Introduction

Today, my wife and I joined a small group hike using Falkirk (pop 160,000) in central Scotland as a base.

The location was roughly equidistant between Glasgow and Edinburgh in central Scotland.

The route covered about eight miles along trails through woodlands and farming country. We encountered a wide range of sites including the Union Canal, a battle site, oil refinery and landscapes.

More information

Ultimately Falkirk dates back to a fort on the Roman era Antonine Wall in the 2nd century AD.

Falkirk came to prominence during the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Due to locally sourced coal and iron ore heavy industry prospered, particularly iron-smelting.In 1822 the Union Canal was opened to transport materials between Falkirk and Edinburgh. The canal still exists but is now used for pleasure and leisure activities.

Images

The portfolio below has been categorised under appropriate sub-headings.

Canal

Fungi

Scotland is well endowed with fungi owing to its mild, wet climate. These come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.

Burns (streams)

Industrial History

Landscapes

Oil refinery

Trees

Battle site

In Scotland, a visitor is usually within range of a former battle site. In fact, Falkirk was host to two major battles. The first battle occurred in 1298 between Scots and English and the other on Jan 17th 1746. The latter was in context of the Jacobite uprising at which the insurgents scored a tactical victory.

Summary

Overall, an excellent hike with participants exposed to an incredibly wide range of subjects in course of a few hours. Weather was dull and cloudy with intermittent rain but remained mild with no wind.

More information for visitors

For more information on historic battles, industrial history and sightseeing please refer Visitors guide to Scotland, ISBN 978-1-9161332-0-4.