Monday 28 June 2010 Laggan Locks, Caledonian Canal N57 01.645’ W004 49.485’

After a leisurly start and lauderette visit, Alcyone left Banavie Basin, for the first section of the Caledonian Canal arriving at Laggan Locks late afternoon. The weather was forecast to be wet and windy but it actually turned out to be occasional heavy showers with wind squalls giving way to a beautiful evening.

The Great Glen divides the Highlands of Scotland with a series of lochs. As early as 1726 it was considered to be the ideal site for a canal connecting the west and east coasts. Surveys were carried out through the eighteenth century but it was not until 1802 that any action was taken on the proposals. The canal was designed by Thomas Telford. Funded by the British Government and was constructed from 1803 to 1822; it was the first publically funded transport project and remained in public ownership until the privatisation of British Waterways.

The highest part of the canal is at Laggan and the waterway through Loch Oich. Its construction was a major challenge using equipment and techniques available at the time. There were massive excavations required. Up to 250 men worked at Laggan using horse drawn wagons on railways to take the earth away.

The canal, officially opened in 1822, comprises some 50 nm of navigable waterway which about third is man made, the remainder being formed by natural fresh water locks. There are 29 locks and 10 swing bridges along the waterway. The maximum vessel size that can navigate the canal is 150 ft loa, 35 ft beam and 13.5 ft draft. Alcyone looks very small in the locks!

The canal was initially intended to provide a safe transport route for naval frigates during the Napoleonic Wars but in practise it did not play any military role until the First World War. Today it is predominantly but not exclusively a leisure facility.