tarboat's photos with the keyword: falkirk

Two Ballantine brothers started the foundry business at Bo'ness in the 1820s and when one bought out the other in 1856 Arthur Ballantine & Sons was established. The current New Grange Foundry was built in 1876 and continues in use today. Ballantines merged with the Bo’ness Iron Co in 1987, becoming Ballantine Bo’ness Iron Company which is now styled Ballantine Castings Ltd. The business continues to manufacture a wide range of cast iron products.

Seen from the Forth & Clyde Canal at Camelon, which is a district of Falkirk. The locals were unfailingly friendly whilst I was there.

Kelpie - a water spirit of Scottish folklore, typically taking the form of a horse and reputed to delight in the drowning of travellers. The Kelpies are horse-head sculptures standing next to the extension of the Forth and Clyde Canal. The sculptures were designed by Andy Scott and were completed in October 2013. They form a gateway at the eastern entrance to the Forth and Clyde Canal, and the new canal extension built as part of The Helix land transformation project. The Kelpies are a monument to horse powered heritage across Scotland. Built of structural steel with a stainless steel cladding, The Kelpies are 30 metres high and weigh 300 tonnes each and form the largest equine sculpture in the world. The site has become a major tourist attraction and was very busy when I visited. The various tea rooms were very welcome after walking down from Falkirk.

Corporate nonsense on this sign seen in a lift at the Premier Inn at Falkirk.

The Ineos operated Grangemouth refinery is the largest industrial plant by volume in Scotland and supplies much of the oil based fuels used in Scotland and the North of England.

The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift in Scotland, connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. The wheel raises boats by 24 metres (79 ft), and is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world. It was fully constructed and assembled at the Butterley Engineering plant in Ripley, Derbyshire. The structure was then dismantled in the summer of 2001, and transported on 35 lorry loads to Falkirk, before being reassembled into five sections on the ground and lifted into place. The caissons or gondolas carry a combined weight of 500 tonnes of water and boats, with the gondolas themselves each weighing 50 tonnes. The official opening was in 2002.

The Ineos operated Grangemouth refinery is the largest industrial plant by volume in Scotland and supplies much of the oil based fuels used in Scotland and the North of England.

The Grangemouth refinery is currently in the news having been closed down (temporarily?) by owners Ineos in a dispute with the workforce. It is the largest industrial plant in Scotland and supplies much of the oil based fuels used in Scotland and the North of England.

Gate at the long established Ballantine iron foundry at Bo'ness. The cast iron sign states 'No admittance to works. All enquiries to office'.

There are several disused adits at Birkhill where high silica fireclay was extracted until 1981. One mine has been used as a museum until recently whilst the processing works stands derelict close to the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway. Seen here is the top of the incline from the works with the tensioning system for the continuous rope haulage underneath the staging.

Not mushrooms; rather these are vertical rollers to take the haulage cable around a bend on the tubway below the incline to the processing works at Birkhill Fireclay Mine.

Birkhill No.1 Mine was started in 1932 by firebrick manufacturer P & M Hurll Ltd. Two further mines followed in the vicinity and production of fireclay peaked in the 1950s. The mines closed in 1981 and the No.3 mine bacame a museum although it is now closed (temporarily?).

Scotland's only oil refinery at Grangemouth is currently operated by Ineos.

The Avonbridge Brick Works in Avonbridge, Falkirk were established about 1952 by Afton Brick Co Ltd. It lay about 2 kilometres to the east of the village and was known locally as 'the Tinplate'. There was a single Hoffman KIln with 28 chambers. The works closed in 1977 and has lain derelict ever since. Image courtesy of Alan Fleming

Cannerton brickworks was located in Banknock, Bonnybridge, on the former site of Cannerton Colliery. It was operated by the Cannerton Brick Co Ltd from 1932-1990. There were three Hoffman Kilns with 14, 18, and 30 chambers. Image courtesy of Alan Fleming