Friday, April 2, 2010

The Forth


Leith is the docks side of Edinburgh and is in the midst of a huge revitalisation project. We went to find Trafalgar Lane, a block or two back from the waterfront - Ellen Jackson was living there with her grandmother in 1851, travelled to Victoria with her brother several years later and married Robert Leed on the goldfields. Very little in the lane today looks like it would have been there 1851.

We then explored several very interesting engineering projects, the railway bridge over the Firth of Forth and the Falkirk Wheel. There is a little museum at the south end of the bridge that explains the building process.


Glenn suggested we see the the Falkirk Wheel and it was a good suggestion. It has won engineering awards and looks very stylish. It's big. It is designed to lift up to eight boats at a time from one canal up to another that is much higher, and it only takes about five minutes. It is such a balanced machine that it only costs ten pounds a day to operate. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go for a ride on a boat on the wheel.


This boat is half way to the top. And in the bottom photo it has reached the top. The rubber connector then allows water to flow and the boat to move into the top canal.



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