Intro to Falkirk

Falkirk is 23.3 miles north-west of Edinburgh and 20.5 miles north-east of Glasgow, and it lies in the fourth valley. Falkirk is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, within the county of Stirlingshire. Bet you can’t guess how we got here!

Getting there

• So whether you are based in Edinburgh or Glasgow you can get the train to Falkirk. To get to the Kelpies you can either get a taxi from right outside the station or take a short walk to the bus stop. We took a taxi and the price came to around £8.
• From the Falkirk Wheel we got a bus back to the train station which was about a 15 minute trip.

The Kelpies

• The Kelpies – are 30 metres high and made from steel each one weighing in at 300 tonnes, what an amazing feat. These were designed by sculptor Andy Scott.
• The Kelpies are a shape-changing aquatic spirit of Scottish legend. Kelpies are said to haunt rivers and streams, usually in the shape of a horse. Whilst sounding quite romantic and whimsical it’s said that Kelpies can use their magical powers to summon up a flood in order to sweep a traveller away to a watery grave.
• As you can see there are photo opportunities galore, we were very lucky we had a bright day. We didn’t do this but you can get some great shots at night as well.
• On the site, there is a cafe and toilets and shop. The Kelpies themselves are free to go too.
• There is a Kelpies tour which is 30 minutes long if you want to find out  more adults costs are £7.50 each

The Canal Walk

• The Kelpies stand next to a new extension to the Forth and Clyde Canal, and near River Carron, so we thought we would walk along the canal to get to the Falkirk Wheel.
• This is a lovely walk it’s about 8 miles which is mainly along the canal with a few crossings, it’s an easy to moderate walk (fitness level)
• There are a few different points of interest along the way ( one pictured at the bottom of the page ) if taking in the views wasn’t enough.
• As you can see we used google maps to navigate our way .

The Falkirk Wheel

• Fact for you – The Falkirk Wheel is 35 metres tall, the equivalent of 8 double decker buses stacked on top of each other!
• So Boats must 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.
• Check opening times and seasonal times as when we went the visitor centre and cafes were all shut and we obviously did see the Wheel working but we still enjoyed seeing the structure and it’s size.

Pictured above Robert Barr who owned the company responsible for the well known carbonated soft drink ‘irn-bru’.

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