The Falkirk Wheel (A week in the Trossachs Part 2)

I fulfilled a long-time ambition and took a 'turn' on the Falkirk Wheel. I first heard about the wheel when it was featured as a TV news item when it was opened, and thought it would be great to go on it (without having much idea about how or when). When I arrived in the Trossachs I realised that it was only an hour's drive from where I was staying, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The picture below explains how the wheel works. Just click on it to enlarge.....

It's absolutely enormous! You can just see a boat coming into the top gondola.
And then the wheel turned, and it headed down to the bottom. Of course I had to have a ride. I joined the Archimedes, which was one of two boats taking tourists that day, and rode the wheel up to the top. Then you go across and through the Roughcastle Tunnel to a pool where there are two locks to take you up even further. Since we were on a tour boat, we turned here and came back. Here's the view from The Archimedes as we came back toward the wheel through the Roughcastle Tunnel.
After getting off the Archimedes, I climbed up to the top and actually watched as it came up again, did its little turn, and then went back down the wheel again. Here it is, all ready to start turning.

One third of the way down...
Two thirds of the way down....
And here's it's sister boat, the Antonine, come to the top.
And it all happened using the same amount of energy that it takes to boil 8 kettles!

Three Locks

On Sunday we went to the Three Locks Pub in Stoke Hammond. The food was very run of the mill, but it was the location we were there for. It's a series of three locks which take the canal traffic up or down hill, depending on the direction they're going. The water level inside the locks is raised or lowered to the same level as the section of canal being exited, the gates are opened, the boat moves into the lock, and the gates are closed again. Then the water level is then raised or lowered to the same level as the section of canal being entered, gates are opened, boat moves out of lock etc. etc. etc.

This picture was taken from the middle of the gate of the first lock, looking downhill to the other two locks.

This is the second lock.
Looking at the third and lowest lock, from within the area of the second lock.
This last picture was taken from the open area outside the pub which is alongside the third lock. You can see wild flowers growing at the top of the gate, and some canal boats pulled up at the bank, with people sitting and eating lunch on the towpath.

This is a gorgeous area, and life on and around the canal is slow and relatively calm. I wouldn't like to fall in the water, though. It looks a bit murky.

Canal Crossroads in Birmingham

This island in the centre of Birmingham, with its signpost, is the junction where Bridleys Canal, Telfords Main Line Canal and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal all meet. These Canada geese took advantage of the peace and quiet to have a bit of a rest.

Here's a 360 degree look at the different canals that fork off this junction. You can just see the island with the sign post in the middle of the last picture.