Travel through time and explore Glasgows canals
New technology unlocks heritage past, present and future
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Visitors to the Forth & Clyde Canal in Glasgow can now
download a free smartphone and tablet App to explore the history,
heritage, wildlife and artworks along the two hundred year old
waterway as it winds through the City of Glasgow.
This is the first time smartphone technology has been used to
unlock and bring to life the rich heritage of the canal - from its
industrial heyday through to the current renaissance led through
the Glasgow Canal Regeneration Project.
Using the new 'Glasgow's Canals
Unlocked' App, visitors walking or cycling along the
waterway (or even planning their visit from home), can now check
out their location on a new colourful illustrated map of the
towpaths, identify over 100 sights of historic and local interest
and discover new developments underway.
By tapping on the points of interest on the App they can also
delve deeper by accessing archive photos, audio clips and videos,
hearing fascinating anecdotes and strange but true facts.
Using the App, they can also search for specific places of
interest, such as locks or cafes, sort the list of places by how
close they are or by how recently the information has been
updated.
Glasgow's Canals Unlocked, which has been created
by the Scottish Waterways Trust and partners, is also now available
as a free full-colour A5 booklet as well as the App and divides the
towpaths into a series of short and easy walks or cycle rides.
It also explores the story of the Monkland Canal, as it
travelled through Glasgow, and Glasgow's often forgotten third
canal, the former Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal.
The App will be updated with more information, sound and video
clips, photos and points of interest over time.
Indeed, the Scottish Waterways Trust is keen to hear from anyone
who has a favourite canal-side place they would like to see added
or any old photos or a story to tell. To get in touch, use the Tell
Us Your Story button on the App.
The Glasgow's Canals Unlocked App and booklet
are both available online through the Scottish Waterways Trust
website www.scottishwaterwaystrust.org.uk.
The smartphone app, which is available for both iPhone, iPad and
Android devices, can also be downloaded direct from Apple iTunes
and Android App Stores by searching for 'Glasgow Canal'.
The printed booklet is also available for free at leaflet drop
points across the city. Call 01324 677809 for further
information.
Glasgow's Canals Unlocked is part of the Scottish
Waterway Trust's wider Unlocking the
Story project, which is funded by the Heritage Lottery
Fund, Glasgow City Council and Glasgow City Heritage Trust.
Tracey Peedle, Development Director at the Scottish
Waterways Trust, explains:
"It's hugely exciting that we are working with the local
communities of North Glasgow to use new technology to bring the
heritage of the canals to life. For the first time, you can walk
along the waterway and read about how it looked in days gone by,
see old photographs and listen to stories and stand right where
they took place.
"With Glasgow's Canals Unlocked, you can get
a real sense of how the canal is changing as it becomes one of the
city's most important heritage, health, leisure and greenspace
amenities."
Gordon Barr, Heritage Manager for Maryhill Burgh Hall
Trust, adds:
"Have you ever wondered what Glasgow was like in 1790? Now you
can see your actual location overlaid on an exclusive archive map
that shows how tiny Glasgow was at the time.
"With some locations, you can even See Through Time with a
unique 'augmented reality' mode that overlays the archive images
with the current camera view when you're standing in the right
spot!
"Glasgow's Canals Unlocked is a terrific,
accessible resource which you can tailor to your own needs and
interests. We hope it gives everyone more reason to enjoy the
fabulous heritage, wildlife and the attractive traffic-free green
open space of the towpaths."
Other elements of Unlocking the Story, which is led by a
partnership of the Scottish Waterways Trust, Scottish Canals,
Glasgow City Council, Maryhill Burgh Halls Trust, Lambhill Stables,
Glasgow Sculpture Studios and the National Theatre of Scotland,
include a free exhibition of Scottish Canals archive materials,
which is currently on display at Maryhill Burgh Halls.
Over twenty volunteers have also been trained to gather local
memories and stories about Glasgow's canals. Some of these stories
can be heard on the App and others will be retold on new
interpretation boards that will be installed on the Forth &
Clyde Canal soon.
Work is also underway with Glasgow Sculpture Studios to create
an imaginative artwork trail to complete this unique and exciting
project.
Issued on behalf of
the Scottish Waterways Trust by
Joanna Harrison, Mobile 07884 187404
Notes to Editors
Glasgow's Canals Unlocked
- By the mid 19th century, over three million
tonnes of goods and 200,000 passengers were travelling on the Forth
& Clyde Canal each year and Glasgow's Canals
Unlocked charts the rise of the many bankside industries
which flourished. These included timber and paper mills,
glassworks, foundries, breweries and distilleries - including one
at Port Dundas which was thought to be the largest in the world in
its heyday.
- Other sights of historic interest include a few of the small
bascule brides which once peppered the canal, lifting to let masted
boats through in full sail; and the spectacular Kelvin Aqueduct,
which was one of the largest to be built since Roman times when it
opened in 1790.
- Swan & Co's boat yard at Maryhill Locks was known for
constructing some of the landing craft used for the D Day landings
in World War Two and the first steam powered 'puffer' boats which
once plied the canals and which were brought to life so vividly in
Neil Munro's popular Para Handy tales.
- Fascinating facts include the story of Possil high meteorite of
1804, one of only four known recorded meterorite falls in Scotland,
and the uniquely placed boundary line between Dunbartonshire and
Glasgow which runs down the middle of the towpath between
Cloberhill Locks and Westerton.
- More recent highlights covered include the refurbished Maryhill
Burgh Halls, Lambhill Stables, the flourishing cultural quarter at
Speirs Wharf and the new Pinkston paddlesports centre at Port
Dundas.