Dingwall Junction foot crossings

The Dingwall Canal connects the River Peffery with the Cromarty Firth. It is a disused tidal canal, therefore it is recognised as a section of the River Peffery itself. Built by Thomas Telford in the early 1800s, it is the most northerly canal in the UK.
Built to provide better access to Dingwall, which enabled the town to become a port, the canal was not a commercial success after the railways arrived in the late 1800s and was ceased to be used shortly after.
The canal runs from the point where it meets the River Peffery at the Tulloch Street road bridge to the north of Dingwall town centre. It flows east for around a mile, where it enters the Cromarty Firth.
The canal is sandwiched between a foot path on either bank, which run parallel with the canal from the Tulloch Street road bridge at the western end, to a foot bridge at the eastern end. This creates a pleasant circular walk.
About half way along the canal, the railway crosses it, by means of a bridge. On either side of that railway bridge there is a foot crossing on each side taking the canal bank paths over the railway line. It is these foot crossings which this video focuses on.
This is also the point where the railway line divides at Dingwall Junction, with the far north line towards Wick continuing north and the Kyle of Lochalsh line branching off to the west. Dingwall railway station lies to the south of the junction and beyond there the railway continues south towards Inverness.
The foot crossing on the south bank is by far the busier of the two. The underfoot conditions are pretty good and it is a short walk from Dingwall Jubilee Park which is popular with dog walkers. This crossing is also on the same side of the canal as Dingwall town centre, Dingwall caravan site and the Ross County football stadium.
The railway bridge over the canal does not include a foot bridge and this means the nearest crossing point over the canal for pedestrians is about half a mile away in either direction. Unfortunately this creates an issue of railway trespassing in this area, with pedestrians using the railway bridge as a short cut to get across.
The foot crossing on the north side of the canal is a used a lot less than the one on the south side. The under foot conditions in this area are far from ideal. There is also a crossing for vehicles next to this foot crossing, however it doesn't lead to anywhere. It is accessible by railway workers from Tulloch Street and the area beyond it is used to park railway engineering vehicles.
With stunning views of the Cromarty Firth, we see a few trains passing by while filming.
Filmed 20th and 21st November 2020
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[@Timstravels01]

Very enjoyable Jamie. I found the additional info about the canal and River Peffery fascinating.

[@TheJamster2006]

Cheers Tim, i had initially thought about doing a voice over for this video as there was a lot of information to cram in. I am aware that trying to read pieces of text, obsorb the information and watch the video can be difficult. I don't feel that confident yet however so I've put the majority of information in the description. Thanks for watching 🙂

[@Trainspotter11_]

Brilliant video! Brilliant Views of the foot crossings, I really enjoyed this :)

[@TheJamster2006]

Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed it

[@StagecoachMANALX300]

This is pure awesome stuff mate and it's clearly very scenic up there too - love it!

[@TheJamster2006]

Thanks very much 😁

[@caithnessrailrambler2698]

Good Video Jamie Interesting to see and they have now put new gates on them .

[@TheJamster2006]

Cheers mate, these gates are brand new last month

[@prof.hectorholbrook4692]

Excellent. Up here (Altnabreac - Forsinard - Halkirk - Country March) we also take railway Track Safety EXTREMELY seriously too: Wind, rain & driving snow can all too often be a blanketing factor for approaching freight & passenger trains and Light Engine movements as well, of course. Keep filming; stay safe!

[@TheJamster2006]

Thanks very much. I totally agree, foot crossings can be very dangerous if you let your gaurd down, with unexpected trains approaching, and even more so when members of the public abuse them by trespassing or fooling around. If you can see the link in this video to the woman trespassing on the bridge as a train was approaching, that was genuinely really scary for me, i wanted to shout her and tell her what an absolute idiot she was being, however if she had got startled and slipped or panicked, things could have been far worse

[@prof.hectorholbrook4692]

@@TheJamster2006 Exactly! Rural areas like ours tend to attract stupidity, often adopted by selfish "I'm alright Jack, sod the others" Right-Wingers, whose typical idealism often include: "Safety doesn't matter, I just wanna get to that field over there" type mentality. If those who trespass on the railway had seen the aftermath of as many track-suicides as I have they would treat the railway with respect.

[@trainsonthebrain]

Nice Jamster, appreciate the detail as well.

[@TheJamster2006]

No problem at all, thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed it

[@Rachelvehiclespotting]

Great video Jamie. Nice to know some info about them

[@TheJamster2006]

Thanks Rachel

[@Rachelvehiclespotting]

@@TheJamster2006 No problem

[@AshBehindtheCamera]

Awesome video I've subscribed to your channel

[@TheJamster2006]

Thanks very much ive subbed back

[@AshBehindtheCamera]

@@TheJamster2006 thank you very much really appreciated 👍🙂

[@highlandtransport8287]

Good vid, like the intro

[@TheJamster2006]

Thanks chief 👍

[@FarmingScotland]

Cool video you must of seen heaps of people lol

[@TheJamster2006]

Cheers mate, yep it was like Piccadilly gardens, especially on the south side, people everywhere 😂