On sunday we took a trip to see the Falkirk Wheel, which is an amazing canal boat lift !
Its an impressive engineering project built about 20 years ago that connects two of our canals in central Scotland - the Forth and Clyde Canal, and the Union Canal.
The Union Canal comes it at the top along the line covered by the rings. Then the contraption on the end, the wheel, rotates to take boats from the top down to the bottom, and vice-versa.
In the pic above you can see the pink boat has gone into the bottom section. It floats in and then doors close of each end, so thats its liked an enclosed mini section of the canal. Another boat can go into the top section at the same time, which really helps with the balance, and then it rotates round. It is said that it is so well balanced that it takes very little energy to rotate round - equivalent to boiling a kettle !
The whole project is set up as a tourist attraction as well, with cafe, paths, viewpoints and the like. Thats the view above the tunnel at the top which the boats pass through to get to the top of the wheel.
You can also walk through the canal tunnel at the top which is pretty cool with its multi-coloured lights which change colours as you are walking through !
Th pic above shows the bottom lock which allows the boats to get from the bottom of the wheel back to the level of the Forth and Clyde Canal. In all the wheel removes the needs for around 11 locks between the two canals - which would really slow up any traffic passaging between the two.
The canals themselves are 200+ years old and were very important for industry back in the 19th century. Nowadays the majority, if not all of the traffic will be pleasure craft, including some commercial tourism. There is even a wee berth area in the pond area at the bottom of the wheel.
The angular building above is where the cafe and shop is. You can also book trips to go on the pink canal boat from there, which will take you up and down on the wheel - its pretty cool, and gets quite busy.
Plus there is lots of fun stuff around, so there is heaps to do when you visit.
We have visited quite a few times to see it, and I have to say that its still quite amazing to see each time. It looks rather futuristic and is pretty impressive to see. They also light it up at night, which I've not seen, but must also be pretty cool.
We enjoyed our trip to see it, including the cheeky wee stop in the cafe for a cup of tea and slice of cake. It really is well worth seeing and taking a trip on if you get a chance, especially for any canal enthusiasts !