County in Scotland
Falkirk
Falkirk lifts boats in a giant rotating wheel, guards two 30-metre steel horse heads and was once home to cannon that fought at Trafalgar.
Key information
- County
- Falkirk
- Nation
- Scotland
- Population
- about 160,000 (2022 Census)
- Known for
- The Falkirk Wheel, The Kelpies, the Antonine Wall, the Carron ironworks and two battles
- What locals are called
- Bairns
- Famous people
- William Wallace, Edward I, Bonnie Prince Charlie, Andy Scott
- Football clubs
- Falkirk, Stenhousemuir, East Stirlingshire
About Falkirk
The only boat lift in the world that turns
The canals of Glasgow and Edinburgh were originally connected by a flight of 11 locks, but these fell out of use in the 1930s. The Falkirk Wheel restored the connection in 2002. It is the world's only rotating boat lift, and it swings boats up 24 metres in a few minutes. Two arms turn like a slow Ferris wheel, each holding a water-filled gondola. The balance is so fine that turning it takes about as much energy as boiling a handful of kettles. The Queen opened it on 24 May 2002. The boats don't stop at the top. From the Wheel's upper aqueduct, they pass through the modern Rough Castle Tunnel and then two locks to reach the Union Canal. The separate, 631-metre Falkirk Tunnel lies farther east along the canal and dates from 1822.
Two giant horses called Duke and Baron
The Kelpies stand beside the Forth and Clyde Canal in Helix Park. They are two horse heads, each 30 metres high and made of steel. Sculptor Andy Scott modelled them on real Clydesdales, Duke and Baron. They open the gates of the Forth and Clyde Canal's eastern end, and they were unveiled in 2013. The name comes from the shape-shifting water spirits of Scottish folklore, which usually took the form of horses. The heads also nod to the working horses that once hauled barges, coal and ploughs across central Scotland. Walk up to one and you can look into its hollow, lit interior.
Why you don't meddle with the bairns
Locals are called Bairns, Scots for children, and the nickname comes from the town's old motto: "Better meddle wi' the deil than the bairns o' Falkirk." Falkirk Football Club took it on and are known as the Bairns. The club have won the Scottish Cup twice, in 1913 and 1957. The 1957 win came after a replay against Kilmarnock. Falkirk now play at the Falkirk Stadium, having left their old Brockville ground. Stenhousemuir and East Stirlingshire keep the town's lower-league tradition alive.
Two battles and a Roman frontier
Falkirk has been a battlefield twice. In 1298 Edward I defeated William Wallace's army here, with English longbowmen breaking the Scots' tightly packed spear formations. In 1746 Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobites won the Battle of Falkirk Muir, one of their last victories. Much earlier, around AD 142, the Romans built the Antonine Wall across Scotland's narrow waist. It was a turf rampart that ran about 60 kilometres from the Forth to the Clyde. Some of its best-preserved stretches are at Rough Castle near Falkirk, where you can still see the ditch and a fort platform. It joined UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2008.
The cannon that went to sea
In 1759 the Carron Company opened an ironworks on the River Carron. Its most famous product was the carronade, a short, light naval gun that could be handled by smaller crews. Carronades were fitted to Royal Navy ships, including HMS Victory, which carried them at Trafalgar. The works also made everyday items, such as stoves, pots and the red pillar boxes that still stand in many places. Carron's iron made the area an industrial centre, and the canals and railways grew up to move its goods. Before the iron, Falkirk's wealth was in cattle. From 1785 the Falkirk Tryst was held on the moor at Stenhousemuir, and drovers brought tens of thousands of Highland cattle and sheep to be sold each autumn. It was the biggest cattle market in Scotland.
Bo'ness and the old railway
Down on the Forth, Bo'ness has a steam railway and the Hippodrome, which opened in 1912 and is Scotland's oldest purpose-built cinema. It still shows films and runs its own silent film festival. The Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway runs heritage steam trains, and the town's annual Fair is a major local festival. Falkirk also has Callendar House, a grand mansion in a park where Mary, Queen of Scots once stayed, and the 1814 steeple that dominates the High Street.
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