The Kelpies

I'm not usually a big fan of art, mainly because I don't understand it, but I must say I have a huge fondness for The Kelpies, who live in The Helix Park, near Falkirk.

These two goliath horse heads are around 30m high and they pay tribute to Scotland's heavy horse heritage mainly Clydesdales and Shires which helped to power local industry, ploughed fields, and hauled barges along the canals.

These were modelled after two real-life Clydesdale horses named Duke and Baron.

The name is a nod to the mythical Kelpies of Scottish folklore, which were shape-shifting water spirits that often appearing as horses.

The Kelpies were designed by Scottish sculptor Andy Scott, with the project being commissioned by Scottish Canals as part of The Helix, a redevelopment initiative to transform land between Falkirk and Grangemouth into a fabulous outdoor space.

We also visited in the evening to grab some nighttime shots.

The light must change colour on different nights as we have also spied some photos when they were lit up in red.

Construction of The Kelpies began in 2013, and they were officially completed and opened to the public in April 2014. The total cost of the project, including The Kelpies and surrounding landscape work, came to a whopping £5 million!

We know you love some stats so here goes.

- Each Kelpie is made from structural steel with stainless steel cladding.

- They weigh 300 tonnes, contain 3,000 metres of steel tubing and 17,000 component parts.

- The steel was fabricated at Sherburn in North Yorkshire then transported to Falkirk as 928 individual pieces.

- A company called SH Structures took 16 weeks to piece it all together like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

- They took 8 months to construct.

The park is open all day, every day, 24x7, so you can pop and visit the lads whenever you like. You can even take a tour inside them.

There is also a miniture version of The Kelpies sitting outside the shop called The Maquettes. The artist Andy Scott originally created a set of these in his Glasgow studio which were then scanned by lasers to help the steel fabricators create accurate full-scale versions. Although I'm not sure if these are the originals.

There are also a set of Wee Kelpies doing a tour!