Two Trips in One Day
On the 10th of July 2020, myself, my helper and a couple of friends travelled up to the east coast to visit the Kelpies and Queensferry. The journey took 1 hour 30 minutes in the car from where I live, the road up is motorway.
The Kelpies are two 30-metre-high horse head sculptures which are 100ft tall and weighing more than 300 tonnes each. They are a fantastic piece of engineering and are the largest horse’s sculptures in the world. The sculptures are situated in a new parkland called The Helix which is located between Falkirk and Grangemouth surrounded by canals with docked barges. Visitors can explore the Kelpies by taking a 30 minutes tour which will give them exclusive access inside the sculptures, however there is a fee for guided tours. Tour prices range from: Adult £7.50, Concession £6.50, Child Free (2 children with 1 adult) and free of charge to walk around them all year round. The Kelpies has attracted thousands of tourists across the world and it has bloomed the area into a five-star tourist destination.
There are two car parks at the attraction with a lot of sizeable disabled parking spaces, fee £2.
While visiting, make sure you visit The Horsebox up from the sculptures to try out their stone baked pizzas, they are a wee bit expensive but totally worth it, especially as it was our first lunch out in 3 – 4 months. There is also a café and visitor centre at the entrance. Unfortunately, we did not go in because it was too crowded with visitors and due to the COVID – 19 restrictions.
There is walking and cycling paths around the Kelpies which are suitable for all type of wheelchairs and for those who have other mobility requirements. Along some of the paths there are a few steps, wheelchair users can avoid using ramps. I am happy that the designers and architects thought about the accessibility for disabled people to access all areas of the attraction. Please make sure you do not fall in the canals.
According to Visitscotland.com – The Helix park itself features plenty to be explored, including around 500km of connected cycle paths. Discover one of many routes including the 16-mile core route, Helix Around Town Tour (HArTT) starting at The Helix and heading to The Falkirk Wheel, Callendar Park and back to The Helix using cycle ways, towpaths and parkland. The paths are multi-use if you prefer to explore by foot. The Helix is linked by two National Cycle Routes as well as the new John Muir Trail making it incredibly accessible and the ideal base to explore from.
After visiting the Kelpies, we went to a quaint small town called Queensferry which is also known as South Queensferry, west of Edinburgh. We parked our cars on the main street and took a walk up to see the historic 125-year old Forth rail Bridge which is painted red, Forth Road Bridge and Queensferry Crossing which are spectacular piece of engineering. On route we stopped to get an ice cream from The Little Parlour. I had Gin & Tonic flavoured ice cream which I’ve never had before, but I would not rate it tastes bland after a while, however my mate and my support worker enjoyed theirs.
I had to be cautious driving my electric wheelchair along the streets of Queensferry because certain parts of the pavements are uneven, narrow and cobbled. Throughout these points I required my support worker to hold the back of my wheelchair to prevent me from falling off the curb. Thank goodness that did not happen.
richietravel.com 