Qualla: The Kelpies https://qualla.com/the-kelpies en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:16 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/v/q/the-kelpies-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: The Kelpies https://qualla.com/the-kelpies The Kelpies: Introduction https://qualla.com/the-kelpies/ Photo credit William Starkey, CC BY-SA 2.0. They are the size of small cathedrals, and they are watching you. Andy Scott's two horse heads stand thirty metres high at the gateway of the Forth and Clyde Canal in central Scotland, 300 tonnes of structural steel sheathed in stainless steel skin, lit at night so they glow against the dark like nothing else in Britain. Drive the M9 between Falkirk and Grangemouth and there is no missing them. They were inspired by Clydesdale draught horses, named after a Scottish water-spirit, and built to last a hundred years.

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Image: William Starkey | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/v/q/the-kelpies-wp/gcvq-the-kelpies-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full The Kelpies: What a Kelpie Is https://qualla.com/the-kelpies/ Photo credit George Gastin, CC BY-SA 4.0. In Scottish folklore a kelpie is a shape-shifting water spirit, traditionally said to inhabit lochs and rivers and to drown unwary travellers who tried to ride them. The name was chosen by Scottish Canals at the inception of the Helix project in 2005 to reflect the mythological t...

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Image: George Gastin | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/v/q/the-kelpies-wp/gcvq-the-kelpies-what-a-kelpie-is.mp3 0:06 2 full The Kelpies: Construction https://qualla.com/the-kelpies/ Photo credit Scottish Government, CC BY 2.0. Construction began in June 2013 and the structures were complete by October that year, with a topping-out ceremony on 27 November 2013. The official unveiling took place in April 2014. Each head consists of a structural steel frame clad in stainless steel panels - 928 panels per ...

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Image: Scottish Government | CC BY 2.0

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/v/q/the-kelpies-wp/gcvq-the-kelpies-construction.mp3 0:06 3 full The Kelpies: The Heavy Horse https://qualla.com/the-kelpies/ Photo credit J. Miers - User: (WT-shared) Jtesla16 at wts wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 1.0. Scott's Kelpies are tributes to the heavy horse of Scottish industry - the draught animals that pulled wagons, ploughs, barges, and coal-ships through the Forth Valley for centuries before steam and diesel made them obsolete. The Clydesdale is the Scottish heavy horse, bred origi...

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Image: J. Miers - User: (WT-shared) Jtesla16 at wts wikivoyage | CC BY-SA 1.0

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/v/q/the-kelpies-wp/gcvq-the-kelpies-the-heavy-horse.mp3 0:06 4 full The Kelpies: Reception, Contested https://qualla.com/the-kelpies/ Photo credit Bewahrerderwerte, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critical reception split. The Guardian called the site 'one of the most dramatic gateways through which to enter Britain.' Ordnance Survey called them 'amazing and dramatic.' Tiffany Jenkins in The Scotsman said 'they are impressive, stunning even, and I think people will become ...

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Image: Bewahrerderwerte | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/v/q/the-kelpies-wp/gcvq-the-kelpies-reception-contested.mp3 0:06 5 full