We visited the Kelpies, a pair of steel horse head statues which stand 30 metres high, near Falkirk. We walked around their perimeter, and I can safely say that these photos don’t do their size justice – they are absolutely enormous.

They were constructed in place in 2013 on huge concrete footings on a specially created lock and basin on the Forth and Clyde canal (which we also saw when we visited the Falkirk Wheel), just near the junction of the River Carron. It would have been fascinating to watch their assembly – they each weigh 300 tonnes and are made up of 928 unique stainless steel plates which were put together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Kelpies are shape-shifting spirits from Scottish folklore and are believed to live in lochs, so it stands to reason that the statues are surrounded by water.

The Kelpies are part of the Helix parkland which we took a stroll through. We walked along the canal and saw long boats and a family of swans who lived in a lock. I’d like to come back to the UK and do a canal trip on a long boat one day.