Disused locks to be unearthed

A SCHEME is in progress to unearth the old lock flight in Falkirk that were superseded by the Falkirk Wheel.

The 11 locks flight connected the Union and Forth & Clyde canals until it was filled in around the 1930s, when the canals fell into disuse, and then eventually officially closed to navigation.

Excavated

But now, the buried locks are being excavated by young students at the Scottish Waterway Trust's innovative new canal college and will be brought back as a heritage attraction besides the Falkirk Wheel.

There has been a shallow excavation of one of the locks and the trial trenches that are designed to locate two other buried locks within the  flight.

Tackle unemployment

The idea behind the scheme that is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and various partners, has been designed by the Scottish Waterways Trust to help tackle youth unemployment in Falkirk and Edinburgh.

We are told that through the initiative, young people between 16 and 25 years of age, who have not been able to secure a job or place in further education or training, have the opportunity to gain heritage and environment skills through a wide range of practical projects outdoors on the Forth & Clyde and Union canals.

Over the next two years, the young students on each of the 14 week long programmes will work on the first three locks at the top of the flight. These locks beside the Union Canal remain accessible though the lower section of the lock flight, beside the Forth & Clyde Canal, was built over during the 1960s.