• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Notes From A Broad

Wherever I am, I'm still a broad

  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Show Search
Hide Search

Moving Experiences

The Falkirk Wheel, at rest
The Falkirk Wheel, at rest

The British have an unequalled fascination with (and apptitude for) enormous structures that move.  (In addition to Henry the 8th.)  Witness “The Eye” in London, a huge ferris wheel on the River Thames that is now iconic.  We found a few more mind-boggling engineering feats operating in Scotland and Northumbria.

When your rivers don’t quite match up because of height differences,  you build a lock, right?  (I don’t mean “you”, unless you are the figurehead for the Army Corps of Engineers or something similar)  Not so in Falkirk, Scotland.  There, because of a height difference of 79 feet between  two canals that connect Glasgow and Edinburgh (or DIDN’T connect, as the case may be – I’m guessing it didn’t take too many screaming boat plunges before the locals decided there had to be a better way), engineers devised The Falkirk Wheel, a rotating boat lift that lowers and raises boats so they can continue on their merry (but slow) way (it IS a canal, after all!) to and from Scotland’s major cities.

Without making you sit through the entire 15 minute thrill ride, I’ve condensed the spin of the wheel to 4 photos.  I think you’ll get the idea…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

And, finally, the boats exit the wheel.  Wheeee! (Well, that’s what the passengers would be saying if it were a 15 second ride instead of a 15 minute one):

IMG_3905

Sadly, there’s still a 36′ difference, so the boats must endure a series of locks (maybe it was a miscalculation?  Two different teams (top and bottom)?) before they can TRULY be on their merry way.  Still – it’s the only one of its kind in the world and it is amazing to see it spin.

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge in Newcastle
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge in Newcastle

Further south, in the industrial but re-energized city of Newcastle-on-Tyne, engineers thought long and hard about how to get boats to fit under their bridges.  (Let’s not even talk about the 4 existing bridges I can see from my hotel room.)  “Hmmmmm”… they said… “how do other bridges do it??”  (This is an artist’s recreation.  Not to be confused with reality.)  “I know!”, shouted the little engineer that til then had been seated on a three legged stool in the corner, quietly nursing his 6th pint of ale, “let’s make it tilt!”  “Hooray!” said all the other engineers.  Then they all went home to their real jobs as doctors and lawyers.

Not to belabor the ’15 minute thrill ride’ aspect of these moving behemoths, but here, reduced again, is the GMBridge doing its thing…

Bridge begins to tilt
Tilting up more
That’s the walkway , now not user-friendly
Full tilt (hahahaha)
Untilting
Back to normal
Now, quite pleased with itself, it changes colors
To blue
To yellow
To this color

We waited anxiously for the Queen Mary or the Exxon Valdeez or something similary impressive to make its way up the River Tyne, but, alas, a little tourist tugboat chugged its way upstream only to turn around and chug its way downstream, passing under the bridge twice while all the passengers cheered:  “Hooray!”  Just like the engineers.

The end.

Written by:
Elaine Haydock
Published on:
September 12, 2015
Thoughts:
2 Comments

Categories: Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Northumberland, Scotland, The Felkirk WheelTags: Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Newcastle-on-Tyne

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gabriele Sweidel

    September 12, 2015 at 9:50 pm

    Absolutely fascinating…love your photos!

  2. Linda Czajka

    September 15, 2015 at 7:42 pm

    These structures are amazing, Elaine…..neither of which I knew even existed! Yet another delightful and educational blog!

Explore more

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Log in

Recent Comments

  • Ash Roberts on Memento and more…
  • Elaine Haydock on Dior… and more
  • Betsy on Dior… and more
  • Libby Joyce on Dior… and more
  • Elaine Haydock on Dior… and more
 

Loading Comments...