The Falkirk Wheel
The Falkirk Wheel
The Falkirk Wheel - Up Close
The Falkirk Wheel - Visitor Centre
The Falkirk Wheel - The Wheel Turns
The Falkirk Wheel - Canal Boat
The Falkirk Wheel & Visitor Centre
Since its opening by the Queen in 2002, the Falkirk Wheel has been a popular destination for our Lochs and Glens guests and it will feature again in many of the 2007 tours staying at the Inversnaid Hotel.
The construction of this modern Scottish icon was the final link in the restoration of the Edinburgh to Glasgow canal system which had been unusable for over 80 years. The Forth and Clyde Canal, which provided sea to sea navigation across Central Scotland, had been completed in 1790 and in 1818 the construction of the Union Canal into the city of Edinburgh began. The two waterways would meet at Falkirk enabling much-needed coal to be transported into the heart of the Capital thus breaking the monopoly of the greedy Midlothian mine owners.
Thomas Telford was involved in the construction of the Union Canal which was far from straightforward. The proposed route passed through the grounds of Callender House in Falkirk where the owner demanded that a tunnel be cut so that the canal could not be seen from his property. It had to be bored through solid rock at immense cost which led to the bankruptcy of one of the main contractors on the project. Despite this and other setbacks, the Union Canal opened in 1822, but sadly its success was short-lived. Just 20 years later the first railway connecting Glasgow and Edinburgh opened, which led to a rapid decline in the canal's viability and eventually it closed.
However, the story does not end there. By the 1990's there was a renewed interest in the use of the Country's waterways, but the demand was now for leisure use, not transport and the concept of a sea-to-sea connection across Scotland which had so inspired engineers 200 years earlier was, once again, a possibility.
In 1997 The National Lottery provided a substantial grant to the Millennium Commission who approved the complete restoration of the canal at a cost of £84.5m. One of the greatest challenges in the project was how to replace the ladder of eleven locks - filled in and built over in the 1930's - which had bridged an elevation of 115ft at the point where the two canals meet. The winning design was the Falkirk Wheel, the world's first rotating boat lift. Two balanced gondolas, each containing 300 tonnes of water are turned when required, one ascending and one descending, the complete lift taking just 15 minutes with up to eight boats being transported at a time.
Boat trips begin in the basin outside the Visitor Centre, by boarding one of the specially designed craft which then sails into the bottom gondola.
Once lifted, the boat continues into the Union Canal, along the aqueduct and through the 180 metre Roughcastle Tunnel cut under the historic Antonine Wall. The boat will then return for an effortless descent back to the Visitor Centre, all in all an unforgettable experience.
The construction of this modern Scottish icon was the final link in the restoration of the Edinburgh to Glasgow canal system which had been unusable for over 80 years. The Forth and Clyde Canal, which provided sea to sea navigation across Central Scotland, had been completed in 1790 and in 1818 the construction of the Union Canal into the city of Edinburgh began. The two waterways would meet at Falkirk enabling much-needed coal to be transported into the heart of the Capital thus breaking the monopoly of the greedy Midlothian mine owners.
Thomas Telford was involved in the construction of the Union Canal which was far from straightforward. The proposed route passed through the grounds of Callender House in Falkirk where the owner demanded that a tunnel be cut so that the canal could not be seen from his property. It had to be bored through solid rock at immense cost which led to the bankruptcy of one of the main contractors on the project. Despite this and other setbacks, the Union Canal opened in 1822, but sadly its success was short-lived. Just 20 years later the first railway connecting Glasgow and Edinburgh opened, which led to a rapid decline in the canal's viability and eventually it closed.
However, the story does not end there. By the 1990's there was a renewed interest in the use of the Country's waterways, but the demand was now for leisure use, not transport and the concept of a sea-to-sea connection across Scotland which had so inspired engineers 200 years earlier was, once again, a possibility.
In 1997 The National Lottery provided a substantial grant to the Millennium Commission who approved the complete restoration of the canal at a cost of £84.5m. One of the greatest challenges in the project was how to replace the ladder of eleven locks - filled in and built over in the 1930's - which had bridged an elevation of 115ft at the point where the two canals meet. The winning design was the Falkirk Wheel, the world's first rotating boat lift. Two balanced gondolas, each containing 300 tonnes of water are turned when required, one ascending and one descending, the complete lift taking just 15 minutes with up to eight boats being transported at a time.
Boat trips begin in the basin outside the Visitor Centre, by boarding one of the specially designed craft which then sails into the bottom gondola.
Once lifted, the boat continues into the Union Canal, along the aqueduct and through the 180 metre Roughcastle Tunnel cut under the historic Antonine Wall. The boat will then return for an effortless descent back to the Visitor Centre, all in all an unforgettable experience.