We visited the stretch of the Antonine Wall near Kinneil, just outside Falkirk, where the remains of a fortlet can still be seen, although the wall itself is difficult\u2014and perhaps impossible\u2014to find. A UNESCO World Heritage sign overlooks a shallow ditch in a field adjacent to the fortlet, so we assumed the ditch is all that\u2019s left, but neither Dad nor I are archaeologists, so there\u2019s no guarantee!<\/p>\n The fortlet would have been home to approximately 30 soldiers, who would have lived in two barracks structures sheltered by 10-foot high earthen walls. Needless to say, with the fortlet being only about 50 paces square, this would have been close and dark living. I don\u2019t envy them!<\/p>\n In the evening, we drove down to Linlithco, the little village near our B&B, and took a walk around the loch. It was a beautiful evening, and Dad managed to find some more fishermen to talk to.<\/p>\n Stirling Castle tomorrow!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Saturday, May 25, 2013 On Thursday, May 23, Dad and I spent the entire day driving from Llanberis, North Wales, to Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a bit of a shock to find ourselves in a busy city after the relative … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.glmorganwrites.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/falkirk-wheel.jpg\")
<\/a>Today, though, we left Edinburgh and drove about 40 minutes north to Falkirk, where we stopped to see the Falkirk Wheel. The Wheel is a rotating lift lock. Trust Dad (who is an avid boater) to find something boat-related \ud83d\ude09 The Wheel is the only rotating lock in the world, and the canals it provides access to are built along the same stretch of ground the Romans used when they constructed the Antonine wall, which we visited next.
\nThe Antonine Wall<\/strong>
\nThe Antonine wall was built in 142 AD as a more northern boundary than Hadrian\u2019s Wall. It stretches about 60 miles from the Firth of Forth to the Firth of Clyde. Featuring \u201cfortlets\u201d every mile and a proper fort every eight miles, the Antonine wall consisted of a 40-foot wide, 12-foot deep ditch, a 10-foot tall earthen wall or \u201ccounterscarp\u201d and a series of Roman minefields\u2014deep holes studded with sharpened stakes. Until recently, I\u2019m told, it was considered to be the most northern point the Romans settled in Britain, but apparently a new wall has been discovered near Aberdeen, and archaeological investigations are underway. It will be interesting to see what they turn up!<\/p>\n