Heading west

Shaking Edinburgh off we resumed our journey to head west in the direction of Glasgow from Uphall. Despite its close proximity to the city the path was surprisingly rural with patches of woodland. At Linlithgow we joined the Union Canal which proved to have an excellent and very pretty tow path but with the absence of the house boats we had seen further south. There were other surprises too as we crossed a magnificent aqueduct, 273m long which spanned the River Avon and further on entered a tunnel about 1km in length under Callender Park. Apparently the estate owner at the time of construction would not allow the canal in sight of Callender House.
We also passed a very large newly constructed prison for young offenders on the banks of the canal at a rather ugly industrial estate at Polmont - not hard to imagine that the need for these institutions are growing after having observed behaviour in Edinburgh. Leaving the canal we headed into the centre of Falkirk, quite modern and busy, for the night.

The canal beckoned again the following morning and we scurried along the tow path for a couple of kilometres anxious to catch our first sight of the Falkirk Wheel. We were not disappointed as this ambitious construction came to view. Built at a cost of about 78 million pounds as part of the Millenium Link it replaces the need for 11 locks and links the Union with the Forth & Clyde Canals so the canal runs from the Forth right through to the Clyde. Like a huge ferris wheel it lifts boats a height of about 33 metres. The site also features a state of the art visitor centre which served a decent coffee so it received a big tick!! Beyond the Wheel the canal tow path ran aparallel with the Antonine Wall, a return to things Roman - 60 km long it was built in AD142 to reflect Rome's short-lived push north. Not a lot remains but we were able to see grassy remains of forts at Croy Hill near Kilsyth and the large ditch that was dug in front of the wall. Entering Kilsyth we climbed the hill to Allenfauld Farm to enjoy great hospitality from the Mc Gregors.
Despite the ongoing rain David and I decided to catch the train from Croy into Glasgow where we joined a late afternoon tour of Charles Rennie McIntosh's architecture and furniture making at the Glasgow School of Art and dinner in the Merchant Square area of the city.

Today was the last day on the Canal. After an easy stroll along the tow path under threatening skies we left the tow path at Kirkintilloch to head north-west on a cycle path to Strathblane in the direction of Loch Lomond. The skies opened up again and the already fast-flowing streams became torrents as we passed lovely rural countryside with a backdrop of increasingly green and craggy hillsides. The cycle path was on another former transport route - Gartness-Kirkintilloch Railway and took us through Milton of Campsie and Lennoxtown to Strathblane coming out at the entrance to Mugdock Country Park.