A lock-keeper's cottage on the Forth and Clyde Canal, 1955.
In 1948, Britain's inland waterways were nationalised and put under the control of the British Transport Commission. In 1955 the Board of Survey published a report on the condition of the waterways, and it found that the Forth and Clyde Canal did not have commercial prospects to justify keeping it open: the canal had an income of only £29,545 to set against an expenditure of £65,286, and the cost of replacing swing bridges across the canal would be prohibitively expensive.
In 1963 the Forth and Clyde Canal (Extinguishing of Rights of Navigation) Act was passed, authorising the closure of the canal and the disposal of its assets. The waterway became derelict, but there was an energetic campaign to renovate it is a leisure and environmental resource for the communities along its route. The canal re-opened in May 2001.
In 1955 Partick Camera Club set out to create a photographic survey of Glasgow. As the project progressed, other camera clubs joined and each was allocated a district of the city to photograph. Glasgow Museums exhibited the photographs at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and at the People's Place, and in 1956 the exhibition was shown at the Palace of Art in Bellahouston Park. The photographs are now part of Glasgow Museums' collections.
Reference: 1005.97.60 / OG.1955.121.[61]
Reproduced with the permission of the Partick Camera Club
Keywords:
Board of Survey, British Transport Commission, canals, cottages, Forth and Clyde Canal, Glasgow Photographic Survey 1955, lock-keepers, nationalisation
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