CanalCraft is a community heritage project, led by the Forth and Clyde Canal Society. The project reconnects people in and around Glasgow with boats and the Forth and Clyde Canal, and the idea of blue spaces as social space in everyday life.
CanalCraft and the Maryhill Integration Network collaborated in building two skiff boats. The women’s group Oasis embarked on a learning journey about citizen journalism, where stories about the Forth and Clyde Canal were made against the clock.
They celebrated their achievements with a community gathering with dance and food at Maryhill’s Engine Works, a venue next to the canal and part of Maryhill’s industrial heritage.
During CanalCraft, young people from local groups collaborated in building a skiff boat and oars to use on the canal. The building took place at the location of the former Hay’s Repair boatyard, now the Seagull Trust’s Boathouse, at the Southbank Marina. The last boatbuilding activity in the Hay’s yard, and in Kirkintilloch, was in 1961, almost 60 years ago!
Civic journalism training also took place in East Dunbartonshire where the project also collaborated with local group GRACE.
The group worked from two locations, in Auchinairn and Hillhead, where they collected interviews and images of the Forth and Clyde canal and created their own messages, advocating for the future of the canal in the local community.
The second celebratory event at Kirkintilloch Town Hall, was where the cocurated exhibition for CanalCraft was launched. There was music, sign singing performance and film screenings. The project’s participants received their certificates and talked about the experience taking part in the project.
The groups took their boats to three festivals: the Glasgow Canal Festival, Kirkintilloch Canal Festival and Clydebuilt Festival at the river Clyde.
