The Forth and Clyde canal is so named as it connects these two rivers but its eastern end drops into the River Carron which flows down to the Forth. Living in a town right in the middle, I’d walked and cycled to Glasgow and from there cycled to Bowling, at the western end, and I wanted to walk to the other end. There be Kelpies!
These water horses, creatures of Celtic legend, have inspired two sculptures in sheet metal and I’d seen them from afar but never visited the site itself. I suppose I felt that, with all the hype, the reality would be a disappointment. I’d felt like that about the Falkirk Wheel and yet, when I saw it, I could only agree that it was an elegant feat of engineering.
The recent ice had melted on the canal by St Valentine’s Day and I decided to continue my walk the following day. Previously I’d walked as far as Falkirk High train station so I started from there, with my dog Ben, at about ten past two in the afternoon.

Signpost to the Kelpies, outside Falkirk High train station
It was a lot more pleasant to walk along the canal towpath in daylight.

Footpath winding down to the towpath going west from Falkirk High
The last time I did this it was pitch dark! This time I could see the old stone structure of the Union canal, as I walked west towards the Falkirk Wheel which connects the Union and the Forth and Clyde canals.

Old stone walling and trees along the Union canal
The towpath to the tunnel and the top lock of the Falkirk Wheel was closed so I took the shortcut over a bridge and popped into the Visitors Centre. There it was strange to see the basin dry and the Wheel itself surrounded by scaffolding, awaiting its reopening in May.

Dry basin of the Falkirk Wheel marina

Scaffolding around the Falkirk Wheel
But the café was open, with its friendly staff, and I picked up some supplies.

“Towpath Talk”, “The Tillergraph” and two bags of crisps on a hexagonal wood and plastic table
A map near the door of the Visitors Centre shows the canals and rivers around Falkirk.

Map stenciled on three panels of French windows showing the Forth and Clyde, joined by the Union at the Wheel, running northeast to the Kelpies, the Carron and the Forth
I walked across the wooden bridge to the north side of the Forth and Clyde canal.

Wooden bridge and canalboats along the Forth and Clyde looking east
The canalboats that are usually in the marina, or somewhere along either canal, were now tied along the bank near the entrance to the Wheel.

More canalboats on the Forth and Clyde
By this time, it was almost three o’clock and I thought we would have light enough to reach the Kelpies but I didn’t want to be walking back along the canal in the dark, again! My first idea was to take the train to Camelon, where legend sites the Camelot of King Arthur (the central lowlands of Scotland have a lot of evidence of Brythonic heritage that links to the people now in Cumbria, Cymru and Kernow, so this is not as far-fetched as it sounds) but I couldn’t get a return ticket so then I had the idea of retracing my steps from Falkirk High. But in the light! Present-day Camelon (pronounced ‘Kamelin’) is quite prosaic.

Terraced housing around a park with swings and trees, a hut with WELCOME TO KEMLIN in the foreground
Some of the wildlife, like this magpie who fluttered away through the branches, are quite shy.

A magpie hiding near his nest among the branches
Some, like these swans, are more inquisitive.

A family of three swans swims towards the bank with a small pretty canalboat in the background
The canal skirts the north of the town and a series of locks provide interest and pretty locations for some canalside cafes and pubs.

Lockgates and an information board on a grassy verge of the canal, with trees and houses

A bridge and lockgates with a mother and child walking in the distance

Ben the dog runs past a pontoon near lockgates, with pubs and factories ahead
The industrial heritage is evident in the factories, such as this one for whisky, along the banks.

Three modern steel sculptures of whisky bottles with an old factory on the other side of the canal

Scottish Canals information board explaining how iron, vinegar, rope and chemicals were made and transported along the canal
I also loved the whimsical graffiti of dragonfire and an umbrella-wielding hero, on an old stone lintel set in a wall.

Bricked up door with funny graffiti above
Further along, the canal seemed more functional than pretty.

Ben waiting obediently on the path as it ascends from the canal to a busy road
Heading out of town, to avoid scrambling through a lock-keeper’s garden, we had to climb a steep flight of steps to the road and immediately descend. But the reedbeds further on were unexpected and no doubt a valuable contribution to the local ecology.

Reedbeds on the other side of the canal
By now we’d been walking for two hours and I felt there was something familiar about this bridge. Had I seen it in an article about the Kelpies?

Ben waiting under a bridge
The ducks ahead swam over to investigate us.

A pair of Mallards and a white duck swim towards us
Which was nice but aloud I wondered, “Where are the Kelpies?” And looked around…

First sight of the Kelpies across fields to the left
There, across the fields. We hurried on, with fresh energy. In minutes I was seeing them just across the canal.

The Kelpies closer now, just across the canal to the right and along the path
Then just at the end of the path!

The Kelpies at the end of the path
Then, of course, I had to get close. Ben went back on the lead and we approached the western waterhorse. Which has been sculpted so expressively.

The western Kelpie, looking down and to the right, with a beautiful expression
Before approaching the eastern Kelpie, I wanted to walk to the end of the canal. And witness the last few feet of water, pouring down the lockgate and into the River Carron.

The Forth and Clyde canal plunges over the last lockgate

Below the lockgate, the canal joins the Carron
From there, the river flows under a bridge and down to pass industrial Grangemouth on the Forth.

The River Carron flows under a bridge down towards Grangemouth on the Forth
But then we walked back to more legendary beauty.

The head of the eastern Kelpie rearing up towards the moon

The two Kelpies side by side
Technology, wild nature, myth and beauty. I sat at a table in the café. And fell in love.

The Kelpies at sunset with a pylon tower to their left, trees in the background and water below
[All photos @Alan McManus 2019. Use permitted with link to this post]