At only 2.75km the Local History Trail that starts and ends at the Greenrig Car Park in Falkirk is quite a leisurely meander.
However, it’s one where one can jump 200 years in the space of about five minutes, from the 1746 Battle of Falkirk Muir to the 1941 Clydebank Blitz. The Romans get a mention along the way, of course, and there are indications of the area’s former mining past as well as various other points of historical interest.
One of the markers along the trail indicates where some Bronze Age pottery was discovered, to turn back the clock even further.
Shortly after leaving the Greenrig Car Park one reaches a feature called ‘Charlie’s Stones’. It is believed they were placed on their current site in the late 18th century to mark the location, known as Charlie’s Hill, where Charles Edward Stuart (aka Bonnie Prince Charlie) watched the unfolding Battle of Falkirk Muir on 17th January 1746. There is also a Battle of Falkirk Muir Trail waymarked from Greenrig, and that will feature in a separate blog post.
A few hundred metres from Charlie’s Stones, one enters Canada Wood and a marker on that stretch of the trail indicates the site where a German bomber jettisoned some incendiary bombs on its way back from the Clydebank blitz in March 1941.
The route then follows the old drove road, where cattle would have been driven to the open-air market or cattle fair, known as a ‘tryst‘, in Falkirk or, later, Stenhousemuir in the 18th and 19th centuries, before reaching Tamfourhill Wood and the site of one of the many coal pits that were once located in the area. There is the site of a Roman encampment nearby, but the woodland trail instead takes another left turn and passes the site of a former tar works.
Not much remains of either the coal or tar sites, but the interpretation boards along the route provide a good bit of the background in short, easy-to-read chunks. Even if one doesn’t read the boards or bother with the history, the walk itself is a relaxing and scenic way to pass 45 minutes or so.
Before too long, a few more left and right turns finds one back at the car park. The Canada Wood Kitchen and Cafe is an almost obligatory stop before driving home.
Bottom: Tamfourhill Pit and the site of the former Tar Works
The China Penguin 