August 22 - Day 4

Waking up at 46 Atholl Road after a good night’s sleep.  Breakfast with Marion and McLean and planning the day.  On the road to see the Kelpie’s in Falkirk, a city just off the far west end of the Firth of Forth, about 30 miles northeast of Glasgow.  It’s overcast and cool but no rain.  The Kelpie’s are a monument to noble Clydesdale horses that labored in various ways in the region.  Clydesdale horses are a breed specific to the Clyde River Valley (runs through Glasgow into the Atlantic Ocean.) Think Budweiser horses.  Particularly they pulled canal boats from the tow paths. These huge work horses stand anywhere from 6 to 8 feet from hoof to head (18 or more hands).  The monument is a pair of horse heads structured out of laser cut and designed plates of stainless steel towering to 100 feet.  It is located on the Clyde and Forth canal with many canal boats moored in the area.  They have structured a new lock to run between the horses and surrounded the horses with water streams.  The lock is part of a new stretch of canal that was designed to extend from the Clyde Forth Canal to the local river. The structures are only 2 years old and the park is continually being developed.  The heads are eerie but very beautiful, one is stretched to the sky and the other looks down on us with big eyes.  They have been modeled on two Clydesdales that live and work in Pollacks Park, Duke and Baron.  The Kelpies are mythical creatures that can shape change, one of the shapes is as horses.  So there is myth, legend and history combined in the park.  Our tour takes us inside one of the Kelpie’s and it is like looking up in a cathedral.  The cut outs look like images of stained glass windows with the varied designs.  They say on a clear day when the sun shines in it is jewel like and when the wind blows it sounds like the howl of a Kelpie.  On to Falkirk Wheel only a few miles away.  An engineering marvel completed 8 years ago.  Found on the Clyde and Forth canal with more canal boats moored in the area.  This huge metal structure looks like aliens landed; it was engineered to lift canal boats from one elevation to another from Clyde and Forth Canal to the Leith canal.  The area used to have a ‘flight’ of locks, 9 in total but they deteriorated.  It was a huge drop in elevation in a short span.  So they built this huge structure that operates on an electric motor.  It’s a balancing of tandem gondolas filled with water. One boat locks in on the top and one on the bottom, then slowly the wheel cogs winds the top to the bottom and the bottom to the top.  The tourists are floated into the gondola on canal boats and then the water is locked in. They ride top to bottom and vice versa.  When the cycle is completed the boats are released and they go on their way in their new elevation.  There is a huge gift shop with everything Scottish and Wheel themed.  There is a very nice restaurant and outdoor dining areas. We have delicious sandwiches and a slice of caramel, chocolate shortbread.  Good that we got a hike in.  Back home and trying out a new fish and chips take away for dinner.  The new shop is called The Catch, besides the best haddock and chips we’ve ever eaten we missed the haggis and black pudding also on the menu. That’s okay.  Enjoying one more day in Glasgow before starting our bus trip.