Woolly says – The sun was back with us again much to my delight as a lot of the day was going to be on things in the open and rain wouldn’t have been welcome. We’d arrived mid afternoon on the outskirts of Falkirk for a two night stay and I was very excited about the places that I had planned to take everyone to, sadly Zoe had partially seen one of the things from the motorway but given the size they were difficult to hide, more about those later.
Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, sited at the junction of the Forth and Clyde and Union Canals, a location which proved key to its growth as a centre of heavy industry during the Industrial Revolution. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Falkirk was at the centre of the iron and steel industry, underpinned by the Carron Company in nearby Carron.
With the sat nav programmed we took the short drive to the coast and our first destination of the day, Handsome Jack was nearly as excited as me for this stop as it would be the first castle in Scotland that he could go everywhere in.
Blackness Castle is a 15th century fortress, near the village of Blackness, on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, which is a bit of a mouthful to say. It was built on the site of an earlier fort, by Sir George Crichton in the 1440’s. At this time, Blackness was the main port serving the Royal Burgh of Linlithgow, one of the main residences of the Scottish monarch. The castle, together with the Crichton lands, passed to James II of Scotland in 1453, and the castle has been crown property ever since. It served as a state prison, holding such prisoners as Cardinal Beaton and the 6th Earl of Angus.
The walk along the front to the castle was lovely and as we got closer the castle looked better and better. Although small in comparison to many others it was delightful and had some interesting cannon firing holes in the walls as well as showing the older and newer parts of its building.
A short slope led us through a small doorway and into an area with a gunpoint hole which I immediately investigated. We took the stairs upwards stopping to admire the deep windows and views from them.
Little rooms seemed to lead off the ramparts with lots of windows in the walls of the castle itself.
The prison tower stood alone although only separated by a few feet. We followed the battlements round to give us further views of the buildings, they were wonderful.
Arriving at the rear of the castle we were able to head inside to the former grand hall with its large window seats and high ceilings.
Next door was a much smaller room which contained a unique sink and waste outlet.
Each room allowed to see how thick the walls were and although the fireplaces were quite small it felt as though it would be a very cosy space to inhabit. A William IV fire grate caught my eye dating back to the 1830’s.
Lots of more followed, some with sloping ceilings and some with smaller vestibules coming off them.
Outside we found ourselves at the base of the castle on the rocks on which it had been constructed, very uneven and not recommended if you had partaken in any of the local whiskey.
We headed into the central tower or prison tower as its more often known with its spacious rooms and high windows it didn’t really look much like a prison. Jack’s corgi sized legs climbed up and up the stairs between each level finding he was just the right size to fit in the small window slots that lit them up.
Reaching the terrace at the top of the building we stood admiring the views again and decided to head to the small jetty that had served the castle for ships delivering all manner of items including prisoners.
Although modern now the original jetty would have been made of stone and probably very slippy underfoot.
It also gave us a different view of the castle which was actually ship shaped when you looked at it from that angle.
A highly successful first stop done and only a few people around which made a blessed relief after the masses we had been dealing with. Next up was a much more modern house a twenty minute drive away. Pulling into the parking area the mutt grew rather excited at the park surrounding the property, as he wasn’t allowed inside Jo and I set off to show him the park whilst Zoe headed inside.
Callendar House is a mansion set within the grounds of Callendar Park in Falkirk, during the 19th century it was redesigned and extended in the style of a French Renaissance château fused with elements of Scottish baronial architecture. During its 600 year history the house has played host to many prominent historical figures, including Mary, Queen of Scots, Oliver Cromwell, Bonnie Prince Charlie and Queen Victoria.
Taking pictures of the impressive looking property as we wandered through the park, we found that the park was fabulous with tree lined pathways, play areas and its very own loch. We found a memorial, a very recent one which was dedicated to those that had lost their lives to Covid which was a lovely to see.
With Zoe having completed the interior we passed the doggo baton and headed inside ourselves. A lovely lady on reception handed us a map and we headed into the first room.
I nearly fell over my small companion as he stopped dead in the doorway before shouting ‘Romans’ and shot over to investigate the displays that explained about the Antonine Wall, a Roman frontier, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, that crossed central Scotland from the Firth of Forth to the River Clyde, with a significant section running through the modern day Falkirk area. Built by Emperor Antoninus Pius around AD 140 it might not be Hadrian, but the mammoth was happy as he took in all of the information.
Climbing upstairs we came to a large exhibition centred around the industry, railways and transport systems of Falkirk. It was well laid out and interesting to read as we moved from one information board to another.
Down another flight of steps and we entered a range of rooms telling us all about Calender House and its history including models of how the house had looked at various times in history.
Next door was an incredible kitchen with incredibly hight ceilings and a range of ovens all retaining their cast iron doors which is a first for me.
As we turned to head back outside my attention was caught by some painted slabs which had once adorned the high ceiling above us, the ceiling had had to be repaired but they had managed to save a small amount of it, I gazed upwards to see where the pieces on the floor would have once been.
With the house complete we proceeded back to the car to join the other two in our party and set off for the next point of interest which I knew was going to be even more exciting.
The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift, connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. It opened in 2002 as part of the Millennium Link project, reconnecting the two canals for the first time since the 1930s.
The plan to regenerate central Scotland’s canals and reconnect Glasgow with Edinburgh was led by British Waterways. Planners decided early to create a dramatic 21st century landmark structure to reconnect the canals, rather than simply recreating the historic lock flight and boy had they done that. We stood on the bank admiring the mammoth bridge type structure Infront of us.
Climbing up to the top first we watched a boat going onto the aqueduct part of the structure before the wheel started to turn and the boat along with a huge volume of water keeping it afloat moved round.
The wheel raises boats by 24 metres (79 ft), but the Union Canal is still 11 metres (36 ft) higher than the aqueduct which meets the wheel. Boats must also pass through a pair of locks between the top of the wheel and the Union Canal. The Falkirk Wheel is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world, and one of two working boat lifts in the United Kingdom, the other being the Anderton Boat Lift. It was a feat of engineering to say the least.
With the boat now entering the canal far below where it had started, I raced to the quay to watch it do it all over again.
I was so entranced with the whole process I completely missed going inside the gift shop and being offered an ice cream!
We walked around the marina looking at the wonder from all sides, as we arrived at the Union Canal and looked at it, we all realised that it looked like a chicken.
The information boards told us more about the construction and how 32 obstacles had been removed to make way for it including, 11 locks and part of a motorway.
With time pressing on I reluctantly walked back to the car as we set off for the last port of call for the day, this I knew was going to make everyone’s day. As we drove the five minutes to the car park, we couldn’t see them at all, I did hope that Zoe having seen it from the motorway wouldn’t detract from the wow factor on the first real view of the massive structure in front of us.
The Kelpies are a pair of monumental steel horse heads between the Scottish towns of Falkirk and Grangemouth. They stand next to the M9 motorway and form the eastern gateway of the Forth and Clyde Canal, which meets the River Carron here. Each head is 30 metres (98 ft) high, huge in fact.
The sculptures, which represent kelpies, were designed by sculptor Andy Scott and were completed in October 2013. The Kelpies represent the lineage of the heavy horse of Scottish industry and economy, pulling the wagons, ploughs, barges, and coal ships that shaped the geographical layout of the Falkirk area.
Stunning, truly stunning. As we got closer and closer we could see the steel plates and bolts that they had been constructed with in close detail. Rising so high up above me I craned my neck to keep them in sight as did everyone else looking at them.
A small canal basin went through the middle of the pair, and I could think of nothing better than being on a barge and seeing them above me as I went into the lock.
Having walked round several times and taken far too many pictures we made our way over to the café for a round of refreshments which is when I spotted another two Kelpies but in smaller scale, four kelpies where even better than two. As we sat with our cakes and drinks, I wondered if we might be able to get them in the car and take them all back with us or at least get some constructed on the glamping site for our guests to enjoy. With these thoughts in mind, we wandered back to the car and set off back to our accommodation for the evening.