Great Canal Journeys - Forth and Clyde

Good morning, well July is done and then I will move into August and with suggestions for the upcoming school year.  That may run into September, but it may not.  Anyway, I am going to do one final episode of the Great Canal Journeys before I get back to serious documentaries.  Today’s episode has a run time of 46:21.

This time Timothy and Pru are traveling through Scotland’s canals.  This is the first time they are touring those canals.  They begin in Edinburgh and meet up with the boat they are hiring.  First, they have to maneuver through the many festival goers.  Eventually, they reach the canal and come to the Union Canal.  They had never known that there was a canal in Edinburgh, even though they made frequent trips to Edinburgh.  They reflect on lost love.

They will pick up their hire boat in Ratho.  It is evening before they get to their hire boat.  The light is falling fast and they are needing to get on their way to get to their first mooring before dark.  Tony is going to have to turn around a 58-foot boat.  It will take a whole lot of turns and hits before they are on their way.  Their plans change and they will spend the night in the countryside.  The morning comes and they are cooking breakfast.  Timothy talks about not sleeping well.  After breakfast, they are on their way.

Timothy talks about the canal and how it is a flat canal.  It follows the contour of the land so there are very few locks on the route.  They are in no hurry.  Timothy is concerned about this because Pru has her routines and a canal with no routes takes the routine of opening away.  However, Pru cheerfully points out that “putting my feet up is part of my routine.”  Pru concentrates on a crossword while Timothy drives.  The Union Canal was in danger of going away, however, there was a group of enthusiastic preservationists who brought the canal back.  Pru and Timothy meet up with their Scottish counterparts and they examine a very rare surveyor's map.  They talk about the steps and time it took to bring the canal back to life.

They make their way to the Avon Aqueduct.  It is one of the tallest and longest in Britain.  Tomorrow will be the longest tunnel in Scotland.  They settle in for the night.  The next day, they take and discover a few surprises along the way.  Eventually, they make their way through the longest tunnel in Scotland.  Then they encounter two of the deepest locks in Scotland.  Timothy is concerned with Pru who is seemingly nervous.  Luckily for the pair, these locks are manned by professionals.  You could feel the nerves through the screen, I hope the lock keepers were helpful.

They move on and meet the Falkirk Wheel.  This wheel unites the Union and the Forth and Clyde Canal.  This wheel has two trails that goes around lowering tray and raises the other tray.  Pru and Timothy are joined by the chief engineer of the project.  The Falkirk Wheel was fantastic and very interesting to see.  The day has been exhausting for the pair and so they take a nap.  After a restorative rest, they explore the ruins of a Roman Wall.  However not much remains of the wall and eventually the Romans retreated from this wall.  When it was decided to build this canal, the canal builders eventually decided to follow the Roman route.

The next day comes around, and Pru and Timothy are going to do some more exploring.  They take a boat called the Wooden Spoon to see statues of horse heads.  Horses were the lifeblood of the canal and these statues were tribute to the horses that worked the canal.  After this detour, they return to the boat the move on their way.  Where else do Pru and Timothy go on this canal?  What else do they learn?  Tune into the rest of this episode to find out more.

This was a fascinating canal, especially the Falkirk Wheel.  I was very concerned with Pru in this episode with those locks.  I would still recommend this for a geography class.