SAW017853 SCOTLAND (1948). Ardrishaig, general view, showing Ardrishaig Harbour and Crinan Canal. An oblique aerial photograph taken facing north-west. This image has been produced from a print.

Canals were an important element in the expansion of transport networks that powered the Industrial Revolution in Britain. The Crinan canal is nine miles long and was completed in 1801. It joins Ardrishaig on the edge of Loch Fyne in the East of the Knapdale peninsula, to Crinan which sits on the edge of the Sound of Jura in the West. It thus provides a short and safe route between the Clyde and the Inner Hebrides, allowing shipping to pass between the two without having to go round the Mull of Kintyre.