Falkirk Wheel

Charlene had read about the Falkirk Wheel and it was worth the stop.  Apparently there used to be quite an extensive canal system in Scotland that was used to transport coal, but as energy needs and transportation changed, the canals were paved over or shut down.  In the past 20 years a real effort has gone into restoring them and the Falkirk Wheel is a part of that work.  It brings to canals together we a pretty significant difference in elevation.  The top part is actually a canal that ends at the wheel.  The boats sail into the “basket” on the wheel on top and then it rotates 180 degrees and brings them down to the canal at the lower level.  It takes about 5 mins.   It can also work in reverse, lifting boats to the upper level so they can sail on.  Apparently the engining of it is quite impressive (Charlene read us stats, but I don’t remember much of the details).  The renovation of the canals has led to quite a bit of new retail business along them and they extend for miles.

 This is a private rental boat (house boat).  The man steering kept running in to the walls of the lock.  He clearly had not mastered the tiller for steering yet.  You can see how much further the water level drops from this level to the next in the three photos below.