Linlithgow Canal Centre, The

Union Canal Basin, Linlithgow
©2011 Gazetteer for Scotland

Housed in a stable, once the home of horses which pulled barges along the canal, the Linlithgow Canal Centre maps the development of the Union Canal, which runs between Edinburgh and Falkirk. It is run by the Linlithgow Union Canal Society, a voluntary organisation founded in 1975 to promote use of the canal.

The stables were built in 1822, alongside the canal basin in Manse Road, Linlithgow.

The Centre holds original photographs and artefacts relating to the construction of the canal. Displays and an audio-visual presentation illustrate notable events in the canal's history, the development of the British canal system and the wildlife in and around the canal.

It also offers regular canal trips both on board the barge St Magdalene and the Victoria, a replica of a Victorian steam packet boat, built in 1974. The St Magdalene was built in 1990 and is named after a 12th Century chapel and hospice which lay close to where the canal is today. More recently a neighbouring distillery of the same name drew cooling water from the canal, although this closed in 1983.

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