After walking a few kilometres down the ribbon development of Uphall and Broxburn this morning I reached the Union Canal. This waterway links the Forth & Clyde canal to Edinburgh, and is only large enough for traditional narrow boats. Today I was following it to the town of Falkirk. At the point where I joined there were again signs for the Shale Trail, and soon I was passing "bings". These artificial hills are the red, slag heaps left by the oil shale industry, consisting of the shale after the oil has been distilled out of it. Very slowly vegetation is starting to take hold on their slopes, a process that has taken at least 60 years, the time since oil shale was last exploited. Many of the bings have been quarried for road stone, but a few are being preserved as a monument to an old industry.
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| The red hill on the right is a "bing", a hill of waste from the oil shale industry, the Union canal is in the centre and the tarmac towpath I am walking along is on the left. |
On the canal side of the towpath the first cream flowers of meadowsweet were beginning to bloom among the rushes. In a few weeks pink willow herb will be joining them. On the other side of the towpath on the banks of the cuttings there were ox eye daisies in places, and wild strawberries. I tasted a few from higher up the bank above a dog's reach. Sweet and intense, not like cultivated varieties. Birds twittered, invisible in the trees of ash, sycamore, elm and hawthorn that lined the banks. Behind the birdsong there was a continuous background rumble of traffic, unlike during my previous weeks of walking in quieter, more remote areas. A train on a nearby line periodically added its rushing melody, the carriages almost empty, maybe passengers frightened off by Government Coronavirus warnings. While my attention was elsewhere I was startled by a loud hissing from the rushes. I had disturbed two swans and their two grey cygnets. A moorhen swam by, its head and tail bobbing back and fore as it paddled. A mallard marshalled her ducklings, the purple flash on her wing reminding me of a sergeant's stripes. There were few barges motoring along, others were moored, but it was not a busy canal. A strange vehicle scooped up weed floating on the water.
At Linlithgow I left the canal for a panini and pot of tea. Linlithgow Palace, a 15th century castle overlooking a large lake (or loch as they say in Scotland) was closed, as the sign implied there was some danger it would fall down, but I had a look from the outside. Returning to my canal walk I crossed the Avon Aqueduct. It seems wrong that one waterway should cross another so I am always impressed by these structures, especially as this viaduct was one of the larger aqueducts. My final treat on the walk was a canal tunnel. There were lights inside which reflected off the water giving an almost christmassy feel. Much of the tunnel was not lined and water was seeping through the rocks above producing small stalagmites. Near the exit there was a positive stream of water, fortunately dropping into the canal and not onto me on the towpath which ran along one side of the tunnel.
Leaving the canal soon after it was a short walk to my bed & breakfast (where I gathered I was by no means their first guest to be walking to John o'Groats). Later I continued into Falkirk town centre for some food. Being Friday night, places were busy, and as I was returning to my accommodation after eating, parties of girls, dressed for a night out were going the other way while I was looking forward to relaxing in bed after a long day's walk.
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