Telford's £1million masterpiece piece, the Caledonian Canal, turns 200

The concerned lady urged the seer – also known as Coinneach Odhar or ‘Dark Kenneth’ and sometimes just Kenneth Mackenzie – to press his definition stone to his eye and share what it revealed.

Keeping quiet might have been a good idea. Instead he told of her husband in a compromising position with a young woman – news that sent the lady into a jealous rage.

The Brahan Seer was arrested, hauled to Chanonry Point on the Black Isle – these days more often frequented by tourists hoping to spot dolphins – and barbecued in a barrel of black tar.

It was an unfortunate end for a prophet with a knack for predicting the future: he foresaw the age of rail when he envisaged ‘strings of carriages without horses’ running between Dingwall and Inverness, and the arrival of gas and water fed directly to homes.

But when he suggested there would come a day when ships would sail around the back of the ‘Hill of the Fairies’, Tomnhurich Hill – a wooded mount southwest of Inverness and well away from any waterway – some scoffed.

They were wrong.

Around 150 years after his bold prediction, vessels would, indeed, sail by the hill, swept along thanks to a miracle of engineering that had cut a route for boats and their cargo from one side of the country to the other, bringing unimagined treats and trinkets from around the world, opening the Highlands and helping to stem the flow of its people to new lands across the Atlantic.

This weekend marks the 200th anniversary of the remarkable Caledonian Canal, carved from the Highland landscape under the genius direction of engineer Thomas Telford to link the series of four natural sea lochs across the Great Glen - Loch Lochy, Loch Oich, Loch Ness and Loch Dochfour – and spanning just over 60 miles from northeast to southwest.

At points it sits up to 106 feet above sea level, while its 29 locks, including the eight that make up Neptune’s Staircase at Banavie, were for decades hailed as the largest series of locks ever built.

While its two decades long construction, which included four aqueducts and ten bridges, played its part in furthering engineering knowledge: the first steam dredger was used on the canal, and new types of steam-operated pumps were tried and tested during its construction.

Its establishment advanced the development of the Highlands, provided work, new skills and, with the kind of remarkable foresight that the Seer himself would have been proud of, set down infrastructure that years later would meet soaring demand from the new and growing trend for tourism.

In recognition of its historic opening, this weekend will see key landmarks along its length bathed in light, including Neptune’s Staircase and Gairlochy Lighthouse at the start of Loch Lochy, one of 32 navigational lights dotted along its route.

Entitled ‘Canal Illuminations’, the celebrations are part of a year-long calendar of events aimed at marking 200 years of both the Caledonian Canal and its more southerly cousin, the Union Canal, stretching from Edinburgh to Falirk where today it links to the Forth and Clyde Canal courtesy of the Falkirk Wheel.

A free lightshow tonight and tomorrow includes a special event at Tomnahurich Bridge in Inverness, when the old and new bridges play starring roles in a newly commissioned art projection from artist Sadie Stoddart which incorporates the local folklore of the ‘fairy hill’.

Called Follow the Fairies and featuring works by local and international artists and filmmakers, it will recall the Brahan Seer’s 1620s prophecies relating to the site and the construction of the canal, that: “The time will come when full-rigged ships will be seen sailing eastwards and westwards by the back of Tomnahurich.”

There will also be a film programme featuring works shot along the canal and on board the Loch Ness Barge, a historic Caledonian Canal dredger moored between the new and old Tomnahurich Bridges, an interactive heritage display and art exhibition.

All much more lavish than 200 years ago, when, at 10am on October 22, 1822, the Lochness steam yacht accompanied by two smacks departed from the locks of Muirton to the rousing strains of God Save the King and the crack of canon fire.

On board a group of dignitaries hunkered down for the long and rather slow journey across country – albeit amid spectacular scenery - that would not conclude until the following evening.

It may not have been speedy, but then again, the dream of opening up the heart of the Highlands to boats and ships had already stretched back to 1773 when the idea of a canal was first proposed.

Concerned was mounting over the aftermath of events in 1745 and growing immigration numbers, prompting the Commissioners of Forfeited Estates – set up to deal with lands seized following the Jacobite Rising of 1714 – to engage inventor and mechanical engineer James Watt to carry out a survey.

His proposal suggested a ten feet deep canal from Fort William to Inverness, with 32 locks and which would be of benefit to the fishing industry and help bring cheaper food to the remote communities.

It was, however, shelved. And it would not be until the dawn of the 19th century when a series of events and meeting of minds conspired to see the ambitious project finally underway.

Thomas Telford's Highland Report had examined the region in detail and recommended the construction of roads, new harbours and communities, bridges and, crucially canals.

In 1803, an Act of Parliament set the wheels in motion for the serious work on the canal to begin.

One motivating factor, says Scottish Canal’s heritage manager, Chris O'Connell, was to establish a safe passage for vessels and the fishing industry, that would avoid the treacherous route through the Pentland Firth and around Cape Wrath.

“It would also open up the Highlands to trade from all of the world,” he added. “The Navy around this time were also dealing with the Napoleonic peninsula wars, there were French frigates patrolling around the coast of Britain and this would be provide a shortcut for the British Navy to get from coast to coast.

“Another reason was this construction would help staunch the flow of emigrees to places like America and Canada.

“It was almost like a 1970s government job creation scheme, government funded to create employment which, in turn, would keep people in the area.”

Telford's plan was for a canal 20 feet deep, 50 feet wide at the bottom and 110 feet wide at the top - designed to take the largest ship of the British Navy on Trafalgar standards. His locks would be 180 feet long by 40 feet wide by 20 feet deep – unsurpassed in scale until the construction of the Panama Canal in 1916.

To construct it, he needed workers who could cope with the harsh conditions.

“They had to rely on mostly local labour,” adds Chris. “It would have been very hard going, but these were men who had been brought up and who lived in this environment.

“However it also meant a high proportion often had to up sticks and leave at certain times of the year to manage farms and to harvest.”

To smooth things along, the men with the toughest jobs, such as working in the icy water, were rewarded with a whisky allowance.

Its completion was a cause for celebration even if Waterloo and Napoleon’s defeat meant it was no longer required by the Royal Navy.

Soon there were grumblings over its cost – which had almost doubled from Telford’s original estimate of almost £500,000 – and whether it was money well spent.

The canal’s fortunes, however, were transformed when Queen Victoria hopped on board the Gondolier, one of the many paddle steamers which operated busy passenger services along the Great Glen.

“The Caledonian Canal is a very wonderful piece of engineering,” she wrote in her journal of her journey in 1873 on board the Gondalier, “but travelling by it is very tedious.

“At each lock people crowded up close to the side of the steamer.... It is nervous work to steer for there is hardly a foot to spare on either side.”

Nevertheless, her jaunt inspired countless tourists to follow in her regal footsteps.

“As soon as Queen Victoria travelled up it, it was a sign for everyone to take a boat and sail along the canal,” adds Chris.

The canal became as much about tourism as trade. No longer used by just a few, points along its length would be bustling scenes as cargo was loaded and unloaded, passengers eager to see the scenery on board paddle boats shared space with livestock, fishing crews and a motley crew of merchants and hustlers keen to make money however they could.

“It would not have been quite as sedate as today; there would have been a lively crowd of people, and for children on the dockside, there would be all these boats coming in with goods from around the world - it must have been quite exciting.

“There was a rather interesting character at Fort Augustus called the Lion Man, who had hunted lions and captured big game across Africa and Asia,” he adds.

“After Queen Victoria visited, he set up a stall and charged people a penny and regaled them with his entertaining adventures and showed the skins of lions and leopards. So people travelling along the canal would be transported to Africa.”

Unlike lowland canals which declined as industry faded, the Caledonian Canal’s magnet for tourists secured its future.

It has been the scene of exciting events too: construction workers in 1809 working at the base of a ridge known as Tor a Bhean found a spectacular and massive silver chain, 18ins long and weighing around 93 ounces – almost 3kg.

Known as the Torvean chain, the stunning Pictish ‘bling’ is one of just ten of its kind ever found.

There have been tragedies and mishaps too, from vessels colliding with each other and to unfortunate pedestrians plunging from its towpath to a watery grave.

Its maintenance is constant and never-ending, adds Chris, particularly with climate change. But having remained in operation for two centuries, the hope is that the Caledonian Canal will be shipshape for many years to come.

“The canal has seen changing fortunes, but it has never not been open to navigation – it is an amazing piece of engineering.”