Falkirk Wheel and the Highlands.

64.0 Miles. Now at Maragowan Club site at Killin.

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Arria the mermaid. 33 foot high, compare her to the man standing beside her.

 

Lock 17 on the Forth & Clyde Canal that we came across before reaching Falkirk.

We have had a really interesting day today starting with a visit to the Falkirk Wheel on the Forth & Clyde Canal. We arrived at the car park at about 10.15 and parked in the coach park where we knew we wouldn’t be a hindrance to anybody else. It turned out that this was the only park that didn’t have a pay and display machine.

This lock takes you down on to the Forth & Clyde Canal from the Falkirk Wheel.

Falkirk Wheel and the aqueduct leading to the Union Canal.

We had read that the first trip boat was 10.30 and we managed to get seats on this sailing. We thought the view was quite good even from the bottom caisson but by the time we had travelled the 35 feet to the top position the view became breathtaking even though some mountains were shrouded in cloud. The actual boat trip was only an hour, across the aqueduct connecting the wheel to the Union canal, through a new 180m long tunnel to a wide basin where we turned  for the return trip. Back on the wheel we returned to the lower level where the boat was turned and moored ready for the next trip. Afterwards we considered why the trip had been so short but then deduced that either way for the boat to travel further it would have to pass through a lock or a 2 lock staircase and there may not be any winding holes for quite some distance. However we have now added this treasure to our “Been there, Done that” list.

Trip boats in both caisson's waiting for the transition.

What a view through the end of the Falkirk Wheel caisson in the top position.

Looking down on the Forth & Clyde Canal from the Falkirk Wheel.

We finally tore ourselves away from the wheel about 12.30 and headed off towards Stirling. Dot wanted to photograph the castle. When we arrived in town we kept our eyes open for some parking facilities and eventually found a parking layby immediately in the shadow of the castle. I didn’t fancy taking the motorhome up to the castle as we didn’t know what the roads would be like leading up to it. After a lunch break and some photograph’s we hit the road once more heading for Killin, our next campsite.

A view of Gypsy Rover and another motorhome using the coach park at the Falkirk Wheel.

The new water play park for interactive learning at the Falkirk Wheel for school parties and kid's in general.

As we came into Lochearnhead we came upon a traffic jam with Police in attendance. When we finally made contact with the Constabulary we were informed that the road we wanted to travel was closed due to a fatal motorcycle accident. I told him where we were headed and he said that there was an alternative route taking an extra 80 miles. Thinking about it we decided to pull off into a car park and wait for the road to re-open. Had we used the diversionary route it would have taken an extra 3 hours driving through mountain passes and at least an extra 4 gallons of diesel. When we pulled into the car park there were about a dozen cars most of whom were like us,waiting for the road to open. By the time we left nearly 3 hours later the car park was full to overflowing with car’s all waiting for the same reason as us.

We parked underneath Stirling Castle and had some lunch before continuing.

When we pulled into the car park we spoke to a couple about our age who had been on a tour coach. The lady had taken ill and the tour guide opted to send them back to the hotel in a taxi. They got within a 100 yards of the accident site and after an hour were sent back to Lochearnhead where the taxi driver dropped them, as at that stage the road wasn’t going to re-open for 5 hours. Well we took pity on them and offered them shelter out of the wind and brewed a cup of tea. Finally the road was clear and the tour operator sent another taxi for these unfortunate people who only had to travel slightly further than us to Crianlarich. Once the car park cleared of car’s, we then moved out and reached our camp after about half an hour’s driving. The longest day we have had for quite some time.

Interesting quilt work at the Falkirk Wheel, just for you Jenny.

A total of 2912 miles, since 5 March 2011