The Monkland Canal - Coal, Iron and Cold Hard Cash, by Guthrie Hutton
Published by Stenlake in 2015, 48 pages. Rectangular Paperback - 17cm by 24cm (N5820)
Brand New Book
From the introduction: Glasgow wasn't flourishing. There was plenty of coal to heat its homes, but the men who owned the mines operated a cartel to limit supplies and keep prices high. Something had to be done and the idea that most appealed to the city magistrates was to get coal from the Monklands, but that needed a canal. An engineer named James Watt - who achieved lasting fame building steam engines - was asked to carry out a survey. He recommended two schemes and the magistrates unsurprisingly chose the cheapest, a level canal from Coatdyke to Germiston, near modern day Blackhill, in Glasgow. A subscription was opened, money was raised and Watt began work in 1770 at the eastern end.
From the start there were problems as ground conditions - hard clay soil in one place, running sand in another - defied the contractors, but Watt pushed them on. There were disputes too with Forth & Clyde Canal engineer, Robert MacKell, as each accused the other of stealing their most experienced navvies - navigators, men who made canal navigations. After three years the canal had not reached its intended terminal, but the money had been spent, and Watt was out of a job...
This book thus provides a fascinating pictorial history of the canal, and is packed full with black and white photographs that cover the period when it opened and operated.
Please note, their is a small price sticker on the rear side cover.
Condition | New |