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I slept well, but I slept late and missed the early morning parade. However, on my way back to the canal I did pass a marching band, which was something.

Back on the canal, I decided against counting bridges  and bowled along happily to the Avon Aquaduct. Another spectacular view. It was slightly overcast, but there was sun forecast for most of the rest of the day. So I continued along, wondering where to stop for breakfast. 

Breakfast presented itself a couple of miles later at a little town just off the towpath where I had a bacon and avocado bagel and a Chai latte, my first for several hundred miles. I was now getting close to Falkirk. Nearing the town the tow path went through the magical Fallkirk tunnel, built because a wealthy land owner didn’t want a canal crossing his land. It was dark, water leaked from the roof onto the cobbled path. There was a rickety handrail to prevent walkers from falling in. I loved every minute of it.

The delights continued after the tunnel as I  approached the Falkirk Wheel through the Rough Castle tunnel. The Wheel was built to connect the Union and Forth and Clyde canals. It lifts the boats 24 metres from the Forth and Clyde canal and is quite a sight in operation. 

After the wheel, I had 10 miles to walk until my campsite. I had no great expectations of this stretch, but it turned out to be absolutely lovely. The canal was wide and glinted in the sunshine. I saw swans a swimming with their cygnets. There was woodland and hills in the distance. The miles passed quickly.

Walking uphill I arrived at a lock where a boat was being assisted by two young men. I stopped, took my boots off and cooled my feet in the canal watching this operation with interest. Once successfully completed, the two men jumped on their bikes and cycled off up the path. Walking on, I could see they were readying another lock to support the boat. Two locks later I found them waiting for the boat. I got chatting to one of them who turned out to come from Brighton. They were both volunteers in charge of the four locks on this stretch of the canal. They said they loved this work on beautiful days like this. Not so much in the wet.

With less than 2 miles to my campsite, I spotted a pub called the boathouse just over a bridge by the tow path. It looked as if it catered to the local boating community given its proximity to a marina. It was perfect. I avoided a detour to Kilsyth, had a lovely meal of steak frittes and would be able to hunker down by about 7:30. 

Arriving at the Spotty Dog campsite, I undid the padlock at the gate to find it to be a strange kind of place. It was part outward bound centre, part campsite. There was an old wooden fort, canoes lying around and archery targets, but everything was in disrepair. I was exploring a bit when the only other person staying at the campsite came along and said hello. His name was Josh and he was walking from John O’Groats to Land’s End. I liked him a lot. He lives in Alston and is used to running up and down the Pennines. Odd places attract strange people it seems.

Day Summary

Tunnels, wheels, canals and swans. A like-minded walker at the Spotty Dog campsite.