The Forth & Clyde and Union Canals saw a steady stream of traffic in those halcyon days.

But strong competition posed by first the railways and then a rapidly expanding road network soon started to take its toll.

There was no commercial traffic on the Forth & Clyde after the 1950s, when fishing vessels last used the waterway to cross between coasts.

In 1963 the decision was made to close it to navigation rather than invest £160,000 to build a lift bridge to accommodate the Denny bypass on the main Glasgow to Stirling road.

And when the Union Canal closed two years later that seemed to be that.
Ducted under a motorway, built over in parts of Edinburgh and with the basins at Camelon, where they two canals joined, covered over, there looked to be no way back.

But in 1968 the first signs of a change of thinking appeared. Harold Wilson's Labour government established British Waterways to look after the country's 2200 miles of canal and river.

The Forth & Clyde and Union Canals weren't high on their priority list, but, 40 years on, there's no doubt about the changes they've made ... and the huge benefits Falkirk is reaping.

Years of neglect have been reversed, and the area's canals are attracting visitors – both local and from around the world – in their hundreds of thousands.

At the heart of the dream is The Falkirk Wheel, first unveiled in 1999, and a key part of the £78 million Millennium Link project which re-opened the canal route between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

British Waterways business development manager Richard Millar was a project manager on the Millennium Link.

He said: "I've been here for nearly 10 years so I have seen a lot of the changes which have happened.

''It has been an amazing process, turning from what started out as an exciting engineering project into a huge leisure business."

Last year, over half a million people headed to The Falkirk Wheel, and around 15 million visited the Lowland Canals.

In addition, more than 3500 boat licences were issued in Scotland last year.

Mr Millar said: "The canal used to just be a dumping area, full of rubbish, and certainly not somewhere that people wanted to spend their time. To see them come back to life – and they really have – it's amazing.

"The number of people who are getting out and using the canals is growing all the time. The canal corridor is changing. Commercial opportunities are opening up all over the place in addition to the economic impact The Falkirk Wheel has had on the community in Falkirk.

"Fratellis, the Union Inn, Wheelhouse, and Underwood are all great restaurants which are flourishing along the banks of the canal.

"There is also an amazing amount of wildlife."

And, with the £25 million investment in the Helix Project, the future of the canals looks bright.

Mr Millar said: "The Helix project is something which we couldn't have dreamed about even five years ago. To have another stretch of canal, and two amazing pieces of sculpture, in Falkirk is fantastic

"Looking back 40 years to when British Waterways came into being, the canals were seen as dead and gone.

"Over the last four decades there has been such an enormous change – from a deep decline to real large numbers of people getting out there and enjoying themselves.

''And, as for the future, it's as wide and as far reaching as your imagination can take you. This wonderful ribbon of water can be used for all sorts of other purposes.

"It's already being used to create energy and there are so many other opportunities out there."

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the legislation change, a scrapbook is being collated of photographs, drawings and memories of the canals from the past four decades.

Photos and memories should be sent to 40yearsofmemories@ waterscape.com. The scrapbook will be able to be viewed on line at www.waterscape.com/40years

Following a vote later in the year, an exhibition of the winning memories will be displayed at the Waterways Trust's National Waterways Museums.