Gallery
The Kelpies & the Falkirk Canals
Scottish Canals have published these to their own channels and their ezine. The pair lit red for Chinese New Year is the set they came back for.
The photographs
The Kelpies at Helix Park, and the Falkirk Wheel.
Click any photograph to see it full size. Every one can be printed and framed.
The Kelpies lit red for Chinese New Year
The Kelpies lit red for Chinese New Year, photographed from the air as the light went. The steel skin is made up of hundreds of separate plates, so when the lighting changes colour the whole sculpture changes character. This is the set Scottish Canals came back for.
Mr Kelpie
Mr Kelpie: one of the two heads, lit gold against a sunset sky. The Kelpies are by the sculptor Andy Scott and stand 30 metres tall. They were modelled on two Clydesdales, Duke and Baron, as a tribute to the working horses that once towed boats along Scotland's canals.
The Kelpies, Helix Park
The Kelpies by day, doubled in the canal at Helix Park between Falkirk and Grangemouth. They opened to the public in 2014 on a new stretch of canal linking the Forth and Clyde Canal to the River Carron, and are now one of the most photographed sights in Scotland.
The Falkirk Wheel
The Falkirk Wheel, the world's only rotating boat lift, opened in 2002 to join the Forth and Clyde Canal to the Union Canal for the first time since the 1930s. It lifts boats 24 metres in a single slow turn, using remarkably little power.
New photographs are being added to this gallery. Have a look at the others in the meantime.
About the place
Horse power, water and steel.
Falkirk sits where Scotland's two great canals meet, and it has two of the country's best-known modern landmarks to show for it: the Kelpies at Helix Park and the Falkirk Wheel.
The Kelpies
The Kelpies are two 30 metre horse heads in stainless steel by the sculptor Andy Scott, at Helix Park between Falkirk and Grangemouth. They were finished in 2013 and opened to the public in 2014, beside a new stretch of canal joining the Forth and Clyde Canal to the River Carron.
In Scottish folklore a kelpie is a shape-shifting water spirit that haunts rivers and lochs. The sculptures were modelled on two real Clydesdales, Duke and Baron, as a monument to the horses that towed boats along the canals and pulled the ploughs, carts and barges of Scotland's industry.
Photographing the Kelpies
The Kelpies change completely through the day. In daylight the steel is silver and cool; at dusk the floodlights come on and the heads glow from inside. The lighting colours change for events, which is how the red Chinese New Year photographs here came about. Scottish Canals have published these photographs on their own channels and in their ezine.
The Falkirk Wheel
The Falkirk Wheel is the only rotating boat lift in the world. It opened in 2002 to reconnect the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal, which had been cut off from each other since the flight of locks at Falkirk was filled in during the 1930s. It lifts boats 24 metres in one slow turn, and a boat trip through it is one of the best days out in central Scotland.
The Forth and Clyde and the Union canals
The Forth and Clyde Canal opened in 1790 and runs 35 miles coast to coast across the waist of Scotland. The Union Canal followed in 1822, carrying boats on to Edinburgh. Both towpaths are now walking and cycling routes, and the Antonine Wall, the Roman frontier, runs right past the Wheel.
Prints of the Kelpies
The Kelpies, Helix Park and Mr Kelpie are both in the catalogue as framed and mounted prints, and so is the Falkirk Wheel. See The Kelpies, Helix Park and Mr Kelpie, or ask about any other photograph here.
Drone photography in Falkirk
Falkirk is twenty minutes from Bannockburn, and the same drone work is available for businesses, venues and property across Falkirk, Grangemouth and Larbert. See drone photography services.
Questions people ask
How tall are the Kelpies?
Each head is 30 metres tall and weighs over 300 tonnes. They are the largest equine sculptures in the world.
Where are the Kelpies?
At Helix Park between Falkirk and Grangemouth, beside the M9 and the Forth and Clyde Canal, with a visitor centre and parking at the park.
Are the Kelpies lit up at night?
Yes. They are floodlit after dark and the colours change for events and causes, which is how the red photographs on this page came about.
Can I buy a print of the Kelpies?
Yes. The Kelpies, Helix Park and Mr Kelpie are framed prints in the catalogue, and any photograph here can be printed to order.
More galleries: Stirling & the Monuments · Glencoe & Rannoch Moor · Panoramic Scotland · Scotland
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