MARYHILL hosts a flight of five locks on the Forth and Clyde Canal.

The flight drops steadily from its western summit at Lock 21 by some 12.2m into Lock 25.

An engineering genius, this lock system is a major attraction in itself and is testament to the leadership of John Smeaton, Robert Whitworth and William Gibb.

With cascading views towards the Campsies, there is another fine attraction skilfully crafted and built around Lock 21.

Here, you’ll find a railing made out of a series of panels that tell the history of Maryhill and industry on the canal.

Glasgow Times:

Designed by the artist Catherine Rozdoba-Hallows, the 50m railing is the product of hard work, many meetings and much reading at Maryhill Library.

Catherine came up with the creative and it was made and installed by the Maryhill fabrication company Scott Associates.

This art space borders Maryhill Road and the canal itself, next to a building known as The White House.

Each of the panels tells a story in itself; and its greater gift is how the panels flow and merge into a bigger picture essay of the canal and some of its people.

Once the designs were agreed, Catherine drew them to scale before they were then crafted onto boards and the metal bent into shape and welded together.

The design process took three months; it was a further three to make and install the railings.

The railing wraps around a cobbled pathway and has become a restful place to sit and contemplate the day today as well as days gone by.

Glasgow Times:

The artist told Eye Spy Glasgow: “The designs reflect the importance of the canal in relation to the growth of industry, as it was the canal that
enabled the area to develop at this time and was core to the changes that
took place.

“It was a wonderful aspect to focus on how the two developed together.”

Catherine said receiving the commission was “a fantastic and rare opportunity which allowed me to create designs made in a new material, producing a piece that is practical, informative and aesthetic”.

She added: “It was a privilege to be part of a regeneration project with such an interesting social history and to create site-specific work with the
intention of enhancing a sense of identity and celebrating the local area.”

Now we can walk the locks and identify with past and present-day Maryhill enjoying the engineering that created the canal and the creative that tells its story.