News

100 children celebrate new canal attraction in Falkirk

5th Oct 2010

Work on the £320,000 project which has been developed by British Waterways Scotland and The Waterways Trust Scotland with main funding contribution from Avondale Environmental through the Landfill Communities Fund and additional support from The Veolia Environmental Trust (also through the Landfill Communities Fund), will start in October. It is anticipated that the official opening will take place in April 2011.

The 30 metre long mini canal, which will be situated adjacent to the basin at The Falkirk Wheel, will take a playful and educational look at how communities around the world source and move water.

Pertinently, this focus on educating the young about the importance and potential of water comes at a time when Scotland is leading the world in water renewables and new experts will be increasingly in demand to sustain this momentum over coming years.

Linking into the Curriculum for Excellence, the new mini canal will be evocative of the Union and Forth & Clyde Canals and include a micro version of The Falkirk Wheel which links the two canals which, together, extending from east to west coasts, Edinburgh to Glasgow.

As well as the mini Falkirk Wheel, an Archimedes Screw will demonstrate the principles of hydraulics, fluid statics or water movement and displacement which were discovered by the third century Greek physicist, mathematician, engineer and inventor.

Visitors can launch a boat

Visitors will be able to launch a boat on the mini Falkirk Wheel, which, by using water displacement, only requires the electricity equivalent to heat eight kettles to make the half rotation necessary to transfer boats from one canal to another.

With glass fronted canal locks, the new mini waterway will show visitors how mechanical pumps and valves work in moving water around and show how Newton’s Law of Gravity applies.

The new hands on equipment will also include a pedal bike which sucks up water for irrigation. This was designed by mechanical engineering students at the University of Strathclyde as part of a project to create water collection technology to aid communities in Malawi.

An outdoor classroom space will sit adjacent to the mini canal. This natural learning area will complement the network of pathways which extend around The Falkirk Wheel and up to the Antonine Wall, which itself is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.

The new mini canal and outdoor classroom was designed by Mike Hyatt Landscape Architects.

Alasdair Smart, Manager at The Falkirk Wheel, says:

"The new mini canal will be a tremendous complement to our educational offer as well as extend and enhance the visitor experience for the half a million visitors we welcome to The Falkirk Wheel each year.

The science behind water movement

"The educational aspect is of particular importance to us. In February this year, we launched our new educational toolkit for Primary 3 -7 schoolchildren and the Mini Canal and Outdoor Classroom will further cement our commitment to making The Falkirk Wheel a great asset for teachers and schoolchildren across the central belt. The three elements together will create a well rounded indoor/outdoor educational experience which will deliver a fun day out, fire the imagination and give an interesting and hands on introduction to the science behind water movement on the Scottish canals and at The Falkirk Wheel.

"The Falkirk Wheel is also a great resource for nurseries and P1 and P2 classes which can visit year round as their annual day trip or perhaps take in a unique Santa boat trip instead of the usual pantomime."

This August, The Falkirk Wheel saw a record number of visitors registered in a single month since the internationally renowned attraction opened in 2002.

Some two million people visit the Scottish canals annually, making a total of 24.4 million trips.

During 2009, visitors to the Union Canal, which terminates at The Falkirk Wheel, almost hit the million mark.