A wheel feat
Linlithgow on a Tuesday night turned out to exceed expectations. An old MBA chum lives (sort of) nearby and suggested meeting up. The suggestion of The Four (Bloody?) Marys was corroborated by the previous night’s boozer’s denizens and what a darn fine choice it was. The sort of local where you quickly feel local, regardless of accent, and quality and quantity of both the wet and dry stuff too. And great to have a catch-up with an old friend,
linlithgow is I understand famous for its palace; the only other thing I noted was the preponderance of beauty parlours, hair salons, nail places etc… by observation I’d say they get used not so much by the local inhabitants…
If you’re going to have a 20 mile hike with a pack then today’s route would be ideal. First half along the Union Canal, second half along the (Go?) Forth and Clyde Canal (I’m guessing it links two rivers). If anyone hasn’t heard of the Falkirk Wheel which links these two then it is a marvel of engineering, some pics to try to show it …
That’s how to move Canal boats 80 feet up or down. Apart from that the flattest day imaginable; total elevation gain over the 21 miles was 235 feet. Taking away the Wheel effect that’s a gradient of about 1 in 700. Today was however somewhat inefficient, I.e. mostly west. The worm (and associated pace) will turn tomorrow however with heartening northerliness. Set the controls for the heart of the north as Rog almost once said.
Then upon arrival the Wee Yin came a-visiting again with promises/threats of being out on the trail sometime soon. A most welcome diversion from the flesh pots and delights of Kilsyth which appears to have all the charm of the Gorbals without the excitement.
Now for my Blaggis – yes, it’s a trademarked thing. Good insulation against this Scottish Spring I hope…
Stroll on ?
If the day seemed inefficient, I doubt whether it was unnecessarily so, since project managers seldom deliberately waste resources. And my impression is that a day of easier walking might have been quite appropriate.
Sandy and I recently visited Ironbridge and looked at the (dilapidated) inclined plane, for moving boats between levels of the Shropshire canal. That one I figured out despite the absence of much infrastructure, but you’ll have to explain the Falkirk Wheel to me.
Comparing notes on outings sounds a good idea, especially with wine and whisky accompaniment. A highlight (?) of my learning from NZ is the availability of good pinot noir. I thought it was all dominated by sauvignon blanc: admirable, but never going to be my favourite.
Well done!
Good point, well made ? There was definitely some risk assessment involved. As for the Wheel I could have stopped to witness it in action (as opposed to witnessing its inaction) but tempus fugit and all that… I reckon a young person would be able to find footage on that YouTube thingy…. The Pinot noirs are good, I remember some splendid Ata Rangi…. ?
Are you heading in to The Trossachs ? ( ooh matron ) Loch Lomand, the lady of the lake and Rob Roy country.. As far as I am aware Rob Roy was an entirely fictitious character but the Scots appear to have unfictionalised him as a local Robin Hood type hero. Think of Arsenals win over Leicester as a morale booster and forget the shit weather.
Straw foot hay foot.
I’m waiting for the Hollywood ? Bollywood ? Disney? Disnae (quite proud of that one)? Version of ‘OCDJ In Thailand … the unexpurgated story…’