Falkirk bus trip

Falkirk bus trip

Last Wednesday around twenty Project Ability artists went on a day trip to Falkirk. We were able to fit in two attractions The Falkirk Wheel and The Kelpies.

We met in the Trongate 103 lobby for a 10am departure and were in Falkirk within an hour. We spent an hour at the wheel, exploring the visitor center which is well equipped with toilets, cafe and shop before having a chance to see the wheel in action.

We watched in awe as a canal barge sailed into the bottom section and was amazingly lifted to the top as the mechanism did its magic. In return another barge was brought down and its passengers able to disembark.

At this stage some of the group split up to walk along the canal bank through Falkirk to the Helix Park where the Kelpies are located. The rest of went back to the bus after taking numerous fabulous photographs.

We drove for around ten minutes to the next location and got our first glimpses of the huge metal sculptures from the bus. Once at The Helix we were able to walk down to the statues and see all around them, even getting close enough to see the inside through the gaps in the metal.

There too is a visitor center with information on the construction of the work, a gift shop, more toilets and choice of cafes to eat at. The Kelpies are depicted here as two large horses heads but mythical creatures are shape shifting and can take other forms, horses were chosen for this piece to represent the heavy horses that worked on the canals in history pulling barges.

We ate our lunch in the large, comfortable picnic area and it was then that the rain decided to prove to us it had indeed been forecast, a small shower had everyone pulling out coats, umbrellas and heading towards the visitors center for shelter. Once the rain was past and we had reunited with the walkers we returned to Glasgow and were back by mid afternoon.

For more information on these attractions please visit: https://www.scottishcanals.co.uk/falkirk-wheel/  and  http://www.thehelix.co.uk/

(Blog by Morag McGilchrist)

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