Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal

The Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal is a canal in the south of Scotland at Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone. Despite the name, the canal was never completed down to Ardrossan. The terminuses being Port Eglinton in Glasgow and Thorn Brae in Johnstone. Within months of opening, the canal was the scene of a major disaster.

The canal was first proposed by Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton in 1791. He wanted to connect the booming industrial towns of Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone to the ports at Ardrossan. Construction began in 1807 and the first boat. The passenger boat, The Countess of Eglinton, was launched on the 31st October, 1810. Though this initially only ran form Paisley to Johnstone. The full length to Glasgow's Port Eglinton was completed some time in 1811.

The canal was designed and surveyed by the Engineers John Rennie, Thomas Telford and John Ainslie. It was built without the use of locks. The full 11 mile length following the contours of the land to say level. This made the canal longer than it need have been. However it did make the canal very fast.

The original plans were to extend the canal to Ardrossan. However, dredging of the river clyde allowing boats further upstream, negated the requirements of the full plan. A aqueduct over the clyde at the center of Glasgow to link up with the Forth and Clyde Canal was proposed. But this also was not built.

Saturday 10th November 1810 was the Martina's Fair. Many people, with the day of work, took the opportunity to travel the short distance of 6 miles by canal between Paisley and Johnstone. As the boat, The Countess of Eglinton, docked at the Paisley warf, there was a rush of people trying to get onto the boat. At the same time, people from Johnstone where attempting to disembark. Despite the attempts of the boat men to push off again, the weight of people pushing onto the boat caused it to suddenly overturn, throughing many passengers into the cold water of the warf.

Even though the warf was only 6 foot deep, the coldness of the water and the sheer sides of the embankments compound the problem that few people of the time could swim. 85 people died in this disaster.

Despite the disaster, the canal became a popular service for passenger transport. At it's hight, boats towed by 6 horses plied the route form Glasgow to Johnstone. They carried up to 400,000 passengers each year.

Another sad point to note at the beginning of the canal. The well known poet Robert Tannahill (Born in Paisley on the 3 June 1774) drowned himself in the canal in a bout of depression. A group of poems had just been rejected by an Edinburgh publisher. He was well know for periods of depression. He burned many of his writings at this time. His body was found on the 17 May 1810 in the Candren Burn Tunnel of the canal.

The canal was purchased in 1869 by the Glasgow and South Western Railway Company. In 1881, an Act of Parliament closed the canal. Much of the route was used to construct the Paisley Canal railway line. This line still uses the River Cart Aqueduct (which it crosses at a skewed angle). This makes the former aqueduct the worlds oldest railway bridge that is still in active use.

The canal railway line closed to passengers in 1983. The rails between Elderslie and Paisley Canal Station were uplifted in 1986. However, in 1990, passenger services resumed on the section form Glasgow Central Station to Paisley Canal Station. Much of the abandoned rail line has now be developed into a cycle and walkway operated by Sustrans.

Short sections of the original canal can still be seen Millarston and Ferguslie Mills area of Paisley. Houses in Tenenter Way and Cropton Grove face across the remnants. Traces of the old canal are also visible in fields between Hawkhead and Rosshall.