![\"Port](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_s1porthopetounwarehouse.jpg\")
Port Hopetoun Warehouse(Image: Historic Environment Scotland)<\/p>\nThe Union Canal was a popular route for travellers between Edinburgh and Glasgow.Port Hopetoun Warehouse(Image: Historic Environment Scotland)<\/p>\n
Long before the convenience of a swift drive across the M8, the Union Canal served as a seamless route for travellers <\/a>journeying between Edinburgh and Glasgow, with its path leading right up to Lothian Road.<\/p>\n Upon reaching Edinburgh, voyagers would disembark at the city centre’s eastern terminus of the canal<\/a>. Known as Port Hopetoun, this basin was a city fixture for nearly a century before it was ultimately deserted.<\/p>\n Passenger boats, known as Swifts, took a total of seven hours to reach Falkirk, and an additional six hours to arrive in Glasgow. In 1836, the canal’s heyday, 200,000 people were commuting on this intercity waterway.<\/p>\n Constructed between 1818 and 1822, the basin also facilitated the import of coal, grain and building materials, as well as the export of waste. Passengers alighted from the boat a mere 500 feet from where the Usher Hall now stands, onto a terminal spanning 900 square metres.<\/p>\n A bus service transported passengers from the Lothian Road basin to Princes Street<\/a>, with the basin taking its name from the Earl of Hopetoun.<\/p>\n The Earl’s collieries provided Edinburgh with a significant portion of its coal, which passed through the basin, reports Edinburgh Live<\/a>.<\/p>\n For the sum of 6s 6d, passengers were allocated a cabin onboard for the journey – equivalent to about two days’ wage at the time. For those on a tighter budget, deck seating was available for 4s 6d.<\/p>\n Travellers would journey beneath bridges during their trips<\/a>, each one numbered and some decorated in black, blue, red or gold hues. The colours signified the various roles the canal played – black representing coal, blue symbolising water, red marking the lives lost during construction, and gold celebrating the wealth generated since it was built.<\/p>\n One stretch of the waterway that offers a window into history is the Lemmington Lift Bridge, constructed in 1906. By 1960, it had deteriorated badly.<\/p>\n As part of the Millennium Link Project and canal restoration in 2000, work to repair the bridge commenced – and it reopened for the first time in May 2002.<\/p>\n Currently, the canal terminates at Lochrin Basin in Fountainbridge. Usage of the service started declining in the 1840s, when the railway connection between Edinburgh and Glasgow was established.<\/p>\n By the 1920s, passengers had virtually ceased using the canal for travel between the two cities. Fill-in work started at Port Hopetoun in 1921, creating a substantial vacant area in the city centre.<\/p>\n Nowadays, you cannot purchase a ticket to Glasgow <\/a>at this location, but you might buy a tub of popcorn.<\/p>\n The Odeon cinema at the junction of Morrison Street and Lothian Road now occupies the spot that once greeted passengers arriving in Edinburgh.<\/p>\n A carved stone plaque outside the structure states: “Here stood Port Hopetoun 1822-1922.”<\/p>\n Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.<\/p>\n You’ll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.<\/p>\n No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.<\/p>\n All you have to do is click here if you’re on mobile<\/strong><\/a>, select ‘Join Community’ and you’re in!<\/p>\n If you’re on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click ‘Join Community’.<\/p>\n We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out any time you like.<\/p>\n To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘exit group’.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/p>\n Elsewhere, the quaint village of Temple, just 12 miles south of Edinburgh, may fly under the radar with its population of around 250. However, this little-known hamlet was once said to be owned by the Knights Templar<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Infilling](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_s1drainedbasin.jpg\")
Infilling at the city centre terminus (Image: Historic Environment Scotland)(Image: Historic Environment Scotland)<\/p>\n![\"Lothian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_lothian-house.jpg\")
Lothian House occupies the site of Port Hopetoun – the terminal of the Union Canal that closed in 1922(Image: Chris Allan\/Geograph.)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758085594_118_0_WACOMMUNITYQR3.jpg\")
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