Late Edinburgh canal campaigner Ronnie Rusack has bridge named after him

Ronnie Rusack, the late proprietor of the Bridge Inn at Ratho and a long-time canal campaigner, has been accorded a rare honour with the bridge next to his old pub named after him.

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As well as winning 18 national awards for the Bridge Inn, Mr Rusack – who died in November 2020, aged 72 – was instrumental in restoring the Union Canal and reopening it to the public. And local people were keen the his achievements should be given lasting recognition.

A friend, Bob Potter, who used to work at the Bridge Inn, led the move to rename Bridge 15 as Rusack’s Bridge.

The bridge, owned by Scottish Canals, is a protected scheduled monument, its status managed by Scottish Environment Heritage. Very few bridges on the Union Canal have names.

Mr Potter said: “It was no mean feat to gain all the permissions.”

But on Saturday, about 60 local people gathered on the canal banks and on the bridge for a short ceremony and Mr Rusack’s grandchildren unveiled the nameplate before everyone adjourned to the Bridge Inn for coffee and scones.

Mr Rusack became manager of the Bridge Inn in 1971 and later went on to buy it. In 1974 he added a floating restaurant on the Pride of the Union barge. He started free canal cruises for people with special needs through the Seagull Trust. And he was made an MBE for his contribution to the conservation and restoration of the canal.

Ronnie Rusack’s Bridge Inn won a total of 18 national awards

Mr Potter said: “Rusack’s Bridge will be a fitting tribute to a local man, who worked tirelessly to campaign, promote and to restore the derelict Union Canal in the 1970s to a navigable waterway for the benefit of us all to use. Many people of Ratho and district have supported Ronnie and the campaign along the way and should be proud of their numerous contributions.”

One of the other named bridges, the Scott Russell Aqueduct, which carries the Union Canal over the Edinburgh City Bypass, is named after a 19th-century Scottish naval engineer who made an important discovery on the canal in 1834 about the movement of waves which revolutionised the design of ship’s hulls.

The other is Miss Margaret’s Bridge at Broxburn, thought to named after the daughter of the landowner before the canal was built.

Bridge 15 on the Union Canal has now been renamed Rusack's Bridge

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