Old railway bridge east of Falkirk, now gone. The weir where the canal entered the Grangemouth culvert (also now gone) is just visible in the background.

Abbots Rd Culvert, at lock 4. The tail of the lock was cut away to make way for the road.

The road was superseded by the new Falkirk distributor road which crosses the canal on this new arched bridge east of the lock, allowing the blockage to be removed in early 2001.

Bainsford Swing Bridge was replaced by this drowned culvert after the canal closed. To restore navigation, a new lock had to be constructed on the upstream side of the road to lower the canal and create the necessary headroom for a bridge.

Even in urban areas, the canal and its surroundings can be quite picturesque, as this picture of the new Merers Bridge and lock 8 shows.

This swingbridge across lock 9 carries the railway line into Falkirk Grahamstone Station. It is the lowest bridge on the main line of the canal and sets the air draft at just under 10ft

This culvert at Camelon Road was the most serious of the Falkirk blockages, with the main Falkirk to Glasgow road crossing the canal at water level. The large building in the top picture is an old distillery bonded warehouse, now converted into a restaurant.

As at Bainsford, the canal had to be lowered by the construction of a new lock so that this new road bridge could be put in.

There are 13 locks in Falkirk altogether, stretching all the way from lock 16 at Camelon down to lock 4 at Bainsford. This is lock 12, just above Camelon Road (before restoration).

This picture shows the flight drained for repairs in March 1999

This is the view looking down the flight from the top. The row of buildings on the left is Canal Street, the white one being the Canal Inn.

Lock 16, the top one of the flight, was cut by Union Road. The road had to be moved to a new bridge below the lock to allow boats to navigate the lock again.

This is the former bridge where the Union Canal used to join the Forth and Clyde. The proposed new junction is to the west of here, at Tamfourhill. A tripboat sometimes operates from the jetty beside the old bridge.

The Union Inn, named after the Union Canal, was built to refresh travellers on the waterways who had to change boats in Falkirk. There was once a huge basin called Port Downie in front of the inn.