McBoating on Sonya-Day #11

Tuesday 28th June 2016

I am fed up with being cold! I packed the usual {canaling} selection of clothes, a bit of everything to layer up as needed. It’s been so chill that the light clothes all stay in the cupboard, the warm clothes are all worn – at once! I just wish that I had brought winter tights for under my trousers.  brrrrr!

We slipped our really peaceful, remote, overnight mooring just as the Aussies we’ve been travelling with approached. The sorry sight of a fire damaged lockside premises even shows how the UPVC window frames were badly distorted by the heat of the fire. We ran on down through the locks and bridges which saw us back at the Falkirk wheel basin just as the rain began.

Graham had volunteered to take the Aussies to their hotel at Glasgow airport ready for their onward journey to their Baltic Cruise Ship – what a change that’ll be after a wet ten days on a canal boat. Having already been to Aberdeen I suspect the organisation of that trip would be beyond us.

On his return to the boat we had a quick lunch before setting out in the car to explore. We’s seen a small advert on a free map for a pub with a micro brewery. Off to Corbiehall at Bo’ness. We found the pub and asked about the brewery. We were told that it must be open for visitors as the brewers van was still parked in the carpark. It turned out that the pub and microbrewery were separate businesses.

Stuart the brewer and John, his assistant, were happy to show G the brewhouse and talk tips and techniques. Stuart told us of his brewing journey. Like G is has been inventive in making his own bits and pieces to solve brewing problems. We all reckoned that brewers need to be engineers as well as chemists. Having brought some ‘samples’ we headed off.

One of the volunteers, working in the dry dock next to our mooring at Falkirk, had recommended a supper stop so it was off to the Canada Wood kitchen and bar. It is in Lochgreen Road, Falkirk. I say Falkirk but it’s above the town and set in a very pretty wooded area. There’s a cycle hire shack there and walkers were limbering up for a pole assisted yomp in the raqin as we left.

We enjoyed a good meal in lovely surroundings, we went without dessert, just had cake instead. We’d also planned to walk up to the Antonine wall this evening, but rain stopped our history walk.

Brenda