On the way to Glasgow, Scotland Summer 2003

Picture of the Holy Trinity Church in Bridge of Allan

Our plan for this day was a leisurely drive from Perth to Glasgow, stopping at whatever came to mind or looked interesting on the way. Looking at the map I noticed that Bridge of Allan wasn't too far off our route. As I'm interested in Charles Rennie Mackintosh I remembered that there was an interesting place in Bridge of Allan: Holy Trinity Church. In 1904 Mackintosh designed the chancel furniture for this church. I didn't have any information when it would be possible to see them, but we were in luck: The church is open to visitor from 10am to 4pm on Saturdays, exactly the time we were in the area. Picture of the pulpit

After a quick search we managed to find the church to view the beautiful furniture. If you are interested in Mackintosh and in the area it is definitely worth a visit. The furnishings contain many of the motifs Mackintosh frequently used like ovals and flutes.

Our second stop for this day was Falkirk, where we visited the Falkirk Wheel. I had visited it before and was quite impressed, so I decided to show it to my mother as well. The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boatlift, linking the Forth & Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. The height difference is 35m/115ft, yet the lift only needs ten 7kw motors to turn the wheel. It does this via some electronic wizardry, valves and sensors which ensure that the two gondolas always contain exactly the same weight. The Union Canal then continues through the Roughcastle Tunnel, although we decided not to walk through it. Instead we returned to the car to drive on to Glasgow for some shopping.

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