Glasgow, River Clyde, Monkland Canal, Airdre, Union Canal, Falkirk
Tunnel, Edinburgh, Scotland. (3 day
bike ride)
(3 day bike-pack)
Tue 27 Mar - Thu 29 Mar
2018
Last night’s rain stopped and I had a dry tent to pack away. With a
relatively short day ahead I took my time packing up and way away
shortly after 9am. The field was wet and I didn’t want to get my
feet wet so just managed to ride the short way across the grass back
to the Battlefield monument by the road. My original plan was to
continue riding along the road to join the Union Canal but my map
showed a path descending through the woods that should take me
there.
Leaving the Falkirk battlesite
I started to descend along the path and met some dog walkers on the
way. They confirmed it was possible to reach the canal and road. It
was steep and muddy in sections so I had to get off and apply the
brakes. Once down to the canal I was able to ride along the south
side to the road where I descended under the road then back up a
track to join the main Union Canal towpath heading east.
Entering the Falkirk Tunnel
As part of the Union Canal in Scotland the 630m long Falkirk Tunnel
was designed by Hugh Baird and was built between 1818 - 1822. It
pre-dates the railway tunnels and is the oldest tunnel in Scotland.
Coloured lights in the Falkirk Tunnel
Two Irishmen came over to Scotland to work on the canal and tunnel
and became well known for other activities. They were Burke and Hare
who committed a series of 16 murders over ten months in 1828 in
Edinburgh. They sold the corpses to Doctor Robert Knox for
dissection at his anatomy lectures. When the Falkirk wheel boat
lift was being completed in 2002 lighting was installed in the
tunnel. The lights were upgraded to LED coloured lights in 2016.
Falkirk Tunnel
It was overcast but fine and I had a tail wind making the riding
very easy. The path surface also continued excellent. I soon reached
the Falkirk Tunnel and looked forward to trying some more
photographs after my last attempt when I was here last month on the
3rd Feb (my birthday). As I approached the far end a cyclist
approached with his bike lamp on, even though the tunnel is
illuminated. Once outside there were some workmen working on a minor
rock fall on the bank. They were cutting it back to stabilise it.
Before long I came to a sign commenting on a face carved on the
bridge above. It was a sad face denoting the contractor who went
bust. On the other side of the bridge was a happy face for the other
contractor who made a profit.
Riches to rags
Rags to riches
Riches to rags
Rags to riches
An information board at the Tesco store by the canal tells of the
nearby Nobel Explosive works.
Nobel Explosives and detonator Works
A swing bridge connected the works. In 1930 it was accidentally
left open.
I continued to Linlithgow and stopped briefly by the old
dovecote. There was a small park where I sat down to eat some
biscuits. I continued my ride and the towpath surface continued
excellent. Near Winchburg the canal route turned south then SW
meaning I was riding into the strong wind for a while. In Broxburn I
left the canal to ride down the road to the Lidle supermarket. I
couldn’t find any 2lt bottles of still water so bought sparkling
instead.
Dovecote
Linlithgow
Linlithgow
As I would be cooking with it the fizz would soon vanish. I turned
right at the traffic lights and re-joined the canal. It was nice to
see people out enjoying walking along the canal. I had to use my
bell a lot and its surprising how many people don’t hear it. I was
directly in line with the Edinburgh Airport flight path and could
see many aircraft taking off ahead.
Union Canal
I only had a couple of miles to ride to my planned camp location
just before the Almond Aqueduct. As I arrived a cyclist was stopped
by the aqueduct and we chatted for a while. He’d cycled out from
Edinburgh and was about to head back. I wheeled my bike up into an
adjacent wood and found a flat spot on the top of a bank above the
towpath. Through the evening it was very noisy with aircraft as I
was still under the flightpath.
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Whittle Wanderer
