Canal chief floats his new vision

Published on Saturday 22 July 2006 02:50

A STRING of canal-side pubs will open as part of plans to attract 30 million visitors each year to Scotland's inland waterways.

Around a dozen new bars are proposed for canals between Edinburgh and Glasgow and in the Highlands to attract both tourists and locals.

Work on the first pub, which will also include accommodation, is due to get under way within weeks at Auchinstarry, near Kilsyth, on the Forth and Clyde canal.

It is expected to open next April, with others at sites including the former Rosebank distillery in Falkirk, and the Muirton Basin on the Caledonian Canal in Inverness.

The project is being spearheaded by the Waterside Pub Partnership, a joint venture between British Waterways (BW), which runs the canals, and brewers Scottish & Newcastle.

In the canals' heyday in the 1800s, some towpath pubs had doors at either end so thirsty bargemen could down their drinks without having to stop. However, the latest incarnations, which will join established watering holes such as The Stables near Kirkintilloch on the Forth and Clyde Canal, are likely to be somewhat more family- friendly.

The development forms part of plans by Steve Dunlop, above right, BW's new director for Scotland, to double visitor numbers to the canal network in 6 years.

Mr Dunlop told The Scotsman he also wanted the canals to host both major and small community events, such as concerts on floating stages in mooring basins like that beside the giant Falkirk Wheel boat lift, which is floodlit.

He said: "We want to put on significant events to a UK standard because canals can be fantastic event-spaces. There is a huge amount of room around the Falkirk Wheel, whose basin is a natural amphitheatre. The opportunities are enormous."

Other venues could include the Edinburgh Quay development at the eastern end of the Union Canal, which is already used during the city's Festival Fringe.

A new basin nearing completion at Speirs Wharf, beside the M8 on the Glasgow city centre branch of the Forth and Clyde Canal, has also been earmarked for such events. It adjoins the production base for arts companies including Scottish Opera, who could also perform there in the future.

Some 29 areas across the network are being considered for such events, with one of the first major attractions being a music festival on barges at the Muirton Basin to celebrate next year's Highland year of culture.

Mr Dunlop said after spending millions of pounds reopening the Central Belt canals after 40 years of dereliction, and restoring the Caledonian Canal in the Highlands, it was time large numbers of visitors and local residents were attracted to their banks.

He hopes to use the refurbished canals as a catalyst for the regeneration of areas they run through, such as by encouraging waterside businesses to develop.

He said: "In recent memory, canals were seen as no-go areas - open cesspits, where children were in danger. Those perceptions can be long-held and were justified, but they are changing."