MECHANICS

The mechanics of the site are fairly clunky, reflecting my somewhat clunky techy abilities. Apologies. In particular the small black bars in the top right hand corner of each page have a bad habit of hiding. They are there, honest….

Historically Falkirk has connected Edinburgh in the east and Glasgow in the west and Stirling, the gateway to the Highlands and the North East coastal fringe to the North. With the mass of the Braes and Southern Uplands to the south, the Forth to the east and the Highlands to the north it has seen and been part of significant historic events throughout the ages. A starting point at the very least. But let’s not be modest: in July 2019, Falkirk was awarded the prize for Britain’s Best Walking Neighbourhood. I would argue that Falkirk is an overlooked jewel in the centre of Scotland. Lacking the strut of Edinburgh with its castle, festival and tattoo and the sheer brash vibrancy of Glasgow, Falkirk is an understated testament to both ordinary lives and extraordinary events. It is a place and a way: it rests at the edge of the Forth on the Antonine Wall, the Roman frontier between North and South, between Empire and Barbarians.

Click the yellow bars in the header on each page to access the drop down index of pages: you will probably need to look hard for the yellow bars: apologies - beyond the reach of my techy skills. If you search you will find (if you look hard - sorry) the bars in the main header at the top of the page including on this page.

Throughout the site, purple buttons are used for navigation to additional information

At this point the website trail splits between FALKIRK WALKS AND TALKS, which is mostly about walking,

and the 40 MEN - WW1 BOTHKENNAR LINK which is about the 40 men of Bothkennar on the memorial in Bothkennar church

Please click the FALKIRK WALKS AND TALKS or 40 MEN - WW1 BOTHKENNAR buttons below to select a strand according to wish, whim or need. Cheers, Russ

The Boot Photo Logo in the top left hand corner on each page header will returns you to the HOME PAGE.

(It has a story behind it. Not a great story, but it is a good memory of a fine place. In Spain…..)

The lost WW1 Bothkennar sections are currently being re-written and will be/are accessible by clicking the Bothkennar button below. You may wish to experience the thrill of following the roll out… or not.

Click Below for things relating to 40 Men of Bothkennar which is the current focus or the walking stuff which is (13 Aug 2021) on a back burner

The Antonine Wall was at one time the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. It created both a barrier and also a road behind it running between east and west coasts, between the Clyde and the Forth. That road, and the road that extended north along the Gask Ridge to the barrier of the Highland line represented the northernmost extension of the Roman Empire.

The canals, the Forth and Clyde and, later, the Union Canal were at the centre of the industrial revolution, the revolution that changed the life of people in Scotland for ever. Through the agency of canals industry thrived and grew, driven by coal and iron: the canals created a highway that providing viable routes between the two great competing cities of Scotland. Later the railways when they came pushed the industrial revolution further. Through the Forth and Clyde Valley, over the flat lands and the kerse lands, up the braes above Falkirk, Falkirk was at the forefront of innovation and created an identity based on hard physical labour and iron craft.

More recently the motorway system that loops around Falkirk has become the a mirror of and replacement for the railway system set up by the Victorians. Falkirk is now a place passed around, drawing in visitors mostly passing through on the road to somewhere else, attracting coaches calling in to eat and souvenir at the Kelpies or at the Wheel.

And, now of course, there is The John Muir Way, the latest line drawn across Scotland, often following the older ways. Especially in, through and around Falkirk. Falkirk’s history is a history of Scotland.