Falkirk |
Falkirk has two tourist attractions, the Kelpies and Falkirk wheel. They are both on the canal, but are 3.5 miles apart. Falkirk Grahamston rail station is roughly in the middle. There are buses from each attraction to the centre of town. There is also a buses which travels between them, but it only runs every two hours. There are cafes at each place. (In fact we bought sandwiches at a Tescos near Falkirk Grahamston rail station.)
These are in a park called the Helix. There is a 0.75 mile walk from the bus stop to the Kelpies. The name of the Kelpies refers to shape changing water spirits, but the artist, Andy Scott, wanted to celebrate the Clydesdales, working horses which were used on the Canal. The first picture shows his models (and, he says, his muses).
The artist, Andy Scott, made maquettes before starting on the main work, to show what the finished sculpture would look like. These are also at the same site, much smaller! One maquette has a model of someone looking at the Kelpie, to show scale.
There are other artworks in Helix park.
And flowers - common spotted orchid (the spots are on the leaves) and thistles! It is Scotland, after all.
TheFalkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift. It replaced a series of 11 locks. With a 35-metre (115 ft) difference in height, that required 3,500 tonnes (3,400 long tons; 3,900 short tons) of water per run and took most of a day to pass through the flight. The boat lift takes a few minutes!
The first photo shows the canal from a distance. It explains the "rings" artwork above!
The wheel in action - The boat moves into the gondola within the wheel, which contains water. The gondola is closed. Then the wheel rotates, to brirng the gondola and boat to the upper level. Another boat could travel downwards, but here there is only one boat.
Showing what you can see of the cogwheel:
Information about the wheel:
Artworks by the Falkirk wheel:
Canal below the Falkirk wheel:
© Jo Edkins 2025