FALKIRK - An Unremarkable Town
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
- When Scottish poet Robert Burns visited Falkirk in 1787, he reckoned there was nothing remarkable about the town, with the exception of the tomb of Sir John De Graeme in the graveyard of the old church off the High Street, which he knelt at.
The tomb of Sir John De Graeme, a knight who fell at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298, is still there, complete with a replica of the sword he took into battle. But there are some things in Falkirk that are no longer there.
Atmospheric streets and wynds, like Silver Row and Horsemarket Lane, were swept away in the 1960s and 1990s to make way for shopping centres, and in some places the town's character has been changed for the worst. Interesting buildings of architectural merit were replaced with eyesores, and as a result the quality of life for those who lived in Falkirk must have gone downhill somewhat. For we all need pleasant things around us, buildings with architectural merit and a pleasing disposition.
Towns and cities in Scotland all developed and grew in different ways. Their lanes and wynds grew from the mercat cross like the strands of a spider's web, each and every one unique in its shape and form. But when a town is nibbled at, with bits removed to create things like shopping centres, a little bit of that special character and individuality is also removed, and you run the risk of making one town just like any other town. Certainly you would be hard pushed to tell which town you are in when inside most shopping centers.
But all is not lost for Falkirk. Many of the narrow lanes and wynds leading off the High Street still remain, although not all in their entirety, and much fun may be had exploring these passageways. For the visitor who has had his or her fill of major tourist attractions like the Falkirk Wheel and The Kelpies, both outside the town centre, wandering the streets of Falkirk is a most enjoyable experience, and I highly recommend it.
The shopping centers destroyed the web of quaint old streets. The web then destroyed the shopping centers, with online shopping. Sadly, we'll never have the quaint old streets back. Great video.👍
Well Said!
Just you wait for we will have thou streets returned to us in no time
Here's an interesting local myth about the area of high street at the start of the video, where the big white shopping centre is. For context, this end of the high street has always struggled compared to the west end, it's just always been a grim and derilict place and for decades theyve struggled to regenerate it. Callendar Square, the shopping centre shown, has really struggled to attract businesses and has sat pretty much empty for years. Local legend is that this end of the high street is cursed and has had bad luck because they disturbed the Graveyard in Erskine Church (seen in the map in this video!) when demolishing Silver Row
Great video as always!
That's interesting. Many thanks. I could never understand why the West End in every town and city is better than the East End, but I suppose it's something to do with the rising and setting of the sun.
It’s to do with the westerly prevailing winds that keep the west end cleaner apparently
i was through visiting my parents just last week and we drove through the toon and I see they have demolished the town hall and also now callendar square to be rebuilt "again" with a new town hall and center etc.
I grew up in Falkirk, the high Street used to be brilliant. The shopping centre before Callander Square shopping centre was so much better. Now its a ghost town.
I went to school in Falkirk up to 1982 - the previous shopping centre, as I remember it, was a Brutalist concrete monstrocity!? - for me, Calendar Square, though no masterpiece, is a definite improvement - there's no accounting for taste of course
❗😊
Another great video Ed. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I wish local councils would think harder about the design of new buildings. It’s as though we may have lost the ability to design and build attractive buildings any more. We’ll at least where I live!
I'm from Falkirk, lived here for 40yrs and I really enjoyed the old / historical photos of how beautiful it could have been if it hadn't of been of the "Modernisations" from the mid 20th century.
'Architectural tripe' I could never have put it better! I'm enjoying working my way through your video's so very much. Most interesting and very informative. Wish they would preserve more than they destroy. Council's rarely get it right in my opinion. Thanks Ed 👍
Cheers Pat.
I remember Falkirk very well - when you were a wee boy the highlights were looking in the window of the model shop and looking at the airfix planes and stuff then just along the lane looking in the windows of the pet shop and a lot of the time you were lucky and there would be animals in the window - puppies were the best because sometimes they would interact with you through the window - the round to the end of the lane to the street where Moscadinies was with their famous fish tea (fish chips and peas with bread and butter and tea) - little did these places know they were creating the memories that people would look back on with fondness almost 60 years later - Falkirk may well have become unremarkable like a lot of places but there is nothing wrong with the people of Falkirk and there never was - fine down to earth folk
Thanks William. Rather sad that Moscardinis was 'modernised' a while back and all those wonderful old fixtures and fittings were scattered here and there in other cities. Some of the old wooden seating and even the marble soft drinks dispenser ended up in a cafe/bar here in Partick, but that closed down and I don't know where the stuff went.
I loved the model shop glass case on the wall. I used to save up pocket money to buy the wonderful miniature dolls house pots and pans, biscuit boxes, etc. I still am amazed at how well made and detailed they are. I also liked the brass steam engines and model trains but alas , in the 1950s, girls didn’t get the chance to play with them. I made sure my girls had the chance.
Many thanks for your wonderful video, and so interesting comments. SCOTLAND❤ is my favourite in the UK. Nowadays, I am an old retired lady, nearly 76 aged. I spent the 1980 summer in FALKIRK, among the social workers of the UK council (Social Department).
Scottish people are so friendly, and reminded me of the time they helped French to struggle against the English.
I appreciated too visiting Glasgow. By a sunny day, drinking a beer outside, at a coffee terrace, was similar to sitting at the Canebiere in Marseille.
Lots of love❤❤🩶💙❤️
Ed, I grew up in Falkirk and moved to Canada in 1969. This excellent video certainly brought back a lot of memories, especially Siver Row where the Roxy used to be. I remember most of the passage ways (closes) you referred to and especially the atmosphere in the town on a Saturday with the crowded streets and the barrows selling their goods next to the bus station. Then there was the sweetie counter at Bishops, ah yes I remember the good old days which were simple times when comparing them to modern times. Thank you for this throughly enjoyable video. John Vancouver Canada
Thanks John. Greetings to Vancouver.
I found your channel last week through your hiking videos, this is the first time I have watched one of your town videos, now I will have to watch them all! This is really interesting and well put together. What a shame that the shopping centres destroyed those lovely winding streets.
Many thanks. My town videos are a mixed bag, and not all great, but I was pleased with this one. Sometimes it's just lucky the way they turn out. Happy adventuring.
Another great video Ed. So sad to see what planners have done.
I'm in Bristol at the moment word here is that even with the Bristol Blitz, 70s planners did more damage than the Luftwaffe.
Extraordinary, excellent videography; but more importantly > what a fascinating pictorial history. thank you very much for sharing ....
Many thanks.
Fakirk had four picture houses when I was a boy, where I watched films in every one.
I moved from falkirk to Manchester in 1986 and the Howgate wasn’t there then . There was a finefayre and a Tesco by the bus station. My stepdad worked at carron ironworks he cycled all the way down the canal to work . Thanks for this video brought back many memories
Good one Eddie . Thanks
‘Architectural tripe’ - wholeheartedly agree! All that character and history sacrificed. Just east of the town centre is a 90s housing estate, whose surrounding wall is now breaking apart. Nothing seems built to last.
Ed the work and passion you put into your videos Always comes through. Of course I'm an easy touch for the Old/Historical Glass/Dry Plate Photos.
The Swans Inn Building at 15:15 and the Monstrosity that replaced it... I lived through that in the 60's in my home town. We call it Soviet Era Neglect. I need a nice Dalmore to settle my stomach.... maybe two.
Enjoy your videos Ed.! Cheers.
Many thanks. I struggled to find decent old photos of Falkirk. Way too many were either squint or really not sharp at all. I suppose having good old photos of an area very much depended on good photographers either visiting the area or staying there.
Great content and great music, keep going old fella!
Many thanks.
I used to get my spectrum zx games in a wee place called venues in the old Goldbergs shopping centre and then a wee scran at the food court. Ah the memories. I wonder if anyone has interior pics of Goldbergs.
A nice introduction to the town Ed, but to me - it’s like a call to arms. Falkirk deserves better from its leaders.
"Better Meddle wi' the de'il than the Bairns o' Fa'kirk". - I thought uttered first by Burns? Perhaps not, but the Falkirk folk were worth more than the town currently expresses to a visitor.
I'm a Bairn myself who grew up in earshot of the Barr's factory on Cockburn St, I thought that all of Scotland smelled of that sweet nectar. Oh, then there’s McGowan’s Toffee! - Just saying, I won’t let Barr’s steal all the sugary limelight. Dan lived in his dotage just up the road from me, after delivering generations their regular fix of joy. He had a lovely dog and a nice smile (maybe he had a decent dentist).
It’s all memories and shadows now. But I can certainly attest to the great heritage but also a terrible loss that befell Falkirk with the end of its industrial core.
My memories are very appreciative of the town, and its history. As a wee boy, I was taken by the hand as my mum made her way up the Howgate towards the steeple, past the dairy on the right and onwards to Monfries the Butcher. It was a dull shop for a wee boy you would think, but I remember the men hauling sections of beasts in and around us. The rich smells of clot and fat, the fresh evidence of slaughter. It was not gratuitous, just honest - life and death. It did not trouble me, it was our world. Falkirk, the grimiest and noisiest of towns, had no airs and graces. The industries of old and the seemingly perpetual gloaming of Grangemouth's refinery was a living testament to the toil of its folk.
I think that still holds.
I remember later the Aitken’s brewery chimney coming down. It seemed like the whole town came out to see it. I wasn’t old enough to have tasted the beer mind, but stood respectfully, with the crowd at the top of Hope St and marvelled at how the great monolith fell so neatly, just up from Brockville. There, Falkirk FC had taken home the cup the year before I was born, but my brother saw the game at least - a replay where for that short moment, Falkirk was surely raised high again. Aye, Falkirk. can you count the Scotland managers who have worn Falkirk colours or been on their management? Expect the unexpected.
There’s more history to be celebrated, Ed.
Carron Iron works indeed - from where Burns reportedly paid for two small carronades to be sent off to the French Revolution. JMW Turner visited too and painted a magnificent nocturne of its blazing furnaces.
Worth another wee swatch - www.meisterdrucke.uk/fine-art-prints/Joseph-Mallord-William-Turner/835558/Carron-Iron-Works,-c.1800.html . Carron was not the only foundry in the town, the place was heaving with them.
Falkirk should have a new museum - a small working foundry to draw in visitors, and artists - to celebrate the great pattern makers, foundry men and labourers that built the world back then. They deserve at least that, and surely those Kelpies should’ve been cast in iron, don’t you think? Imagine them gloriously rusting into their pools. Apt, I think. While I’m on that subject, those spirits are along way from home, yeah? - West coast beasties navigating the locks all the way East, just to see the sunrise, or Ineos’ torch, maybe. All those years at Comely Park and Bantaskin primaries, never heard of a Kelpie there. That’s a Gael’s story.
Yes, there’s those canals that moved the coal and the iron, with the deep locks where my dad learned to swim or surely drown - before the public baths were built. Those baths that allowed Bobby McGregor the chance to begin his Olympic Journey.
I could go on. 1970’s - Leckie’s... the gem of a shop that more or less wrote the business plan for TK Maxx. Brian Finlay’s record store on Cow Wynd, just fantastic - a great way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday. Janetta's chip shop, where I first tasted pizza (of a sort).. The Magpie Bar.. dearie me, that’s too much to relive...
Thanks Eddy, like all your Content here - 'Valuable to our Scotland'.
Regards
It's amazing how many Turkish barbers there are in every town and city's in Scotland
This was sent to me by John Riddell of Falkirk . He used to live in Northern Ireland and went to school with me. I really enjoyed learning about Falkirk
Left over free masonry that was beautifully built, replaced with cheap useless flat roofs in a town that often rains, my papa Tam Harley would say,, "u cannae and shouldny put a flat roof on a hoose in Scotland, this wee video fills me with such joy seeing these beautiful picks of oor wee toun, thank u 😊
Many thanks. Yes, flat roofs was always an issue.
Hi Eddie, a great wee look into Falkirk, sadly all to common for many of our towns, All in the name of progress, Its quite sad in away, Well done,
Great video as always! Love the history of these places that you share with us!
Great video Eddy. I love these historic places and enjoy the way you bring a nice view of the past to each one with the old photos and information. Thanks for all you do to share your thoughts and memories. Cheers. Lynn
Really great stuff Ed - the detail you go into is brilliant. I work in Falkirk so this was insightful! Thanks for sharing
Many thanks. It was only when I looked over footage I took on my visit that I noticed something strange in one of the shots. Let's just say there something ghostly going on. It may have been a weird camera lens aberration or something, but I've never seen such a thing and will be doing a separate short video on it.
Dear Ed. I really love this kind of videos - going so deep in historical details is very fascinating. Thank you for making this "unremarkable town" really interesting 🙂 Have the best time, best greetings from Perth. Sebastian
Thanks Sebastian. Falkirk's always worth a visit.
Excellent video.
How very interesting and also most saddening to see the decline of the town
Ed I thoroughly enjoyed your video of my old town. Thanks for putting so much effort into your research
Thanks Michael.
I grew up in Falkirk in the 90s. I remember my grandma picking me up from nursery and taking me to Mathiesons bakery for a pie and a chocolate eclair. Also Woolworths. Good memories.
Great Video Ed. Very Interesting Facts.
Thanks Andrew.
Great video Ed. UA-cam algorithm brought me here and fairly enjoyed that look at Falkirk.
You shoulda made a trip to the Woodside inn, along with wheatcheaf - the best two pubs in the town. Maybe next time, all the best.
I'll certainly remember the Woodside for my next visit. Many thanks.
I'm a Stirling man Ed, but now stay in Rosneath and Helensburgh is my nearest town. I concur with you wholeheartedly , but at the same time, I do need to embrace this location as it's my go to town for provisions and occasional Weatherspoon Pepsi and very well priced food choice.
Helensburgh has the bonus of being by the coast, which is always a good reason for a visit. It's not an old town, being designed in the 18th century by some bloke in a big house, so does not have the benefit of growth and irregularity around a mercat cross. But it's a lovely place, and I was probably just being a little bit flippant.
That was most interesting, E!! Good research 👍🏻 I know what you mean by the regularity of Helensburgh - still worth a visit, though. Deborah Kerr (born in Hillhead) spent the early years of her life in Helensburgh 👍🏻
Helensburgh has the bonus of being by the coast; always worth a visit.
Thanks for another great video, I fear that I worked on the steel for the shopping centre built in the nineties, from memory the job went bust and was stopped for a while. I think it was built on a graveyard ?
Yes, there used to be a church on Silver Row with a graveyard behind it. I think the graves were moved somewhere else and the church became a theatre.
@@EdExploresScotland The Horror!
well done Eddie. I think town planners want locked up myself. Looked like a nice pint.
Cheers Dougie. Nice to have met you the other day.
I think you were very generous in your comments about Falkirk. I moved there as a 3 year old in 1959 and couldn’t wait to leave (which I did when I was 18) I hated the place. Very kleekish they don’t take to outsiders (me and my parents were invernesians) and it is now full of pensioners and I am told has a massive drugs problem. Happily back in the highlands now, wouldn’t move there again if you paid me too. Nonetheless, a very ‘remarkable’ video of a very ‘unremarkable’ town…
Cheers Charlie.
@@chucklessavini1778 ‘nice prickish’ surely is an oxymoron. Falkirk today is a one horse town but sadly, the horse has left… nothing really going for it. It used to have a decent footy team (Brockville had character and was centrally located) the new stadium though modern, is like an empty shell of a place situated on the outskirts, and nothing like the atmosphere that Brockville Park exuded. (No more prickishness I promise😉)
Я з України, і до Фолкірку ми жили у Ноттінгемі. Я переїхала сюди, тому що надіялася, що тут кращі люди. Так, люди кращі, але каунсіл не кращий, ніж в Англії. Але ми тут живемо в соціальній ізоляції, ми нікому не цікаві, навіть каунсіл нас просто копнув, коли я на нього поскаржилася. У Ноттінгемі у нас постійно були контакти з людьми, тут люди посміхаються, але більше нічого не хочуть з тобою мати. Жахлива депресія.
The gentrification of Camelon Grangemouth Bo’Ness Polmont etc means people don’t come into the town as much now
We have tescos and aldis etc all close now coz the population has grown a good bit since being a kid in the 90
Also Larbert Stenhousemuir where I grew up has the hospital and shops so people ain’t in Falkirk for the royal also
I'm Glasweigan but I find Falkirk to be great town, the Steeple is impressive & I like seeing the kirk that gave it it's name (Egglesbrech- Specked Church= Fawkirk= Falkirk😀😉
Great title,my only visit ended in a parking ticket!
Hi Ed, it really is a travesty the way all the old buildings have been wiped off the landscape. And those shopping centres are a pain in the backside for delivery drivers. To get to the back doors of the multitude of shops you need to negotiate a maze of corridors. I sometimes wished I'd tied a length of string to my lorry to find my way back. Some centre's were so restricted there was a turntable you drove onto so you could get the lorry pointing back out the way you came in. I don't miss wet cobblestones though.
I like the string idea. Cheers Colin.
If it is any interest to folk
The 725th anniversary of The Battle of Falkirk 1298 takes place on the 22nd of July 2023
Falkirk Town centre
Bring back the good times
Absolutely.
aye ye kin tek the hert an sowl oot the toon bit ye canny tek the hert an sowl fae the bairns wha populated it touch ane touch awe
Well said
Aye, ock aye.
One of the other great Falkirk gems since lost to time was the Falkirk and district tramway (see tracks here 17:27 ), sadly just like all the other great aspects of old Falkirk they are gone and have since been forgotten, thank you for providing a permanent home for the history of Falkirk so that future generations will not forget what made Falkirk great. Great video 👍
Thank you. Part of me thinks that as a society we should have some way of preserving UA-cam videos, like we preserve old films and other media. Because when I eventually pop my clogs all this content will eventually go, and no longer be available for viewing.
Check my comments sir. Good channel @@EdExploresScotland
Falkirk's slightly more than just a town centre. Calendar Park, the Helix, the canals, the surrounding villages and Braes. If you just focus on a town centre you completely miss what Falkirk is all about
the vast majority of buildings where the howgate shopping centre is were pulled down many years before the shopping centre was built, most of it was just wasteland.
Many thanks for that. I hadn't realised, but on checking the web you're absolutely right. It seems the area was a car-park for years before the Howgate centre was built. I suppose a cynical part of me thinks maybe they pulled it all down knowing that the land could then be used for something like a shopping centre.
@@EdExploresScotland your probably right, although my gran grew up in howgate and it sounded pretty grim.
Before it was wasteland it was the location of the original Barr 's factory.
@@robertreape barrs was across the road from the original howgate, aye.
@@theMisadventuresofaLittleWolf aye it was
To be fair, Falkirk today is home to the Kelpies, the Falkirk Wheel and the grand old Callander House (which is well worth a visit).
Absolutely. These are all tremendous visitor attractions.
It truly is a shame the downfall of Falkirk is, in my opinion it states in the 50’s when they started tearing the historical buildings down like the old town hall
I get the feeling you are moving in this direction but I'd love to see an episode on auld Alloa. Such a dull town with quite the history.
Cheers David. Yes, Alloa has indeed got a rich history and very worthy of a video.
@@EdExploresScotland esp, as I know you'll like, from the brewing perspective. But also as a port and the history of the Mars etc
I agree - my dads family were from Alloa - most worked in the bottle works and as barrel makers - then some in Paton and Baldwins mill - thats where my mum and dad met - I have no doubt i still have very distant relatives living in Alloa
shopping centres did destroy Falkirk , Howgate and callender all those streets destroyed for places no-ones go to
unfortunately town centres are all square blocks with no real character :( probably why I like old pics lol ,seeing old black and white photos of old towns and streets and general life takes you into a world we would love to still lived in , a time when live was so simple :(
Hi Plum and tripe words I use myself a lot.
I have eaten the former but not the latter,
My father enjoyed a bit of tripe.....why....it is tripe!
Have you tried it?
ATB.
I recall eating tripe when a child. Not greatly fond of it as I think it needs to be boiled for five years before being edible!
Falkirk still has a few remnants of its medieval street lay out/
Unfortunately it is unremarkable now,COYB.
I agree the good, the bad and the downright ugly tucked away so as not offend if possible. These shopping centres are transient structures that mirror the commumities they serve although their carparks are intended for a larger crowd . Pedestrian has become an inconvenient word
so sad to see this man both grangemouth and falkirk toon centres are like ghost toons noo such a shame , but hopefully things change and they will flourish again. I blame giants like amazon and also the awful gov shutting down the economy for so long and making life difficult for small business. I think markets should make a huge come back , we need more independent vendors selling goods
The falkirk councillors should have been jailed
The 600 lost souls from Bute must have been a significant percentage of the male population on the island. What turmoil must have been caused there indirectly!
Absolutely. Hard to imagine how the island survived after that.
What's that to your left..../right watching the screen? At approx 9:47-9:50. I think sir you have possibly caught a ghost on camera.....
Yes, I noticed that myself, and someone else commented on it. When I first saw it, it did seem a little ghostly. There is a car-park behind the camera, and I think what we're actually looking at is the sun glinting off part of a car moving in the car-park, hence why the light aberration moves sideways. But it certainly looks unusual.
Sir Archibald Primrose, Lord Dunipace, was a member of Fakirk (proper spelling) Masonic Lodge. Executed for his part in the Jacobite armed struggle, 1746.
No 48 or 49
Culross most definitely spoils one's appetite
Falkirk is far from great, but it's centred around a number of industries over the periods. Think of the Carron works, and the other foundries in Camelon and Larbert. Also, as a junction between the Forth & Clyde and the Union canals. So, yes, as a town centre there's not much to say, but the centre doesn't make a town.
no kelpies, falkirk wheel,football stadium?
"With about as much architectural appeal as a plum".
Well said.
Rather disappointed that my comment concerning Sir Archibald Primrose was deleted by yourself!
You made a comment naming a person which was not appropriate or anything to do with the video. That was deleted. I'm not sure why the above mentioned comment was also deleted in the same move.
At 9.50 a kind of mist thing floated past you at your left. What was it?
Hi Heather. Well spotted. I actually made a short video about that very moment, but it hasn't yet been posted online. I thought it looked a bit spooky. But in fact I think it's probably just the sun reflecting off a shiny bit of a car moving slowly in the car-park. Then again ... ...
Don't know bet Falkirk has alot of ghosts. Loving your channel Ed. Have you ever made one of cumbernauld?
Cumbernauld village. Condorrat and the Cumbernauld glen are worth a visit all alot of history 😊
One day I will visit the old village of Cumbernauld.
Don’t visit maddiston 😄
Dear Ed, thank you for your many videos on Scotland because we are travelling there in September and it's very helpful for my book writing. I have written a book called "Isobel of Glemoriston" you may be interested. I thought I'd just mention about Falkirk that in the tomb of John de Graeme lies also The Young Glengarry, whose name is Aeneas MacDonell of Glengarry, second son of John 12th Chief of the MacDonells of Glengarry, who was just 20 years old. He was killed in Falkirk the day after the Battle of Falkirk in 1746. His funeral was attended by all the chiefs except the Prince himself despite the Young Glengarry being the commander of the Glengarry Regiment. You may find all of these details from The 1745 Association. There is a plaque outside that Church that you visited commemorating the death of the Young Glengarry. Because his death was so important, particularly in dividing the MacDonalds before Culloden, I suggest you make another video and add that The Young Glengarry is also in that grave. Regards, Zaynab El-Fatah
Thank you for your comment.
Ah could’ve told yous that
Home of tvs and IRN-BRU
Absolutely.
If you don't value your culture it's easy for others (The council) to destroy it. If they had left it alone they would have much more visitors today. The boom time money of the big industries wasted. Replaced today by housing developers, another mistake😡😡😡 laying waste to the countryside and the history.
Falkirk is indeend an unremarkable town. No need to bother with it.
It a odd town folkirk not very nice
Those Bute men no doubt had short bows. No real match for the English long variant in range or velocity and Wallace had no cavalry to use against them as Bruce had at Bannockburn. They left the field before the battle..
Falkirk isn't a tourist hotspot but it has everything anybody needs in it close at hand. Unlike Linlithgow.