What I did on my summer vacation

[ghostlight]

The Falkirk Wheel has to be one of the coolest things I've seen. Hopefully I'll get to see it in person one day. Do you think they'd let us take it apart so we can see how it all works?

Thanks very much for posting so many great pictures of your trip!

[The Wizard of BC]

The really neat thing about the Falkirk Wheel is that because you can alter the amount of water in the gondolas to make them weight the same. This means that both arms are balanced. The amount of power to rotate the Wheel is minimal.
In fact it's all done with Hydraulics powered by two electric motors each using less electicity than a single refrigerator uses in one day.

[JSFMACLJR]

Wow, Steve, that's spectacular! And I thought the Peterborough Lift Lock was cool.

[The Wizard of BC]

OK, Bobbie and I leave Sterling and begin our trip south. On the way we stop off to see Nick Fiddes of ScotWeb.
In case you don't know Nick was the first person to put Highland Wear on the web. He generously met us at his company headquarters and gave us a tour of the facility.

Here are Nick and I.




We then continued South with a short detour to see Rosslyn Chapel.
I've known about the Chapel almost all of my life. Now, before anyone gets any ideas I don't believe that Rosslyn is anything other than an old chapel where the owner allowed the builders to have free rein to make it as fancy and decorative as they wanted. But it is pretty and featured in "The DaVinci Code" which was commemorated with the Rosslyn/DaVinci Code Tartan. So we went to see it.


If you don't know, the Chapel was covered with a free standing awning a few years ago to keep rain off and allow the stones to dry out.
(The scenes in the movie showing the chapel without the awning were of a model)



You are not allowed to take photos inside the chapel so you will have to make do with these shots I took of the exterior by climbing up under the awning.







Bobbie and I then took a short walk down towards the castle ruin about a mile away.

You may remember this place as the location of one of the final scenes in the movie.



I'm standing where Tom Hanks stood as he talked to Sophie about her being the descendant of Jesus.



And Bobbie couldn't resist sticking her foot in the water to see if she could walk on it.



But hey, where's the water? It seems Hollywood strikes again. For the movie they built a little dam and filled it with water just for the movie.
Too bad, I'll bet she could have done it.


As we walked back up the hill towards the Chapel what do you think we found but this Rose growing right out between the rocks of the wall.



I don't know what you believe about Rosslyn but this was a bit spooky.


And what do you think we found growing in the opposite wall in almost exactly the same place but this Dandalion.



It just goes to prove that an X Marker can survive anywhere.



And then just a few steps further along were the roots of a tree.



Can you see the boar's head?

[Coinneach]

Awesome photos all of them! Just amazing.

Back to the wheel for just a moment, how long does it take to move a boat from one level to the next?

[The Wizard of BC]

I didn't put a stop watch on the entire operation but did take note of my watch when the boat started to enter the gondola. By the time I saw the boat exit the top end and start on the way to the tunnel was around 20 min. They advertise that a trip on a boat to go from the lower canal, up in the wheel to the upper aquaduct, sail along the aquaduct to and through the tunnel, and all the way back again takes an hour.

This includes the time for the doors at the ends of the Gondola to open letting the water to stabilize with the level of the canal and the whole operation of doors and water levels again on the other end of the cycle.

If you only count the time for the Wheel to rotate I would estimate less than 5 minutes. You can see it move. It's a smooth and effortless looking operation.

And another amazing thing is the doors at the ends of the gondolas and sealing the canal have no mechanical fastener to lock them closed. It's all just water pressure.




In this photo you can see the doors holding back the canal. To open the doors and allow a boat through you equalize the pressure by moving the Gondola full of water against it and then just fold the door down and away.

Pure genius. And 300 year old genius at that. It's exactly the same principal as the doors of a lock.

[The Wizard of BC]

We continue South to Selkirk. This is the town that is home to both Lochcarron and D.C. Dalgliesh weaving mills.
I had to visit Dlagliesh to arrange for the special weave of the new Victoria, City of Gardens Tartan that I have designed and to visit Lochcarron and tour the mill.

First Bobbie and I check into our B&B called "The Firs" where we were met with tea in the garden.



Then we took a stroll around the grounds.

On a hill behind The Firs as a flock of Sheep.


Oh, look, there is my next Kilt. that one, right there.





And announcing! The new Model Freedom Kilt! (Drum roll please!!!!)



Some assembly required.
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[The Wizard of BC]

The next morning we visited the Lochcarron Woolen Mills.

Here is Bobbie drooling over the wonderful offerings in the visitor center.





Here is a changing room to make any Kilty faint with pleasure.




Lochcarron is a huge and modern weaving mill.
This is the yarn storage area.



Pick a color, any color.




The beginning of the weaving process starts with workers placing spools of yarn on these racks.




Then they feed individual yarns in the correct color sequence onto large warp rollers.



they even have one computerized machine that does this with only one person required to run it.

here are warp spools waiting to go onto looms.




Here is a loom all warped up and ready to start weaving.




And it comes out the other side as Tartan.




I saw 18 of these high speed looms in this one room.