Baden-Powell Council BSA
at the
2014 Blair Atholl Patrol Jamborette
Day 3 - July 17th - Stirling and Falkirk
Stirling Castle
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 Our home for the second night of our tour - the 7th Beechwood Scout Group Hall. It's a great facility, and we're grateful for the use of it. |
 Some of the local wildlife, sharing a morning snack as we left the Scout Hall. |
 We arrived at the Castle before opening, which gave us time to take in the view and walk around the adjoining Sterling Cemetery. |
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 I wonder what the Guide to Safe Scouting has to say about this? |
 The newly-renovated Royal Apartments include the Sterling Heads mounted on the ceiling of the Inner Hall. The Heads represent some of the ancestors of King James V, as well as historical and mythological figures representing his virtues. |
 One of the King's Grooms spoke with the Scouts, showing them the oldest existing football, among other things. |
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 A Kodak Moment on the East Ramparts along the Nether Bailey |
 Leaving the Royal Apartments, the route leads back down to the Outer Close. |
 Our Scouts in the Nether Bailey |
 The Regimental Museum at the Castle has exhibits on a number of Scottish Regiments. This is a display of receipients of the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest medal of valor. |
Bannockburn Battlefield |
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 2014 marked the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn. We weren't able to get tickets to the new interactive experience at the Visitor Centre, but we were able to walk around the area and see the giant statue of Robert the Bruce. Better yet, there was a docent in the Center courtyard with lots of arms and armour for the Scouts to try on, and he gave us a great personal introduction to the battle. |
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 A Cool Knight never forgets his shades... |
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 If knights could have taken selfies... |
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Falkirk |
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 The Falkirk Wheel is the world's only rotating boat lift. It opened in 2002, replacing 11 locks which once connected the Grand Union Canal and the Forth and Clyde Canal, abandoned and built over in the 1930's. |
 Boats enter one of the two "bathtubs" on the Wheel, here at the end of the aqueduct on the upper level (Grand Union Canal)... |
 ... and the Wheel is rotated ... |
 ... allowing the boat to exit in the basin on the other level. From there, it's one lock down to the Forth and Clyde Canal. |
 Of course, we couldn't just see the Wheel, we had to ride on it, too. Canal boats run about every half hour from the lower basin, up the Wheel, through a tunnel, and into a basin below the last lock on the Grand Union. Then, reverse the process. We were fortunate enough to share the Wheel with a longboat on the way down. |
 The Roman Antonine Wall runs through Falkirk. It's about a fifteen minute walk from the Falkirk Wheel parking lot to the Wall. |
 Andy Scott's monumental sculpture The Kelpies stands along the Grand Union Canal, a few miles from the Wheel. The horses' heads are over 100' high, and were completed in early 2014. |
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