The Kelpies
Last time I blogged about the Falkirk Wheel and if you are visiting this area, then you are a short journey away from The Kelpies which are located in parkland known as The Helix. Situated between the towns of Falkirk and Grangemouth, these are a pair of huge steel horse-heads, standing proud just off the M9 motorway, and are part of the eastern gateway of the Forth and Clyde Canal, meeting the River Carron.
Completed in October 2013 and opened in April 2014, they were designed by sculptor Andy Scott. I recall there is a documentary worth watching on the process of realising what is a remarkable sight. No matter the time of day or the weather, they are simply magnificent. If you can be there after dark, they are lit up, with various rotating colours. Each head is 30 metres high, which is 98 feet and each one weighs in at 300 tonnes.
A Kelpie is a mythological beast from Scottish and Irish folklore, which inhabits lochs. It is a shape-shifting spirit usually depicted as a grey or white horse with the strength of ten, that can transform itself into human form. The Kelpies sculpture is based on Clydesdale horses and the link between them and the working horses that used to pull the barges and coal ships along the canals back in the time of Scotland’s industrial past is clearly visible.
There are two sets of 1:10 scale models or maquettes which brings them in at three metres high. These have been displayed at events locally and internationally, including Bryant Park in New York. The University of Edinburgh has also displayed them, and I’ve been lucky enough to catch them at the University when they were on display.
The Fiction Factory 