The opening of the Falkirk wheel, 24th May 2002
At last! The final piece in the jigsaw, but what a piece. The dream of all canal enthusiasts in Scotland was about to be realised and we would be joined up again. After many years of separation, the Union canal would again be joined to the Forth and Clyde but not by a flight of 11 locks as in days of yore, but by a magnificent new invention - a wheel which would raise and lower boats. The building of the Wheel had been watched with great interest but now was our chance to actually travel on it by boat and be present at the official opening by HM Queen Elizabeth.
Clutching our invitations and having packed the boat with everything we would need for the trip, we set off on Tuesday, 21st.
First task was to get a vehicle positioned at each end of the journey as Iain had to go to work on the Saturday. We therefore left home in convoy, drove to Falkirk, negotiated a safe parking space for the Landy and drove to Ratho, where Gamebird is moored, only stopping to collect Pam and Gordon (from Dumbarton) at Falkirk station. The convoy of boats from Ratho had set off some 30 minutes earlier but we soon caught them up as Gamebird is shallow drafted and is a smart little mover. When we came up behind the flotilla they were in the process of attaching a couple of small boats (Caruso and Roseann) to the biggest boats- The Bridge Inn's Pride of Belhaven and the Seagull Trust's St John Crusader. By dint of ferrying tow lines around we somehow found ourselves at the front of the queue when this manoeuvre was completed and we set off for Linlithgow. It was a magical day for boating, dry, sunny but not too hot and not windy. My favourite memory of this journey was walking the dogs along a beautiful bit of the towpath, Gordon steering while Iain (at the stern) and Pam (in the bows) had a conversation about GPS systems. This gives you an idea how quiet Sea Otters engines are. We reached that nights destination at Linlithgow basin, and set to to get Gamebird fit to be taken to meet the Queen. She had a good wash and chamois followed by a bit of polish. Thanks Gordon for all your help, sorry about the wet feet! The rest of the flotilla soon arrived and a convivial evening was spent chatting etc. Did I mention that the Belhaven has a bar on board?
Next morning, after some photographs were taken of Roseann being handed over by the Linlithgow Union Canal Society to the Bridge 19 - 40 Canal Society ( a small group which I have the pleasure of chairing and we are always looking for new members....) the flotilla set off for Falkirk. This time our crew was John (from Edinburgh) and Malcolm (from Perth). This was quite a slow trip (but who was hurrying?) as there were several photo stops - it was the first time many of the boats had been on this bit of canal. We reached the top of the staircase and now, Gamebird was going to travel on new waters. Some of the paddle gear on the staircase is most odd and unlike anything we have seen before. There are horizontal wheels (about 15 inches in diameter) which take 60 turns to open or close a paddle. Lets hope they never have to be dropped in a hurry. The two locks are both very deep and are middle sized i.e. they are just too narrow to take two narrow boats side by side, but they are reputed to be 70 feet long. They are BW operated but as there was only one person operating both locks and there were lots of boats to get through, some boaters were lending a hand. Few boats up here carry windlasses as these are the first locks on the Union canal. Having negotiated the locks we were directed to moor on the aqueduct about 100 yards from the wheel itself. It was very exposed up there and it got all the wind which was blowing, but never mind, we had at last been able to boat to the wheel.
The next day, Thursday, our boating consisted of taking vouchers for the beef burger van across to the boats moored on the other side of the basin. There was a lot of activity, however, as all the boats had their undersides inspected (and props cleared) by the Police divers and their insides checked by the sniffer dogs and Police. We had to lock away all our dog food in case the sniffer dogs were distracted! This was press day and we received a phone call from Eugene Baston, BW PR guy, along the lines of "do you want a ride on the Wheel?" and after giving the correct response, we were told to meet him at the end of the aqueduct. First of all he took us to the other side of the aqueduct via the bowels of the wheel. Iain wished he had taken some time to grab his camera. Eugene then said, "Just stand out there and as the wheel rotates point out landmarks etc so that the press photographers can get some perspective photos". Gulp. "out there" was the edge of the caisson, OK it was inside the bars but it was awfully high. I just didn't have the heart to admit that I am terrified of heights. Even crossing the Forth Road Bridge terrifies me. I just hung on for grim death and pointed like mad as the wheel rotated. It was a very odd sensation as it is absolutely silent and when you look back at the hoops over the aqueduct, you think that they are moving and not you. Oh, the relief when we got to the bottom. However, the relief was short lived as we soon realised that there was no way we could get off where we were standing unless a boat rescued us. We were there for thirty minutes and I was sorely tempted to summon one of the Police launches which were buzzing round the basin. Knowing that we had to go back up the way we had come down, and having 30 long minutes to think about it, I was not at my best on the ascent. But, because Eugene had asked so nicely, I pointed and waved like a true trooper. When we got to the top, we declined his offer to go down again. The journey back up seemed to be a little jerky but that was probably my tummy catching up with the rest of me.
The Official Opening day dawned to high winds, heavy showers of rain (and hailstones) and some sunshine. We all moved our boats over to the other side of the aqueduct to get a better view of proceedings and we all opted to view from up there rather than take our places in the seats below. There was much hooting of horns as the Queen pressed the button to start the rotation which took the first two boats down. We were in the third lot down and it was really difficultly getting the boat held in the caisson. A combination of strong winds and inconveniently placed bollards made it a bit tricky. The journey down in a boat is not quite so scary especially if you are inside the boat :-) However, what is scary is driving into the caisson if you are the first boat in as all that is between you and the landscape is the end of the trough, and it is only about a foot above water level. If your boat doesn't stop for any reason you may descend quicker than you intended . The views are fantastic. We emerged into the bottom basin and moored for the night. There was an excellent BBQ and fireworks display in the evening where it was good to meet friends old and new. We renewed acquaintance with boaters we had met a year before at the opening of the Forth and Clyde Canal, including the crews of The Wee Spark and White Wing.
Next day started very wet! It was raining heavily when Iain left for work at 4.45am and it was still raining when I surfaced a few hours later. On with the wet weather gear. I had asked if I could take Gamebird down into the Forth and Clyde canal so that I had really cruised the whole of the Union canal, and this I did when Puffin came up to have it's ride on the wheel. However, there was a problem with the Wheel that morning, something to do with water levels in the two basins, I believe and the first boats did not go up till about 11am. Being a small boat, we were asked to fit in with the second lot up and I was glad to let my Saturday crew have all the outside space on Gamebird while I stayed inside! My crew was Pam and Vicki (Dumbarton), John (Edinburgh), Malcolm (Perth) Geoff and Lynne (Glasgow). Iain joined us at Falkirk station where we stopped for lunch. It is great having crew as they do all the food preparation and serving and even clear up afterwards. Most of the food was even provided by the crew. We met all of these boating friends, who are always willing to rally and share our adventures on Gamebird, through the canal newsgroup at uk.rec.waterways. Our destination for the night was again Linlithgow where a BBQ was provided by LUCS and a good time was had by all. There were 28 boats in the basin that evening as several steam boats, who were taking part in events at the wheel the next day joined us. By far the most boats which have ever been there at one time!
On Sunday, Iain and I cruised back to Ratho where we tucked Gamebird up on her moorings before returning home. We were both absolutely exhausted but I am sure this had nothing to do with the succession of late nights and was all to do with being part of such a historic occasion.