Happy Slapping

Up until today I didn't even know how to get down here. It's always been visible from the M9 motorway that passes by a hundred yards away and it turns out I've been driving past the access road twice a day for years. There's no signposts as far as I could tell, until you've driven through an industrial, and even then I passed the entrance the first time due to amount of ASDA lorries blocking the roads. Got there in the end.

Where Euan's standing slapping handprints into the frost covered monument there's going to be two giant horse's heads (produced by Clackmannanshire's favourite public artist Andy Scott) acting as pumps that operate a new lock for the canal. It all looks mightily impressive and it's all meant to be in place by the end of the year. There wasn't much activity going on down there today, but it looks like there's some preparation being made to move in the big kelpies.

Still, Euan enjoyed skiting about on the ice and chucking rocks through the frozen crust on the canal and it'll be good to follow the project as it develops over the year now that we know how to get down there. And lets not mention who headed out with every piece of camera equipment bar the most important (Quick detour to Maplins sorted that, but have you ever tried opening one of those plastic packaging things (the type that are usually used to package those important camera accessories that mustn't be mentioned) with your teeth?).