from the west...: Narrowboating in Scotland (part 2)

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.