Day 238 - Union Canal: Falkirk to Linlithgow

This morning we went back to Falkirk High Station from where we had most interesting start to our walk for the day: we had to walk through the damp, dark, 630-metre-long Falkirk Tunnel. While it is illuminated now, one can only imagine what it was like to travel through it at night, particularly in the day and age of the murders Burke and Hare who transported their victims through it in containers labelled as industrial chemicals and then on to Edinburgh University for dissection. 200 years ago, it was lit only by oil lamps ... spooky stuff.

The entrance to the Falkirk Tunnel beckons.

Inside the tunnel.

We came out of the tunnel into sunshine poking through high trees...much nicer environment than the dripping tunnel. However, a young man was only about 30 seconds behind us coming out of the tunnel. Neither Phil nor I had noticed or heard him following us.

As we continued on, we passed the walls of HM Young Offenders Institution ... hopefully, no escapees of Burke and Hare relatives along the way...or the young man was making a return visit. Interestingly, the prison had once been the site of a renowned private boys school.

This area is full of former sites of factories that once prospered in the heydays of the canals. One involved dynamite manufacturer Alfred Nobel (known today for the Nobel prizes). Of course, we didn't realize it when we were there, but the Isle of Skye was a source of kieselguhr, an insulator, which was mixed with nitroglycerine to produce dynamite. Nobel obtained the acid needed for the process from The Westquarter Chemical Company  on the banks of the Grand Union Canal at Laurieston. Nobel bought into the company, changed the name, and began to manufacture detonators at the site in 1876. Eventually, the company employed 1,700 people -- mostly women -- who made 73 million detonators.

The area is also the place of a terrible coal mining accident in 1923. Known as The Redding Disaster, it is one of the worst coalfield accidents in Scottish history, with 40 men killed. The coal was being worked in a direction toward a dyke of hard rock which separated it from abandoned coal workings filled with water. The dyke failed to hold back the water as predicted and on this day it flooded the pit. Of the 66 men trapped, 29 men drowned with the first in-rush of water. Another 21 managed to make their way to an old shaft after 5 hours. After 10 days, rescuers reached a further five men. Eleven others managed to make it to a dry section of the pit, but rescuers assumed it was filled with water. The men survived for up to 14 days, with many leaving messages for their families. At first they were filled with hope that they would be rescued, but they soon turned to despair. It took more than two months to recover the final body.

Phil rests on the far side of the Avon Aquaduct

As we left Polmont, the beautiful day and countryside belied any evidence of a disaster. The canal diverts quite a bit before passing over the 250-metre-long, 26-metre tall Avon Aqueduct. It is the longest and tallest aqueduct in Scotland and only surpassed in Britain by Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in Wales. You have to pick your way over the cobblestone footpath on the bridge as it passes over the Avon River (side note: there are eight rivers in England known as the Avon).

The canal leads into Linlithgow, where there is a canal museum and from where you can take narrowboat trips to the Aquaduct and the Falkirk Wheel during the summer.

This was to be the end of our travels along this section of the canal. However, before leaving Linlithgow we wanted to visit the palace that is here.

Entrance to Linlithgow Palace

Linlithgow Palace is noted as being the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots. While today it is in ruins having been burned down after not being used for many years, it is in excellent condition that allows you to access many sections of it.

The English King, Edward I, originally established a manor on this site in the 12th Century. But it was in the 15th Century that James I rebuilt it into a palace he felt was worth of Scottish royals. Subsequent James's all had a hand in remodelling and expanding upon it.

Interior courtyard

Mary, Queen of Scots was born here on December 8, 1542. As she was born, her father James V lay dying following a serious defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss. It is unknown exactly how he died  on December 15th, but  Mary was his only surviving legitimate heir and so became queen at only six days old. A regent ruled for several years, until Mary's mother, Mary of Guise managed to gain control. Mary of Guise had earlier refused an offer of marriage from Henry VIII based on his history with his two former wives at the time. It is said that Mary of Guise and her daughter were effectively held prisoner for several months at Linlithgow following the child's birth, although it is thought that was for the child's protection. But, her life would be one fraught with misery. She married the man who would become King Francis II of France, but two years later he died. She returned to Scotland a widow. Four years later, she married her first cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. It wasn't a happy marriage. Six years later, he was found murdered in the garden of his home which had been destroyed by an explosion. The 4th Earl of Bromwell was blamed for Darnley's death, but was acquitted. A month later he married Mary, much to the dislike of many. A year after her son James VI was born, she was forced to abdicate. She fled to England to seek the protection of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.  However, many thought Mary was a threat to Elizabeth as the believe the Catholic Mary to be the rightful heir to the thrown. Elizabeth imprisoned Mary in various castles and homes for the next 18 years before having her beheaded on the charge of plotting to assassinate her.

A palace life wasn't for the faint of heart.

An artist's impression of the Palace as it would have looked like in 1512.  Mary, Queen of Scots was born in the room to the far right (#9) on the middle level.

View from one of the towers.

Remains of the banquet hall.

Interior of St. Michael's Parish Church at Linlithgow Palace. When Scottish Reformation began, the church's statues
were destroyed, including the statue of St. Michael (it is the only statue of the saint that exists today from this period). Cromwell's troups stabled their horses here, and musket holes from target practice can still be seen in the walls.