Edinburgh Day 2

 May 28th.  Woke to fine but it soon began to rain.  Very chilly.

After breakfast we programmed Lady Satnav and once again she warned us of unsealed roads and restricted areas.    Undeterred we drove off towards Falkirk.   Part way along a large sign overhead the A74(M) read “Yellow Warning.  Heavy Rain”. The sky certainly looked that way.   

As we neared The Kelpies, we again had to abandon Lady Satnav and follow the large brown road signs which guided us perfectly to a car park.  Jock, of broad Scottish accent took our £3 and wished us a good day.  We walked across to these tremendous sculptures.  

They stand next to a major motorway the M9, on an area of parkland called The Helix.   30 metres high and with foundations going 35 metres deep they weigh in at around 300 tonnes each.   

Made of 38,000 individual pieces galvanised to protect against the weather and tested thoroughly in a wind tunnel to ensure they could withstand hurricane force gales, these were each meticulously individually numbered.   Once all manufactured in Yorkshire they were transported to site where they took 16 weeks to erect.  Kelpies are a mythological creature said to rise from the sea and resembling a horse.  These two are named Baron, the horse with his head up and Duke, the other.  We were particularly taken with the reflection pool in front of them and thankful that the rain held off so we could take plenty of photos.

At the gift shop there were smaller scale replicas and on the plinth a small person to give a sense of scale.

Alongside the park area was a canal with several narrow boats moored up and a swan diligently sitting on her nest, while her mate circled slowly around behind.

From there we drove on to The Falkirk Wheel.  This is another piece of amazing Scottish ingenuity and engineering.  Since the 1930’s there has been no link between the Forth & Clyde Canal and the Union Canal and as a Millenium Project this World First, indeed World Only Rotating Boat Lift was built.   Apparently one of the original design team did a mock up in Lego to prove the mechanical gearing could could work.

While the wheel raises boats 24 feet, there are two further locks raising boats a further 11 feet to the level of the Union Canal.   We watched as a tourist boat filled with people, carefully manoeuvred into the wheel, was fastened with ropes and then slowly lifted in the air.  

Two caissons filled with 250,000 litres of water keep the boats level as they are rotated through 180 degrees in only five minutes and with a minimal use of power due to the finely balanced mechanics.   It was too cold, too wet and I was too scotch to pay to go on this but oh, I so enjoyed watching the wheel in action.   It must be around 20 years ago that I cut a photo out of a magazine, adding The Falkirk Wheel to My List.

I was feeling wet and cold so we went into the gift shop/cafe for a look around and then lunch.  A cup of hot tea did wonders and we were on our way Stirling Castle.

Lady Satnav does not seem to like visiting tourist attractions and on all three occasions today she failed us at the final hurdle so we needed to switch her off and follow the large brown road signs.   At Stirling Castle we couldn’t turn where she insisted so followed our own compass and found a perfect roadside carpark  at the foot of steps up to the castle, thereby saving ourselves angst and £4   The ginger headed Scotsman who happily took our £15.60 each and then told us there were no audio guides available and handing me a German language castle guide map he gaily said “ we’ve run out of English ones but a maps the same in any language isn’t it.”   Well not quite!  But we managed.   I specifically wanted to see the Unicorn tapestries and when we found the Palace Apartments there they were in all their beauty.   

A period costume clad young man happily answered my questions and told me the story of the unicorn.   The panels are not hung in order due to the space constraints in the room but he pointed out each one and told me how they are said to be allegorical of Christ and that this is why James V had a white unicorn on his coat of arms.  A sign to the people who were at that time Roman Catholic, that he, the King had God on his side.

In another room was an amazing ceiling showing painted carvings declaring the Royal bloodline of the King, his fashionable court and his desire to be thought virtuous and wise.   An intriguing desk had a mirror and key and could be moved around the room to decode these carvings.   

On the top floor was an exhibition of other carvings of the Stirling Heads.  When the sculptor, John Donaldson had spent seven years and completed the replicas he was permitted by Historic Scotland to carve a piece in his own interpretation of the relationship between James V and Mary de Guise.

Back at the car, rather wet and cold we drove slowly off down a windy, very narrow road at the back of the castle when to my delight a little grey squirrel ran across the road into the undergrowth and was gone.  I’m entranced.  I need to see another!

Then we began the wet trek back to Edinburgh in heavy traffic but without incident.  Wew found the car park and arrived safely back at our apartment.

EDIT In my excitement over the squirrel I completely forgot to mention the Tapestry building down the steep slippery slope at the back of the castle grounds.  Here a large (and I think purpose built building) showed how the colours were chose, the yarns dyed - they used wool, linen, gold and, mercerised cotton instead of the silk of the originals.  There was an excellent video about the process of design including the head weavers surprise that the cartoons which are the graphical plan for the weaving, were full sized.  Some  were woven  in Chichester but the rest in a specially set up loom at the castle itself.   I was too tired, wet and cold and forgot to take photos.  😞