File:River Ness and Caledonian Canal at Torvean Inverness Scotland (14691458781).jpg

A charity cruise vessel plies along the Canal towards Loch Ness as the water is like molten glass! The river is out of shot to the left, and a considerable distance below!

Only half a mile down the towpath of the Caledonian Canal from the busy A82 road where it crosses the Canal at Tomnahurich (a.k.a. Millerton) on the entrance to Inverness City, is a lovely vista and an enjoyable walk. At this point the Canal is about 100 feet above the river, and yet only a few miles further they were at the same level, where they both left/joined into Loch Dochfour, the northern end of Loch Ness. There is no ladder of Canal locks (only one lock at the Loch entrance which does not greatly change height) and no great waterfall. The river simply makes its way sedately down to sea level while Canal stays level to go round the back of Inverness before dropping down to sea level via a couple of series of lockgates and Muirtown and Clachnaharry. At the point in the photos, the csnal continues to hug the side of the hill while the river begins to meander waway northeast to prepare for its grand entrance through the City Centre.

The Town/Royal Burgh/City of Inverness has always been bisected by the River Ness, which flows right through the centre.

A more recent addition is the Caledonian Canal. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonian_Canal" rel="noreferrer nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonian_Canal</a> First surveyed in 1773 (by James Watt), authorised by Parliament in 1803, it was not completed until 1822.

The Canal connects the east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Fort William, and uses four inland lochs (Dochfour, Ness, Oich and Lochy) in the course of its length.

The River Ness, a short river which flows from Loch Ness/Dochfour to the North Sea (Beauly firth), is usually very shallow in most parts, bridged at various points, and varies considerably in width along its length and drops gradually from loch to sea, making it impossible to utilise as part of the Canal.

Thus the Canal parts company with the river, at Dochgarroch the north-most point of Loch Dochfour, as while the river meanders into and through Inverness the Canal hugs the higher ground to the west to reach the sea at Clachnaharry, and was (way back then) well out in the countryside throughout.

For the first couple of miles from the split however, the two watercourses run parallel, with the river gradually descending and the canal on an embankment. Where the two eventually part company, opposite Holm Mills, the triangle of land is known as “Canal Park” – or now “Canal Pitches” due to its current use for sports.

Between the two waters, in 1929 the Royal Burgh of Inverness built what would be the eleventh hydro-electric scheme in the UK, taking a lade off the river upstream of is now Whin Island to feed a power station opposite Bught Gardens. (‘Hub of the Highlands’, 1975, Inverness Field Club). This small-scale means of generating power has long since fallen redundant - Inverness is connected to the National Electricity Grid, which is served in part by the huge hydro schemes only a matter of miles away in the Great Glen. The lade (only partly used nowadays, for canoeing practice, and only receiving sufficient water to prevent stagnation) is what made Whin Island an island!

Crossing the Canal Pitches, a short path then leads up to the Canal bank.