
London King's Cross railway station
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Kings Cross railway station, also known as London Kings Cross, is a central London railway terminus on the northern edge of the city. It is one of the busiest railway stations in the United Kingdom, the station was opened in 1852 by the Great Northern Railway in the Kings Cross area to accommodate the East Coast Main Line. It quickly grew to cater for services and was expanded several times in the 19th century. It came under ownership of the London and North Eastern Railway as part of the Big Four grouping in 1923, who introduced famous services such as the Flying Scotsman and Mallard. The station complex was redeveloped in the 1970s, simplifying the layout and providing electric suburban services, in the late 20th century, the area around the station became known for its seedy and downmarket character, and was used as a backdrop for several films as a result. Adjacent to Kings Cross station is St. Pancras International, the London terminus for Eurostar services to continental Europe, beneath both main line stations is Kings Cross St. Pancras on the London Underground, and combined they form one of the countrys largest transport hubs. The Kings Cross fire at the station in 1987 led to improved fire safety standards across the London rail network. The station is located on the London Inner Ring Road at the end of Euston Road, next to the junction with Pentonville Road, Grays Inn Road. To the west, at the side of Pancras Road, is St Pancras railway station. Several London bus routes, including 10,30,59,73,91,205,390,476 pass in front of or at the side of the station, Kings Cross is spelled both with and without an apostrophe. Kings Cross is used in signage at the Network Rail and London Underground stations, on the tube map and it has been used on official maps from Underground companies since 1951 – the apostrophe was used on them only very rarely before then. Kings Cross is used in the National Rail timetable database and other National Rail railway pages, Kings X, Kings + and London KX are abbreviations used in space-limited contexts. The National Rail station code is KGX, the area of Kings Cross was previously a village known as Battle Bridge which was an ancient crossing of the River Fleet, originally known as Broad Ford, later Bradford Bridge. The river flowed along what is now the west side of Pancras Road until it was rerouted underground in 1825, the name Battle Bridge is linked to tradition that this was the site of a major battle between the Romans and the British Iceni tribe led by Boudica. According to folklore, Kings Cross is the site of Boudicas final battle, platforms 9 and 10 have been suggested as possible sites. Boudicas ghost is also reported to haunt passages under the station, Kings Cross station was built in 1851–1852 as the London hub of the Great Northern Railway and terminus of the East Coast main line. It replaced a station next to Maiden Lane that had been quickly constructed with the lines arrival in London in 1850. The station took its name from the area of London, named after a monument to King George IV that was demolished in 1845
9.
East Coast (train operating company)
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East Coast was a British train operating company that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland. It commenced operations on 14 November 2009 and ceased on 28 February 2015, the franchise was re-nationalised on 14 November 2009, with the intention being that operations would return to a private franchisee by December 2013. In March 2013 the Secretary of State for Transport announced that this would occur in February 2015 instead, in January 2014, FirstGroup, Keolis/Eurostar and Stagecoach/Virgin were announced as the shortlisted bidders for the new franchise. The franchise passed to Virgin Trains East Coast on 1 March 2015, at weekends, they called at Stevenage every two hours while Peterborough, Grantham, Newark, Doncaster and Wakefield were served hourly. East Coast operated a service between Kings Cross and Newcastle Central throughout the day, departing from London on the hour. The top-of-the-hour trains were part of the London to Scotland services which ran as limited-stop expresses between London and Newcastle, at weekends, all daytime services to Newcastle continued through to Edinburgh, with some going non-stop. Late evening services terminated at Newcastle, some of these trains also called at Peterborough. Occasionally there was a service to Edinburgh with some Newcastle trains extended at peak hours. At weekends all services on the continued to Edinburgh from Newcastle. During the day, services to London Kings Cross from Edinburgh ran every 30 minutes, one fast, All trains called at Newcastle and most at Berwick upon Tweed, Darlington and York. In May 2011 East Coast re-introduced the historic Flying Scotsman service, an hourly service ran between Kings Cross and Newark, calling at all intermediate stations. This was extended to York every two hours, serving Retford and Doncaster and at times was extended to Newcastle. These services operated only on weekdays, additional services also start/terminated at Doncaster or Peterborough at peak times. There were no East Coast service to Glasgow on Saturdays and these trains were extensions to the hourly London-to-Edinburgh service. There were three trains per day each way between Kings Cross and Aberdeen, departing at 10,00,14,00 and 16,00, there was also one service per day in each direction between Leeds and Aberdeen. These services were operated by InterCity 125 sets, as the Edinburgh to Aberdeen line and this route crossed the historic Forth and Tay bridges. The journey took just over eight hours and was operated by InterCity 125 sets, one train per day in each direction ran between Bradford Forster Square and Kings Cross via Leeds. This used an electric InterCity 225 train as the route was fully electrified and this service offered the fastest journey time of 1hr 59m, only stopping at Wakefield Westgate on the way to London
10.
InterCity 125
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InterCity 125 was the brand name of British Rails diesel-powered High Speed Train fleet, which was built from 1975 to 1982 and was introduced in 1976. An InterCity 125 train is made up of two Class 43 power cars, one at end of a fixed formation of Mark 3 carriages. Initially the sets were classified as Classes 253 and 254, a variant of the power cars operates in Australia as part of the XPT. Most sets are to be replaced on InterCity services by 2018 under the Intercity Express Programme, at first, that programme called for some HSTs to continue in use on London to Devon/Cornwall services where there are no plans to electrify the lines. One is in use, as Network Rails New Measurement Train, converted. In the later 1950s and early 1960s, the British Transport Commission was modernising its rail network, in particular, it wanted to increase intercity speeds, so that the railways could compete more effectively with the new motorways. Thus, at the instigation of Terry Miller, Chief Engineer, an operational prototype of this train was to be built by 1972. The prototype high-speed diesel train, which was to become the InterCity 125, was to be formed of a rake of coaches sandwiched between two power cars, one at each end. Also a factor in the decision was that the use of two locomotives, operating in formation, would cause less wear on the rails than a single, much heavier. The framework of the new locomotive, classified British Rail Class 41, was built at Crewe Works before being transferred to Derby Carriage and Wagon Works for completion. The design of the locomotive incorporated a driving desk fitted around the driver, the prototype became the first diesel locomotive in British railway history to use AC alternators in place of a DC generator, with the output converted to DC when used for traction. The prototype train of seven coaches and two locomotives was completed in August 1972 and by the autumn was running trials on the main line, the following year, high-speed testing was being undertaken on the racing stretch of the East Coast Main Line between York and Darlington. The set had been reduced to two cars and five trailers, and there seems to have been a concerted attempt to see how fast the train would go. On 6 June 1973131 mph was reached, and this maximum was raised as the days went by, by 12 June a world diesel speed record of 143.2 mph was achieved. The drivers believed that 150 mph was possible but the BRB issued instructions for the speed tests to cease. It was believed at the time that this was because the BRB wanted to promote the APT as the future of high speed rail travel in the UK. The first production car, numbered 43002, was delivered in late 1975. The streamlined front end lacked conventional buffers, and the drawgear was hidden under a cowling, the single cab front window was much larger than the prototypes, and side windows were included
11.
Firth of Forth
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The Firth of Forth is the estuary of the River Forth in Scotland, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north and Lothian to the south. It was known as Bodotria in Roman times, in the Norse sagas it was known as the Myrkvifiörd. Geologically, the Firth of Forth is a fjord, formed by the Forth Glacier in the last glacial period, the Kincardine Bridge, the Clackmannanshire Bridge, the Forth Road Bridge and the Forth Bridge carry traffic across the firth. Queensferry Crossing, alongside the Forth Road Bridge, was expected to open in 2016 but has since been delayed until May 2017. From 1964 to 1982, a tunnel existed under the Firth of Forth, the shafts leading into the tunnel were filled and capped with concrete when the tunnel was closed, and it is believed to have filled with water or collapsed in places. In July,2007, a passenger service completed a two-week trial between Portobello, Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy, Fife. The trial of the service was hailed as an operational success. It was estimated the service would decrease congestion for commuters on the Forth road, despite the initial success, the project was cancelled in December,2011. Historic villages line the Fife shoreline, Limekilns, Charlestown and Culross, established in the 6th century, the firth is important for nature conservation and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The Firth of Forth Islands SPA is home to more than 90,000 breeding seabirds every year, there is a bird observatory on the Isle of May. The youngest person to swim across the Firth of Forth was 13-year-old Joseph Feeney, in 2008, a controversial bid to allow oil transfer between ships in the firth was refused by Forth Ports. SPT Marine Services had asked permission to transfer 7.8 million tonnes of oil per year between tankers, but the proposals were met with determined opposition from conservation groups
12.
Forth and Clyde Canal
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It is 35 miles long and it runs from the River Carron at Grangemouth to the River Clyde at Bowling, and had an important basin at Port Dundas in Glasgow. Successful in its day, it suffered as the vessels were built larger. The railway age further impaired the success of the canal, the final decision to close the canal in the mid 1960s was made due to maintenance costs of bridges crossing the canal exceeding the revenues it brought in. However, subsidies to the network were also a cause for its decline. The lack of political and financial foresight also removed a historical recreational waterway, unlike the majority of major canals the route through Grangemouth was drained and back filled to create a new carriageway for port traffic. The M8 motorway in the approaches to Glasgow took over some of the alignment of the canal. The eastern end of the canal is connected to the River Forth by a stretch of the River Carron near Grangemouth, the canal continues past Twechar, through Kirkintilloch and Bishopbriggs to the Maryhill area north of Glasgow city centre. A branch to Port Dundas was built to secure the agreement, the western end of the canal connects to the River Clyde at Bowling. In 1840, a 0.5 mile canal, the Forth and Cart Canal was built to link the Forth and Clyde canal, at Whitecrook, to the River Clyde, robert Whitworth, an engineer possessing a well earned reputation. The work was completed on the 28 July 1790 and this magnificent canal commences in the River Forth, in Grangemouth Harbour, and near to where the Carron empties itself into that river. The summit level is sixteen miles in length, and in the remainder of its course, there is a fall to low water, in the Clyde, at Bowlings Bay, of 156 feet, by nineteen locks. The branch to the Monkland Canal at Glasgow is two miles and three quarters, and there is cut into the Carron River, at Carron Shore. It is supplied water from reservoirs, one of which, at Kilmananmuir, is seventy acres, and 22 feet deep at the sluice. By 1812 they carried 44,000 passengers, taking receipts of more than £3450, from 1828 there was a steamboat service, operated by Thomas Grahames boat Cupid. The canal was designed by John Smeaton, construction started in 1768 and after delays due to funding problems was completed in 1790. The Union Canal was then constructed to link the eastern end of the canal to Edinburgh. In 1842 an Act of Parliament was obtained authorising the Caledonian Railway to take over the Forth and Clyde Canal along with the Forth and Cart Canal, in the meantime the Canal company itself had built a railway branch line to Grangemouth Dock, which it owned. The canal was nationalised in 1948, along with the railway companies, in 1962, the British Transport Commission was wound up, and control passed to the British Waterways Board, subsequently Scottish Canals took control
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