Some catch: Fish are to be moved as canal drained

● Three-mile section of waterway to be emptied for repairs

Thousands of fish are on the move as part of the first draining of the Union Canal for decades.

A three-mile section near Linlithgow is being emptied of water to repair leaks and remove obstructions.

Scottish Canals is also holding two open days to showcase normally-hidden aspects of the 200-year-old canal.

Atotalof30,000cubicmetres of water is being removed – enough to fill 12 Olympic-size swimming pools.

The fish – mainly tench, perch, roach and pike – will be caught with nets and electro-fishing.

They will then be transferred to holding tanks and released into adjacent sections of the canal.

Water is being drained using a valve at Woodcockdale, west of the town, following temporary dams being set up at Woodcockdale Bridge, Preston Road Bridge, Manse Road Bridge and Wilcoxholm Bridge until 16 February.

The open days will be held from 1pm-3pm on Tuesday, 17 January and Saturday, 4 February, when Scottish Canals engineering, environmental and heritage experts will be on hand.

The section is the longest to be drained for at least 40 years.

Shorter stretches in the area were emptied in the mid1990s before the canal was reopened in 2001 after a 35-year closure. The waterway, which

0 Three miles of the Union Canal are being temporarily drained connects Edinburgh with the Forth & Clyde Canal in Falkirk, was opened in 1822.

Scottish Canals infrastructure director Richard Millar said: “The canal is a muchloved asset that attracts more than ten million visits each year from everyone from boaters and cyclists to joggers and walkers. However, many of them visit the waterway without ever seeing all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes, and below the waterline, to look after the heritage, engineering, and habitats of this scheduled monument.

“The project we’re undertaking at Linlithgow is a fantastic chance for the public to see the scale of work that goes into caring for the incredible infrastructure of the canal.

“They will be able to glimpse the craftsmanship of the waterway’s 18th century design as it exists below the waterline, and take a tour of the canal’s history, engineeringandhabitatsledbythepeople who know it best – our passionate and knowledgeable engineers, environmental scientists, and heritage experts.”

Lowland Canals Volunteer Group chairman Ronnie Rusack said: “This will help because there have been leak problems for some time.”