Old Photograph Main Street Camelon Scotland

Old photograph of cars, buildings and people on the Main Street in Camelon located one and half miles from Falkirk, Scotland. Camelon developed when the canals were built in the 18th and 19th centuries. Much of the Forth and Clyde Canal opened in the 1770s over a decade after the Carron Iron Works were established. The Union Canal opened in 1822 and brought traffic from Edinburgh to Port Downie where the canals met. A couple of decades later saw the coming of the railways. In 1831 the village was described as having a population of 809 with 250 men and boys employed. Historical industries included nail making, a tar processing plant and other chemical works, a shipbuilding business near Lock Sixteen and a whisky distillery at Rosebank. In the early 20th century W. Alexander & Sons set up a bus service and coachbuilders in Camelon. A flight of locks which joined the Union Canal with the Forth and Clyde Canal brought business to the village. It is also the site of a series of Roman fortifications, Alauna Civitas, on the Roman Antonine Wall.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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