My parents arrived over to spend a week with us here in Edinburgh, it’s there first time to Scotland so we were determined to show them a good time. We did have our fingers crossed for good weather but alas it never came, it was kind of misty most days but at least it didn’t rain.

So we had to plan things so that they could see as much as possible. We took them up Calton Hill, Edinburgh Castle, Crammond Island, we also drove over to Dunfirmline which takes us across the Forth Road Bridge and we went to Linlithgow Palace (these are all places that I have written about before).

We went to Falkirk to see the “Falkirk Wheel”. My Dad had spotted it in a book Al has about Scotland and wanted to explore it. Here are the facts :)

The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift connecting the Forth & Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. The difference in the levels of the two canals at the wheel is 24 metres, roughly equivalent to the height of an eight storey building. The wheel, which has an overall diameter of 35 metres, consists of two opposing arms which extend 15 metres beyond the central axle, and which take the shape of a Celtic-inspired, double-headed axe. Two diametrically opposed water-filled cassions, are fitted between the ends of the arms.

So when the boat enters, the amount of water leaving the caisson weighs exactly the same as the boat. This keeps the wheel balanced and so, despite its enormous mass, it rotates through 180° in five and a half minutes while using very little power. It takes just 22.5 (kW) to power the electric motors, which consume just 1.5 (kWh) of energy in four minutes, roughly the same as boiling eight kettles of water.

The wheel is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world, and is regarded as an engineering landmark for Scotland. Fascinating stuff eh !

We also did a ghost tour which turned out to be quite interesting, Al of course was terrifying my poor Mam who was falling for his antics every single time but at least she entertained the rest of the group and us. Overall they had a great time and it was great to have them over it was a fun filled week.