The Kelpies

The Kelpies are a pair of monumental horse-head sculptures at The Helix, on the eastern side of Falkirk between the town and Grangemouth. Standing beside the Forth and Clyde Canal extension near the River Carron, they are an unmistakable modern landmark in a landscape shaped by water, industry and transport.

Designed by Scottish sculptor Andy Scott, the sculptures were completed in 2013. Each rises to around 30 metres and is formed from a structural steel framework and stainless-steel cladding. Their scale is deliberate: from close by, the open latticework and overlapping metal plates reveal that these are engineered structures as much as figurative sculptures.

Horses, folklore and industry

The name comes from the kelpie, a water spirit in Scottish folklore, often imagined in the form of a horse. Scott’s design also has a more practical reference point: the heavy horses that once worked Scotland’s canals, farms, mines and streets. Tow horses pulled barges along the canal network, while horses were central to freight, agriculture and local industry long before motors became commonplace.

That connection matters particularly here. Falkirk and the neighbouring Carron district were long associated with ironworking and other industries, and the canal corridor was an important route through central Scotland. The Kelpies stand at the renewed eastern end of the Forth and Clyde Canal, making the waterway part of the artwork’s setting rather than merely a backdrop.

The Helix setting

The sculptures form the best-known part of The Helix, a large public greenspace created from land that had been fragmented and underused. The wider project links communities around Falkirk and Grangemouth through paths, wetland, canal-side routes and parkland. This gives the immediate surroundings a broad, open character, with water, planted areas and the low industrial skyline of the Forth valley all part of the view.

Although the horses are based on familiar working breeds, they are not intended as naturalistic portraits. One head is lowered and the other raised, giving the pair different silhouettes from each direction. The stainless steel changes appearance with cloud, rain and low sun, while the open form allows portions of the sky and landscape to be seen through the sculptures.

A useful bit of context

The Kelpies are often treated as a single landmark, but they make more sense as part of a much wider story: folklore beside a canal, a tribute to working animals, and a marker of an area whose identity was closely tied to engineering and manufacture. Their position at the edge of Falkirk also places them within the broader central-belt corridor where canals, railways, roads and industry have long overlapped.

This was a short August-morning visit to The Kelpies, with nice sunny weather for the flight. I enjoyed flying here and kept the resulting video fairly short.

There was enough time to take in the scale and shape of the sculptures from the air, without trying to turn the outing into anything more complicated than it was: a straightforward morning flight at a place I was pleased to revisit.

The flight

The final video from this session is relatively brief, reflecting the short flight. It still makes a useful record of a sunny August morning at The Kelpies and of an enjoyable bit of time in the air.

A little context

The Kelpies are the pair of 30-metre horse-head sculptures at The Helix in Falkirk, beside the Forth & Clyde Canal. They were created by sculptor Andy Scott and reference Scotland’s working heavy horses.

This was a simple flight, but a good one.