Saturday, September 20


Our quest for the day was to find the remnants of the Antonine Wall and a Roman Fort.  We started at the Falkirk Wheel (more on this below) where there was supposed to be a path to the Wall.  Not so.  At least we didn't find it and turned our attention to the Falkirk Wheel.  Afterwards, by chance as we were driving away, we found a road sign that led us to a single-lane track that led us to a footpath that led us to the ruins of the wall and the fort.


The Antonine Wall was the Roman Empire's northernmost frontier in Europe, built in the mid-2nd century across what is now central Scotland. Unlike the stone-built Hadrian's Wall to the south, the Antonine Wall was primarily made of turf and timber on a stone foundation. A deep ditch was built in front of the wall.  There were 16 forts built along the wall and we looked at the ruins of one of them.


The Falkirk Wheel is the world's only rotating boat lift.  Built in 2002, it connects the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal - and replaced 11 locks.  A transit that took an entire day for a boat to get through is now completed in minutes.  The Wheel has two large, water-filled gondolas built into its structure. The Falkirk Wheel operates on Archimedes' principle of displacement, requiring very little energy to function. According to Archimedes' principle, a floating object displaces its own weight in water.  Because of this, the weight of the water-filled gondolas remains the same whether a boat is inside or not, as long as the water level is consistent. (We had to think about this a bit...).

Our day actually started with a walk from the small hotel in an old Victorian house where we are staying to visit Stirling Castle.  Part of the path we took to the Castle was along the Back Walk.  The Back Walk was built between 1724 and 1791.  It is considered Scotland's oldest public walkway and follows the defensive walls built around Stirling's Old Town.  To get to the Castle we crossed a cemetery where the oldest grave stones faced the rising sun and featured hour glasses and skulls. Once at the Castle we joined a group for the first part of a tour to learn more about the Castle history.  Then we went off on our own to look at the various rooms open to visitors.

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