Friday 9th May
We set off from home Friday afternoon after my night shift and several hours kip.
The idea was to break the journey up to Kinlochleven (near Fort William), staying overnight in a Premier Inn at Dumfries. We arrived late afternoon, checked in and had a relaxing evening ready for the drive further north Saturday.
Saturday 10th May
After a leisurely breakfast at the Premier Inn we left Dumfries after 10am, heading for Falkirk as we intended to visit the canal there and the unique Falkirk Wheel.
http://www.falkirk-wheel.com/
The weather was a mix of sun and cloud (not too bad really), and after parking up in the lower main car park, we headed off following the path to the canal and the wheel (a ahort few minutes walk).
Image above shows the many canal narrowboats taken from the bridge crossing the canal.
Soon we arrived at the wheel, where there is a fairly large visitors centre and cafe. You can pay to take a trip on a boat on the wheel from the bottom canal to the top. We were a bit pushed for time so did not take the trip, but elected instead to walk the short distance up the path to the top canal.
Technical Information
The wheel has an overall diameter of 35 metres (115 ft) and consists of two opposing arms which extend 15 metres beyond the central axle and take the shape of a Celtic-inspired, double-headed axe. Two sets of these axe-shaped arms are attached about 25 metres (82 ft) apart to a 3.5 metres (11 ft) diameter axle. Two diametrically opposed water-filled caissons, each with a capacity of 80,000 imperial gallons, are fitted between the ends of the arms.
These caissons always weigh the same whether or not they are carrying their combined capacity of 600 tonnes of floating canal barges as, according to Archimedes' principle, floating objects displace their own weight in water, so when the boat enters, the amount of water leaving the caisson weighs exactly the same as the boat. This keeps the wheel balanced and so, despite its enormous mass, it rotates through 180° in five and a half minutes while using very little power. It takes just 22.5 kilowatts (30.2 hp) to power the electric motors, which consume just 1.5 kilowatt-hours (5.4 MJ) of energy in four minutes, roughly the same as boiling eight kettles of water.
The wheel is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world, and is regarded as an engineering landmark for Scotland.
After the short walk to the top we enjoyed the views around and watched the pleasure boat enter.
We spent around an hour or so taking pics, then followed the path back to the car park.
Susan had read somewhere about local statues of horses' heads called "The Kelpies". We had asked for directions at the wheel's visitors' centre and as it was not too far away decided to visit.
http://www.thehelix.co.uk/thekelpies
We soon found "The Helix" park, a large part of which was still under development. We parked up in the already quite full car park and walked across to the huge horse head statues.
Technical Information
The Kelpies tower a colossal 30 metres above the Forth & Clyde canal and form a dramatic gateway to the canal entrance on the East Coast of Scotland. Sculpted by Andy Scott, The Kelpies are a monument to horse powered heritage across Central Scotland.
Construction of The Kelpies began on the 17th June 2013
The Helix is a 350ha park built on land between Falkirk & Grangemouth. Built as a Living Landmark, The Helix connects 16 communities across the Falkirk Area.Each of The Kelpies stands up to 30 metres tall and each one weighs over 300 tonnes. They are constructed of structural steel with a stainless steel outer skin.
This stainless steel skin reflects the light of the day, and the night, and makes for an amazing sight in all weather - the selection of photos above gives you a taste of this transformational effect.
The two massive horses' heads are positioned either side of a specially constructed canal lock and basin - part of The Kelpies Hub.
It is possible to book a short tour to look inside the structures, but we just had a stroll around taking pictures enjoying the fine weather, before heading back to the car.
The statues were just as, or maybe even more, impressive than the Falkirk Wheel, though both attractions are unique in their own ways. Once back on the road again the motorway runs right past the park giving good views of the statues, even from the road.
We headed for Stirling to pick up essential supplies for our week's stay self-catering, ending up in a Waitrose, and picked up most groceries for the week.
Kinlochleven
We arrived at our accomodation in the small community of Kinlochleven around 16:30.
The village consists of a pub, chippy, Co-Op and "The Ice Factor", which is actually the largest indoor ice climbing wall in the world!
The drive to the village is along the twisty minor roads following either side of Loch Leven (follows around in a loop, around 8-9 miles each side) to Glencoe village.
The village did have an aluminium smelting works with a hydro power station driven by the nearby Blackwater dam. However, all that remains is a museum and the power station building.
There is however, quite a bit of activity around the village with many walkers either staying or passing through as part of the West Highland Way is here, as well as the Ice Factor facility for both aspiring and experienced climbers.
After unpacking and settling in a bit we took a short walk around finding the pub, chippy and Co-Op easily.
The house was pleasant enough, a rendered (as many are round here) semi with good views to the surrounding Mamores from the large conservatory. Even a decent telly with freeview, and free wireless internet provided for those wetter days.
Village church above, and bridge over the river running through the village to the Loch.
After a short walk we went back for eats, and planned the next day, though the weather was not fantastic (showers, cloud and more planned for Sunday)
Sunday 11th May
We woke Sunday to a rather dull bleak day, but after breakfast it appeared to look a little better so took a short walk to the local waterfall "Grey Mares Tail", only about a mile.
I had purchased a new (to me) secondhand camera to get back into photography a little more.
A fairly old(ish) Canon 5D Mk1, but a camera that was quite expensive when new (the latest Mk3 version is over £2k just for the body). With an L series 24-105mm lens that was bought nearly half price, and in new condition, unused with most of warranty intact (£800 lens, new).
I had the kit, just got to learn how to use it properly!
An investment in a decent, light, carbon fibre tripod, several filters, and a remote shutter release, I spent a while setting up the shots of the waterfall using a slow shutter speed, to blur the water movement. It worked OK I think for a first time effort.
Sue was very patient waiting for me to set up and get used to using the new equipment.
Nice setting though!
It was quite a nice short walk, though the day was dull, the woodland was green and plenty of blue bells growing all around.
After this short walk we decided to drive to Fort William and have a browse. Along the way caught a few shots of Loch Leven from several lay-bys along the shore. Mirror surface!
Still some snow on the tops of the surrounding mountains.
Fort William is about 40-45 mins drive - mainly down to the slow, twisty loch shore roads
After a look around the shops (though there aren`t that many), and a chip butty, it started to rain. Nevisport is quite a good outdoors shop in the town, and I bought a pair of North Face lightweight walking trousers (for the summer) with £20 off.
We drove a little further to Spean Bridge and the Commando Memorial nearby there, with views over to Ben Nevis (Even more snow up there!)
By now it was mid afternoon, so a slow drive back with the weather turning once again we retreated.
Monday was another damp, unsettled day, with much low mist hanging around even the lower mountains when we woke.
So another day of sight-seeing.
A drive towards and through Fort William, we headed for the Glenfinnan railway viaduct and monument visitors centre. We arrived at the car park to see the "Jacobite- Harry Potter " steam train powering across the viaduct on its way from Fort William to Mallaig. Just a bit too late though as it was across and away by the time a camera could be produced.
We headed across to the visitor centre and paid our £3.50 each to visit and go up the monument and have a look at the various displays in the centre.
Sue really enjoyed the narrow, spiral, stone staircase with tiny hatch up to the top of the monument (Not!)....... nice view though over Loch Shiel.
"This wonderful piece of late Victorian construction is a site to behold. Completed in 1901 the viaduct was the first structure in the world to use at that time the new building material Mass Concrete. Over 100 feet in height and made up of 21 arches this viaduct is a beautiful piece of engineering and is a glorious sight."
Having missed a picture of the train we thought we may catch sight of it if we drove to Mallaig for a look, we had nothing else pressing to do and the scenery was nice. View below is near Mallaig with the Isle of Skye in the background.
We did see the train at the station in Mallaig!
Mallaig is a fairly small, quaint sort of place, with tourists arriving by car, train and boat, but apart from cafes, a few shops and the ferries, not too much else to see.
We found car parking a little way up the harbour, and had lunch outside at a cafe, as the sun had decided to show itself briefly. I had a prawn sandwich, with possibly the best prawns I had ever tasted..... worth the drive for just that alone - really!!!
After a mooch around, buying a load of second-hand books, bargains at the local Fisherman's Mission, we headed back for a long leisurely drive to Kinlochleven. (about 90 mins drive).
