Falkirk

The Forth and Clyde Canal was completed in 1790 and its eastern extension the Union Canal reached Edinburgh in 1822. The Union ascended from the Forth and Clyde by a flight of 11 locks, which took barges a whole day to traverse and drained 3500 tonnes of water per passage. It couldn't compete with the railways, fell into disrepair, and was closed and culverted in several places. It was re-opened in stages from the 1990s but the biggest challenge was the 115-ft (35-m) drop to the canal junction. The Wheel, opened in 2002, was the ingenious solution: a rotating boat lift. Boats sail out over an elegant aqueduct into a gondola, which seals then sinks as the counter-gondola rises. By Archimedes Principle, there's no weight difference between the sides, and scant loss of water. The top aqueduct leads into Roughcastle Tunnel (575 ft / 175 m), which is modern, built along with the Wheel to connect with the original Union Canal. There are two locks on the far side, then it's plain sailing.

Earthwork remains of a Roman fort on the Antonine Wall, built 142 AD and garrisoned by the Nervii, a 500-strong cohort of Belgian recruits. A distinctive feature at this fort is its "lilias", pits of sharpened stakes by the gate through the wall. The deep ditch ran the length of the north side of the wall, and you can follow it for some way before it disappears under later structures. East it parallels Tamfourhill Rd, with the next fort Watling Lodge lost beneath Lock 16 of the Forth and Clyde Canal. West it heads through Seabegs Wood, where Seabegs fort has disappeared, then on towards Castle Cary on the outskirts of Cumbernauld.

This began as a turretted house in the 14th century. It was the home of the well-connected Livingston family but they backed the Jacobites in 1715 and again in 1745 and paid the price. It was bought by a businessman, William Forbes, who greatly extended it in chateau-cum-baronial style. It passed to the council in 1963 and has been restored as a museum in mostly Georgian period. In the park, you can trace the line of the Antonine Wall, and there's a Doric memorial to Forbes.

"The Bairns" play soccer in the Scottish Premiership, the top tier. Their home ground is Falkirk Stadium, capacity 8000.