Narrowboating in Scotland (part 2) - the Forth & Clyde Canal

 The second part of half of our Scotland narrowboat journey was an out and back on the Forth & Clyde Canal. While the canal extends all the way to the River Clyde to the west, we ended our journey in Glasgow. The Forth & Clyde required more coordination with Scottish Canals than the Union, so we were on more of a timetable than we like to be. Our time was even more restricted because the locks were only being run once a day to conserve water in the canal. None of this was communicated to us at the start of our trip, so when we called Scottish Canals to book our trip through the locks 24 hours in advance as recommended, we were rebuffed and told we had to wait an extra day. Sigh. We had to coordinate movement through four locks and four bridges over two days heading west and then again coming east. Unlike in Wales, we were not allowed to operate any of the locks or bridges; Scottish Canals and volunteers from Go Forth & Clyde run everything. 

The Forth & Clyde immediately felt very different from the Union. The canal was much deeper, wider, and mostly open landscape all around. The vegetation in and around the canal was quite different too - waterlilies, irises, horsetail, and wild rose were abundant. There were also tons of tadpoles in the canal; some sections were thick with them! There were also a couple stretches that felt more industrial than we encountered on the Union. Part of that was likely because we were around Glasgow, Scotland's largest city. The lack of forest cover also allowed us to see much farther than we could on the Union. For the first time in our narrowboating adventures, we actually had to pay attention to our speed. It was possible to go more than 5 mph without much effort because of the deep, wide canal. Assessing our speed was mostly by feel, though, because we had little to work with on the instrument panel - no engine rpms or speedometer. 

a much more open landscape on the Forth & Clyde

waterlilies and irises a plenty

reminders of humanity alongside the canal

There were three bridges on the main canal and one on the Glasgow Arm of the canal that had to be moved for us to pass through. All four were constructed differently. Bonnybridge is a four-point lift bridge that lifts a piece of the roadway straight into the air; Twechar a bascule bridge, that raises like a drawbridge; Hillhead a swing bridge that sweeps to the one side of the canal; and Garscube a pedestrian bridge with a retracting deck. Other than these major roadway bridges, there were very few bridges over the Forth & Clyde compared to the Union. 

Bonnybridge lifting bridge

Twechar bascule bridge

Hillhead swing bridge

Garscube retracting bridge

We had four locks on the Forth & Clyde spread over 3.5 kms. The Go Forth & Clyde volunteers met us at the first lock and then biked to each successive lock along the tow path while we boated. It seemed like a great gig for them, but it was a lovely sunny day. I'm sure the bike ride between all four locks is less enjoyable on a typical rainy day. The locks on the Forth & Clyde were similar to the ones along the Canal du Midi in France where we had to toss lines to someone on shore to secure us to rings or cleats rather than securing a line around a pole set within the wall of the lock (Union Canal) or nothing at all (Mons & Brec in Wales). Thanks to my excellent training in France (thanks, Andrew!), my rope tosses were clean and on target every time. The Forth & Clyde version of locks was a much drier experience than in France, and all the narrowboats in Scotland have holding tanks, so I didn't feel like I was getting directly sprayed with poo water, which was a bonus. 

in the lock with our transit buddies

lock filling

lock open and ready for entrance

I got to open one lock!

The end of the line for us on the Forth & Clyde was Glasgow. We took a left turn down the Glasgow Arm and stayed two nights in Applecross Basin. I was a bit nervous about our urban mooring, both for safety and noise. It turns out I had nothing to worry about. While there were a lot of people on the tow path next to the boat, everyone was very nice and foot traffic was at a minimum after dark. Our side of the canal was next to a recently restored natural area, so it was very quiet.

lovely sunset from our mooring in Glasgow

Getting to the heart of Glasgow was an easy walk from the canal, which facilitated lots of exploring. We enjoyed a comedy show, lots of great architecture and street art, green spaces filled with Glaswegians enjoying the sunny weather, and good food. 

University of Glasgow

Glasgow botanic garden

Kelvingrove Museum

Saint Mungo mural (by Smug), the patron saint of Glasgow

Glasgow Cathedral

On our return to Falkirk, we spent a night in Kirkintilloch, a lovely village along the canal. It is also near the Antonine Wall, the northernmost wall built by the Romans around 70 AD as they moved north. We encountered multiple Roman sites along both canals, all of which make up a World Heritage Site. The canals also largely follow part of the John Muir Way, a coast-to-coast path that connects John Muir's birthplace to the first National Park in Scotland and the place Muir left Scotland for the US. As a Californian where John Muir made his mark, it was fun to imagine his start and how the Scottish landscapes influenced his conservation work in California.

Antonine Wall line in Kirkintilloch

Roman wall

marker for the John Muir Way

Our 11 days on the narrowboat went much faster than we hoped, and we are still excited about exploring Britain by narrowboat more in the future. 

looking toward the back of the boat

looking out the door at the bow

Pete cooking dinner in our fully stocked kitchen

50th birthday narrowboating in Scotland - the Union Canal

 To celebrate the completion of his 50th orbit around the sun, Pete wanted to go back to Scotland - his favorite country - and admire the countryside from the stern of a narrowboat. After looking at a couple different options, he decided the canals between Glasgow and Edinburgh ticked the most boxes for time, boat style, and possible side adventures. We had very little time in the lowlands during our last trip to Scotland in 2014, so this route also gave us an opportunity to more fully explore the area. This post covers part 1 of our trip - Edinburgh and the Union Canal. Parts 2 (Forth & Clyde Canal) and 3 (Orkney Island) soon to follow.

We had a day and a half in Edinburgh before we picked up the narrowboat to try to get ourselves acclimated to the local time. We visited Edinburgh Castle via the Royal Mile, walked the Water of Leith Walkway to the botanic garden (a Melissa must-see everywhere we go), wandered amongst the monuments on Calton Hill, and sought out a local fabric store to get tartan for one of Pete's projects. Spring in Edinburgh is beautiful, even with the inevitable rain that came nearly every day.

Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle

Water of Leith - Dean Village

Water of Leith - Dean Village

Grey heron

a very majestic wood pigeon

a partial replica of the Parthenon on Calton Hill in Edinburgh

view towards Edinburgh Castle from Calton Hill

We rented our narrowboat (Holly) in Falkirk, a 30ish minute train ride west of Edinburgh. This was our second narrowboat rental (first in Wales), so we had a pretty good idea what to expect in terms of typical canal infrastructure. The one very big difference here, however, was the Falkirk Wheel. Most of the canals throughout Britain were built in the 1700s to move goods around the island. With the rise of the railroad in the late 1700s, however, many of the canals fell into disuse and eventual disrepair by the early 1900s. When interest emerged in rehabilitating the canals for recreation in the 1990s, some of them needed a lot of work to be navigable again. The Union Canal in Scotland, which runs from Edinburgh to Falkirk, was one of those canals. It was originally connected to the Forth and Clyde Canal, which runs west from Falkirk to the River Clyde, by a flight of eleven locks. Rather than spending money to rehabilitate the locks, Scottish Canals opted for a quite different approach to move boats the roughly 100 vertical feet in elevation to connect one canal to the other. 

The Falkirk Wheel is sort of like a ferris wheel for boats. There is one trough (or gondola) at the top and another at the bottom that get sealed off from their respective canals and then rotate to the other position in about five minutes. There are two amazing things (I think) about the Wheel: 1) it takes the same amount of energy to run the 1800 tonne wheel as it does to boil eight kettles of water - not very much!; and 2) the gondolas can be run with any combination of boats or no boats on either side because the weight is always perfectly matched - each boat displaces an amount of water equal to its weight. Application of Archimedes's principle in real life! The Falkirk Wheel was one of the main draws to doing this route.

the wheel in its starting position

halfway around with boats in both gondolas

Getting to ride the Wheel was exciting, particularly because we had only been on our narrowboat for about 15 minutes, and we were solo in our gondola! After our induction at the hire base, a staff person joined us as Pete capably piloted us off the dock, through a swing bridge, and into a lock that required a very sharp turn. From the top of the lock, we had an audience of about 200 people watching Pete maneuver us into the gondola. After we slowly rotated on the Wheel up to the height of the Union Canal, we exited the Wheel and went through a short tunnel, two locks, and a longer tunnel before we were on the 72 meter contour all the way to Edinburgh (no more locks needed).  

Getting a lift from the Forth & Clyde to
the Union Canal on the Falkirk Wheel

short, disco-light tunnel

first of two locks after the wheel

Pete trying to stay dry in the leaky tunnel

It took us two and a half days to travel to our turning spot on the Union Canal, just a couple miles from the canal's end in Edinburgh. That same distance took us less than 30 minutes by train days earlier. The pace of life is much slower on the narrowboat. The maximum speed is 4 mph, and we typically run a little slower, particularly if the canal is narrow and shallow, both of which were true on the Union. The feel of the Union was much more similar to the Mons & Brec in Wales than I anticipated. I was expecting a busier canal and a more industrial landscape, but was delighted to spend our days on a very quiet, lush, tree-lined canal. 

newly leafed out trees on the Union Canal

canola field with bings in the background, spoils heaps from shale mining

Avon aqueduct (bridge of water over water)

lots of old bridges over the canal and a tow path alongside

aqueduct over the motorway

one of our best overnight spots

Linlithgow was the largest town along the Union canal, home of Linlithgow Palace, the birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots. She featured quite prominently in our trip as we visited historical sites along the well-traveled royal road between Edinburgh and Stirling. 

Mary, Queen of Scots

the remains of Linlithgow Palace

original fountain from the 1500s

There were not a lot of towns directly adjacent to the canal, so we tended to cook meals on the boat and explore along the canal tow path after we found a good place to tie up for the evening. Holly is a floating house - kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping are all aboard, so we had all we needed wherever we stopped. There were some lovely county parks a bit off the canal that were within easy walking/running distance that added a bit of variety to our scenery. The wildlife on the canal was ordinary but endearing, mostly thanks to the adorable fluffy ducklings and cygnets, and the gamboling lambs. 

a couple mute swan cygnets hitching a ride

fluffy mallard ducklings

highland coo!

ubiquitous lamb

Because the boat hire base was in the middle of the two canals, we did an out and back on the Union Canal after turning around near Edinburgh. This meant we got another ride on the Falkirk Wheel before heading west towards Glasgow on the Forth & Clyde Canal. We ended up having a bit more time than expected before we could get through the locks and bridges on the Forth & Clyde, so we were able to take a trip to the Kelpies at the top of the Forth & Clyde, just before it meets the River Carron and the Firth of Forth. The Kelpies are a pair of 100 foot tall steel horse head sculptures designed by Andy Scott that give a nod to the instrumental role of the work horses that originally towed the barges along the canals, as well as the mythical shape-shifting water horses of Scottish folklore.

the towering kelpies

(find Pete)

In the next installment, we'll head west on the Forth & Clyde, a very different canal in many ways.