運河ボートでスコットランドの首都へ

運河ボートでスコットランドの首都へ

We’ve crossed Scotland’s longest aqueduct. We’ve navigated tunnels carved by hand
more than 200 years ago. And after lots of canal chaos, we’re still afloat. Now our sights are set on Edinburgh. But getting there isn’t simple. The bridge is closing before lifting us
high over one of Scotland’s busiest roads, with cars rushing beneath our boat. Mile by mile, we edge closer to Scotland’s capital. This is no ordinary arrival
into Edinburgh. This is what it’s really like
to reach Scotland’s capital by canal. Good morning from the canal boat. We both had a wonderful sleep. It’s looking a bit grey and it might rain. So we’re thinking to head off
and start going towards Edinburgh. All the other canal boats were gone
when we woke up. So I think they might be going back
to the Falkirk Wheel today. So we’ve got an early start
in quite a long journey to go, but we want to try and cover as much distance as possible. Before we set off, I did notice that
there’s a water tap just there, so I’m going to try and top up that boat
with water because yesterday in the induction
they said when you have a chance, try and top up the water in the boat
every single day. The tank on the boat is 1000l,
which is absolutely huge. I mean, I only carry 20l in my camper van,
but when you have showers you use a lot more water. We’re going to top up the water
before we go because to be honest,
every time you come in and try and do the mooring,
it’s quite a big job tying all those ropes. Oh, that was painful.
Did you lock that? That used to go back more.
Did you lock it? The area to fill the water is actually on the other side. So, I’m going to reverse the canal boat back.
How? Where’s the water thing?
At the front. So we need to go along and reverse back. There’s no tap there, is there? The water, they said twist this
and then the water goes in here. So I’ll just take off just now. Yeah. So the water goes into that. Now let’s get back to the water there. Forgotten how to drive this thing. Okay, I think I need to be unhooked. Oh, yeah. I can give you a push over it. Bring you back a bit. I can just bring the whole thing back.
Okay. Morning. Morning. Oh, such a cute dog. So glad I’m traveling with Albert. Look at that.
You’re not even doing anything. Oh, stop. Stop. Stop.
Neutral. There. We’re stopping still now.
There we go. I need to get the hose onto land, you know? I need to get that rope in there. So I need to…
I’m going to throw the rope to you. Okay, over here, over here. Do you want the hose as well? I’m just tying a really tight knot. Okay. Hugh’s topping up the water. Turn on.
I’m not sure if it’s on. Can you jump on and see? And the water. There we go. Coming out into there. Then there’s a water gauge, I believe, down here. Is it working? Yeah. Little bit of leakage. Easy as that.
And these, these are free. You don’t have to put any money in or anything. While we’re waiting for the water to fill, Here is the map. Is there anywhere interesting
that you’re interested to go past today, Hugh? Ratho apparently is nice. A lot of people have said that’s interesting.
Where is that? Is that here? Yeah. Ratho Bridge. So we’ll definitely try
and make it there today. And then if possible it’d be really cool
to get towards Edinburgh as well. But I don’t know. It’s quite a long journey
to get all the way there. From here to here, 4 hours
and then here to here is 4. Okay. I think we’re getting full.
We’re making noises here. Trying to remember how to drive it. Okay. So we’re going to… Hugh’s on. Get forward. All the ropes are on. Bye bye, little knit Linlithgow. What a fantastic place. I’ll need to come back here. Could get some some leaves and reeds
this early on in the video. Scared to crash into these.
Yeah, I know. So scary to like…
Just straight into… There’s nowhere to tie a boat here.
Like even if we’d come past, there’s nowhere to go like. Yeah, that was a good choice actually. What’s this? There’s toilet. And rubbish, look. Please close with care. Please.
They’re showers. Maybe. We should have a look around. They’re like permanently sitting there, look. Power. Electric. They must pay there, look. Residential bath only.
They live here. That one looks so nice as well. The black one? Sore head. Took painkillers.
You’ve got sore head? Have you actually? No, you don’t. I do. I swear. Don’t lie.
I drank loads of water last night. I had none. Typical fashion. You actually advised me you drink loads of water
when you have a hangover. When you actually come back
and then it’ll stop you getting a hangover. Very true. Apparently eating a banana as well
when you come in. We had a fry up, so that’s true. It’s pretty substantial. That looks like a distillery over there.
Can you check on the map if it is? Maybe that’s the place of the brewery
where the beer came from. Oh yeah, he did say it was like 500 m up the road. Usually that’s for like the stills. It’s not for the… No, nothing. Houses. Anything from the kitchen? Coffee please. One coffee coming right up.
There’s two. Get some water in this kettle. Easy as that. As I am steering along,
Hugh has made a lovely breakfast. Berries, yoghurt and nuts and a coffee. How nice to have a coffee delivered
when you are cruising along. Thanks, Hugh. You’re welcome. It’s quite cold today, to be honest. Quite chilly out here. Windy. I packed for warm weather yesterday. It was really warm, but I’m cold. Can you steer and eat at the same time? Let’s see. Multitasking. Very good. It’s like going through a magical forest. Doing this canal boat trip has really showed me
a different side of Scotland. I knew the canals were here,
but when you’re actually going along the canals, you really get to appreciate every single part. The bridges, all the trees, the nature. They’re so many sounds, birds, insects. It is just incredible and so peaceful. So, so peaceful. There’s hardly any other boats, any other people. If you ever get a chance to do a canal boat trip
in Scotland, I highly recommend it. As we were sailing through the enchanted forest, Hugh got a bit stuck. Right now we seem to be going backwards. Start daydreaming and then just start going things like Are you okay? You’re going to cause a tsunami in the canal. Difficult.
Right, let me have a go. I think it’s just very shallow this side.
This is what I was stuck in. Stuck in the mud?
Yeah, you need to get back into the middle. That’s why I reversed up here. It’s very shallow. Smell the mud in the air? Can you smell that? Swampy canal smell. Managed to get past here. Look. I think we’re back on track. Look. Yeah. I think we’re away, boys. Every time I look down, Hugh is in the fridge. Eating! What are you doing? Stuffing your face. Go away. You’re going to crash.
You’re going to crash. Every so often we pass these signs. They tell you how far you have to go. Edinburgh 15 miles, Falkirk 15 miles. This is the halfway point
between Falkirk and Edinburgh. We are halfway. Linlithgow 6 miles. So we’ve travelled 6 miles already today. We have just arrived here at Winchburgh. So in here this is for
you can actually stop and park up right? You can park up your boats in there
if you want to. There’s no way I can fit through there. I don’t think. It’s quite a tight squeeze. I don’t think…Of course.
I’m going from reed to reed over here. I don’t think our skill level is
capable of getting through there. We’re going to power on ahead. I don’t think we’ll fit into the gap there to go into Winchburgh. There’s a canal boat actually coming out, but I think he’s going the other way. Yeah, he’s going the other way. Yeah. We’ve not dealt with any overtaking situations really,
so it’s quite good. The canal we’re on is called the Union Canal. It’s a 31 mile waterway
running between Falkirk and Edinburgh. It opened in 1822 and was built mainly to carry coal
from the west into Edinburgh, but it was also used for transporting building materials,
timber and even passengers. Before the railways, this was one of the fastest ways to travel
between towns. When the railways arrived in the mid 1800s,
the canal couldn’t compete. By 1933, commercial use had ended. The link to the Forth and Clyde was filled in and the canal became derelict
and overgrown. In the late 1990s, a major restoration
called the Millennium Link brought it back to life. The canal was dredged,
bridges raised and towpaths upgraded, and at Falkirk,
they built this spectacular Falkirk Wheel to reconnect it to the Forth and Clyde Canal. We’re starting to approach into
the very outskirts of Edinburgh. Hugh’s at the wheel.
But Hugh keeps losing focus. and looking into the distance.
I can do 5 minutes and then I’m just zigzagging. I think it goes too fast. Really? Like medium speed. I can’t control the top speed of 4 km an hour.
4 miles per hour. Hugh loses concentration. and he starts looking at his phone and then it kind of veers off into the reeds. There’s a castle in the distance there. There’s some airplanes. We must be near the airport now. Yeah? We’re just passing this boat. It looks like it’s been burnt. Wow, that’s so sad. R.I.P beauty boy. Behind me is Lammermuir, Scotland’s Lammermuir. I’ve actually cycled along this part of the canal before.
I stayed at a campsite once near Edinburgh airport and I went for a cycle and I came all the way along here. So beautiful to cycle alongside the canals. So peaceful. First time passing another canal boat.
Need to take care. Hello there. All under control. That was the first time passing. Hugh, can I put an order from their coffee, please? 11 miles to Edinburgh, Hugh. Falkirk 20 miles. I don’t know if you’re allowed
to keep your hand on the accelerator. Probably not. No, it’s probably limited. Here’s a plane coming. Here’s a plane. Starbucks deliver. Oh my goodness, my coffee delivery has arrived. Cheers! Very good. How are you feeling? Canal boat life. Cold. Cold? Are you actually? A little bit chilly, boys. You’re very demanding, you know?
Really? Bossing me around. Relax. It’d be quite hard to do this just with one person. Yeah I agree. We’ve been so lucky with the weather. Well, yes,
this morning it was a little bit going to rain, Yeah. It rained last night when we were in the pub. Remember? You’re too drunk to realize. Okay. We are heading for another aqueduct. Planes flying overhead behind me here. Can you see that? Can you see the plane behind me? That is crazy. Here we go. And the aqueduct. Wow. This is incredible. This is the Almond Aqueduct. It was built in 1822,
and is 75m long, 23m high, and crosses the River Almond on 5 stone arches. It’s a category A-listed structure
and was fully restored in the late 1990s. It has started raining. This is the first rain of the whole day. Luckily there is an umbrella on the boat.
It’s just quite light rain. Hopefully it doesn’t get much heavier. So this is a place called Ratho, I think. And this was recommended as a place to stop. I can smell it cooking, Hugh. Smell like a restaurant. Can you smell it? It looks like you can do some cruises from here. I’m passing by some boats. It looks like these are boats that go on day trips and you can cruise along the canals. And then there’s people
all getting into them. So they might be heading off on a trip
in the rain, down the canal. Here’s the bridge in.
You can literally moor right beside it. So here is a recommended pub,
the Bridge in that you can stop. Are you cooking bacon? I thought it was the smell from the restaurant,
but Hugh’s cooking bacon down there. He’s got his own restaurant going on. Over there on the left side is the Ratho Marina. So in there, there are lots of canal boats
all parked up. So this is a great place to come actually. This is one of the main recommended stops here
on the Union Canal. So park up there, you have all the facilities that you need
and then you can cross over and then go to the pub for drinks and dinner. Looks like some people will live in there
permanently actually. They all look like non rental boats. And then here is the service mooring,
it’s called. So 30 minutes maximum stay here. So then you can go in here to the Marina
and top up your water. And here are more boats along here. Wow. Look at that one. It’s like a work boat. It’s a crane on there. Got Hugh down there cooking up some lunch. What are you making, Hugh? It’s hilarious. He is like full on chef mode. And then we’re just up here
cruising along. So as I’m cruising along here,
I noticed this canal boats. Look. Can you see it?
All the windows are smashed. Wow, that’s so sad. All the windows are all destroyed. Oh, that’s really horrible to see, actually. Oh my goodness. The next one along here
has completely sunk into the canal. Wow, that is crazy. I wonder why that’s allowed to happen. RIP. Was probably someone’s home. Yeah, it had a solar panel on it as well. Its mooring license ended in 2011,
so maybe it’s been like that for a while. As we make our way towards Edinburgh,
I’d like to say thanks to Wine 52 for making it possible to film this video today. And they are offering you
a free case of excellent wines. Wine 52 is a wine community
which supports independent producers and discovers the world’s very best wines. Each month they send out a case of wines. You can choose between a case
of white wine, red wine or mixed wine. You also get two yummy snacks
and a copy of glug magazine. This month is extra special
as they’re heading to North America for the first time with a brilliant lineup of award winning wines from California. The region is known worldwide
for its innovation and outstanding quality, combining old world techniques with fresh ideas. I got the mixed case, which includes
this bottle of Poppy Petite Bordeaux. It’s described as being rich and juicy
and bursting with ripe red fruit flavours. It has a touch of earthiness that adds
depth and a smooth and long lasting finish. I’m going to take over the driving
from now until we get into Edinburgh. So Hugh is going to taste the wine for me. Perfect for a canal boat trip through Scotland.
Yeah. One of the best things about Wine 52
is that you get to try different wines that you might not select yourself at the shop. I can’t wait to try that later. If you’d like to try Wine 52,
they are offering a free case of wine for your first month. If you decide it’s not for you,
you can pause or cancel at any time to claim your free case of wine,
all you need to do is cover the £9.95 postage and click my unique link in the video description or go to wine52.com/ruthwine. As we approach Edinburgh, we are going over another aqueduct
and this one actually goes over the motorway, which is very exciting. So we are going over the motorway. Oh my goodness. Entering into this city. I’ve probably driven under this many times
and had no idea that above the motorway was a canal. This is amazing. This is the Scott Russell aqueduct. It carries the Union Canal over
Edinburgh’s busy city bypass and was completed in 1987, years before
funding was secured to restore the whole canal. Building it was seen as a real leap of faith. It’s named after John Scott Russell,
who discovered the solitary wave here in 1834. The solitary wave is a single smooth bump of water that moves along the canal
without breaking or slowing down. Russell spotted it
when a boat stopped suddenly, and the wave it made just kept going. He even chased it on horseback for over a mile. That discovery went on to inspire
huge scientific advances, including the technology behind fibre optic internet. There are so many cars below the aqueduct. People are beeping at us. I wonder if they’re beeping at us
or beeping at other traffic. I just saw a sign that says 6 miles
until the city centre of Edinburgh, and it’s 26 miles to Falkirk
where we started this canal boat journey. So we’ve made really great progress. I am really looking forward to the next few moments
on the canal, just to see what’s ahead of us and how the scenery is going to change because it’s been so green
and so countryside feeling so far. But yeah.
Even a lot of walkers and runners. Yeah, there’s more people running and walking.
Yeah. And a lot more bridges as well. There another road one above. Look. Oh yeah. Hugh, once we get into Edinburgh city centre,
is there anything that you would like to do in Edinburgh? You haven’t been to Edinburgh a while, right? Many years. Wow. I think tonight I want to taste good whisky. Good whisky. Yeah? You want to be a whisky convert like me?
I’ve had it a few times before and I hate it. But maybe I’m tasting the wrong stuff. Well, where we’re parking up the boat, there is a very good whisky bar
that has been recommended to me by so many of you and so many of my friends. But I’ve never been, and I’ve heard
that they do very healthy measures. So, you’re going to say healthy whiskey? Well, possibly healthy whiskey, too. And but we could head there. Have you ever tried a smoky whisky before? A peated whisky. Laphroaig? Yeah. Laphroaig is. Yeah.
Yeah, it’s very peated. It’s like almost a medicinal flavour. That’s what some people describe it as. I’m down to try.
Okay, we’ll try some. but if we make it,
if we make it into Edinburgh. Yeah. Let’s see. Something I’ve noticed as
we’ve approached into more builtup areas is the amount of rubbish.
Look, there’s rubbish in the canals here. Yeah. We’ve been going quite a lot. You can walk faster than that. He said it should take 3 and a half days
to get from Falkirk to here. He’s like, you can walk faster than that. It’s true. It’s true.
I mean, the boats do go at walking pace. Wise man. Going through a part of Edinburgh
that I have never been to before. That’s something I really like
about travelling along the canal. This is taking us to places
that I’ve never been to. Yeah.
These parts of Edinburgh are on the outskirts, but usually I will always go in
to Edinburgh at a different route. 4 and a half miles to the city center now. Now it’s like back to being in the countryside again. Look at that. Such contrast. So we have just passed under a bridge. But this here is a railway bridge. Imagine a train came right now. Feel like we’re back in the countryside again. We were… I felt like we’re in Edinburgh and then
we’ve gone back into this greenery area. I wonder what’s coming next. You’re like civilized gentleman sipping your glass of wine.
Bloody lovely. Yeah. All overboard but. Yeah, I actually watched a video about the canal boats and before I hired this one. and there was actually a section about what to do if you have man overboard.
It was like first of all don’t fall overboard. It’s quite funny. Very helpful. Lots of buildings coming up. So on the right hand side
there’s a very busy road and many houses. We have so many more people walking along the paths. People cycling, people running. Definitely feels like we’re entering
into a populated place. Wow. There’s a railway line here, a road here. The area we’re approaching is Craiglockhart,
and we’re going over what looks like another aqueduct. Okay, we’re going onto the aqueduct right now. I wonder what’s underneath.
Is it a road? Is it a river? Is it a city? What is underneath the aqueduct? Okay, so on one side we have a railway
bridge and there’s a road and houses. There’s a Sainsbury’s. There’s so much underneath the aqueduct. There’s a train. There’s a castle.
Hugh, look. There’s the castle. Saw Edinburgh Castle.
That officially means we are in Edinburgh. How do you feel, Hugh? Seeing Edinburgh Castle.
Best feeling in the world. That is iconic. Iconic Edinburgh, isn’t it? There’s quite a lot of houses here now. These be lovely to have your garden back onto the canal and then on the other side of their house is
probably a really busy street, but then the back of the house is like a hidden oasis. Out there, there’s cars, traffic, so many people. But then we’re in the canal. It’s so so peaceful and serene. I feel like we are really approaching into Edinburgh. This is Edinburgh.
Starting to see some houseboats. Haven’t really seen any house boats since Ratho,
which was maybe 2 hours ago. Ratho, I forgot the name of the place. Oh, it’s so nice. There’s all the old Edinburgh buildings
coming into view as well. What was that? Trolley? We can moor here, for example. I think we should start looking to see
potential mooring spots for tonight because if we get turned then we might have to come back. I think it’s better to turn and face this way cuz after Edinburgh you cannot go any further. You can’t continue on to any other place. This is the end point. The end of the line. This is so exciting
arriving into Edinburgh by a canal boat. I actually cannot even describe how I feel right now. I’m so excited. You don’t even look excited.
Hugh drank too much wine. Bloody freezing.
Are you? Yeah. Edinburgh feels so alive.
It’s such a fantastic city, isn’t it? New Scotland.org. There’s a fisherman.
There’s a fisherman as well. So many obstacles. What I’ve noticed with the people fishing in the canals,
they’re usually quite uh proactive. They always remove their line
as they see the or hear the boat approaching, which is quite good because I was worried that
their lines might get caught in the boat. This is crazy. We’re like just chilling on the canal here.
This is so funny. Heading to a place called the Lochrin Basin.
It is now 3/4 of a mile and I think that it’s a point
where it’s possible to actually turn the canal boat. And this will be the first time
that I turn it and I’m a bit nervous. Hopefully there is a big wide spacious area where I can fit in turn the canal boat
and not bash into anyone else. Let’s see. It’s starting to feel really quite built up now ahead. So there’s buildings approaching on both sides of the canal. I don’t know.
This is the most exciting part of the entire trip for me coming into Edinburgh by canal boat.
I entered Edinburgh by train, by bus, my car, by taxi, by plane. Yeah, now by canal boat. Oh my gosh. I think out of everything
I have done for YouTube videos. I think this is my favorite moment of everything. Everything I’ve ever filmed or experienced, places I’ve gone. It is. This is just so good. So good. Look at the views behind me. Oh my goodness. All these old Edinburgh buildings. And I am just cruising along
this beautiful canal through Edinburgh. No words, no words. I want to take a picture. My friend who’s just there.
I’m going to send her the picture. Ahead of us, I think we are approaching the area where I will need to turn the canal boat around. There are some places here that we can
moor the boat and spend the night. It would be too much fun
to spend the night here in Edinburgh. I think this here is fountain bridge
where we’re going to be turning the canal boat. So feeling a little bit nervous. How are you feeling? Very nervous,
but thankfully I’m not driving. This is a nice area. Pretty modern. Yeah. flats. This is, we’re basically quarter of a mile.
Yeah, it’s just up ahead. There’s quite a few other boats here
and I imagine people live in these. So coming up is a bridge that opens, no? Yeah. So there is a road ahead. But you need to call ahead to ask them
to open the bridge that’s an actual road with traffic on it. But I didn’t call ahead. I wonder like can you just park there?
No, that must belong… Look at this. This is permanent.
Somebody lives there. Yeah. So there maybe is a place down here
that will say visitor moorings and then we can actually go there.
So, look, here’s some black prince holidays. These are all boats that have come from Falkirk as well. We’re always arriving late because they’re driving all day. Maybe there’s one down there. Maybe in between those two.
Yeah. I think we should do the turn.
This literally is the end. Yeah. I think we should do the turning
and then we should find a spot because it’ll be fun to…I think it’s better to do the turning today
when I’m feeling quite confident. How are you going to turn? Literally, it’s the end. Yeah. So the other thing with the road bridge is that because there’s not really much through traffic, they told us at Falkirk
if you want to go through that then they might say the next day we can’t let you out
until midday or a certain time. But we obviously need to bring the boat
back by a certain time. We have a return date in time.
So we don’t want to get trapped behind this road bridge. And then we cannot bring the boat back on. And then we’re going to get fined and is just awful.
Disaster. Up here is a lift bridge. I think that’s it. I think that’s it. Yeah, that’s the road lift bridge. Yeah. Wait, there’s the turning area at the back there. Why don’t I turn and then come down here?
Okay. So, you can probably fit like two boats there.
Yeah, you can. Okay. I want you here for moral support. This is going to be the most stressful part
of the entire canal boat journey. The turning, the final moment. There’s no crowd. Yeah. And the Falkirk Wheel was
probably a bit more anxiety inducing to be honest. I know that’s kind of…
You’re going to…You’re going to put the nose in here and then get the back around. Put the nose in here and then you completely swivel
and then you’re away again. I’d go nose in here. I’m going to go there.
Put the nose there. Trying. I’m trying to turn it.
Why is it going that way? I need to go that way, right? I’d get on the reverse now.
Otherwise, you’re going to bash into the bridge. Yeah, but when I do that, I can’t control the direction. I’d stop moving forward.
Well, I want to move forward a little bit. I’ll stop talking. Okay. Yeah. That’s good. Really good actually. Good angle. There’s no pace. We’re not floating. I want to go forward. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Other way. Other way. Other way.
Put the nose to go this way. You know? Put the nose that way. Try and get the bottom of the boat in here. And then we can get away again. This is good. Kind of. Oh god. And then you want to flip this around and get this nose. You really want to swing this now.
Other way, other way, other way. It’s good. This will bring it right round. look. So. Yeah, it’s good, it’s good, it’s good. Yeah. Nice. This is good.
We’re turning. We’re turning. We’re turning. We’re going to smash in the front now. Always keep this way.
We’re going to smash the car. Tight boy. This is tight. It’s good, it’s good.
We’re on the way. Okay. Ready? Oh god.
Watch the line. Sorry, rental company. I’m sorry. Which way do I need to go?
Keep this way because it’s moving. Always forward. Backwards. Forward. Forward. Forward. This way. This way. This way. Stop doing it. See? Just do the forward and backwards. This man. This is worse than the Falkirk Wheel crowds. Okay. We’re officially around.
Well done. We did it. Yeah. Is that okay there? Perfect. Hand off. Fantastic. He’s going to help us. Don’t bump his boat though. Cuz he knows how amateur we are. Throw the rope. Parts of it. Parts of it. Parts of it.
Thank you. Hold on. Well, that was bloody intense. And we should turn off the ignition. Thank you so much for your help.
Thank you so much. Made it. This will be our spot for the night here in the city centre of Edinburgh. This will be our view from the canal boat. I wonder if it’ll be quite noisy staying here
in the city centre of Edinburgh. It’s been a long journey. Hugh already started on the white,
the red wine earlier. I’m going to try some of the white wine. Oh, there’s my friend. There’s my friend. That is so good. Come in. Come in. Come into our home. Watch your head.
Want some wine? No, I’m all right, actually. We just opened some wine. My friend who lives nearby here came and said hello. And unfortunately, we have a crew member down.
Are you filming right now? Hugh has fall asleep. So tiring. This boating malarkey. Another thing I’ve noticed here is
there are so many people walking past the windows of the boat
and maybe like 1 in 5 people looking. They’re like looking in the windows
to see inside the canal boat. So it’s really not very private staying here
on the canal in Edinburgh. But let’s go out and see Edinburgh.
Hugh is ready for bed. Party time! Now I think Hugh’s ready to try some whisky. Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go try some whiskey. And we’ll try some Edinburgh cuisine as well
and show you the sights here in Edinburgh. Thank you.
Hugh is making sure that we don’t get robbed. It’s quite difficult to lock. Walk up. To be honest, like last night when we stayed in Linlithgow,
I could hear lots of joggers in the morning passing by. I think it’s okay. It must be quite difficult
to live in these apartments here. It must be quite noisy with all the canal boats bashing into the walls. To be honest,
there’s not many places to actually park, so we got quite lucky to even find a spot,
because if this was taken… We would had to fit into that skinny point.
Or go way further up the canal. Yeah, we literally got the last spot. So basically in front of us here is the Leamington Lift Bridge. So if we had wanted to go through
this lift bridge with our canal boat Holly, we would have had to call 24 hours in advance. Someone would open the lift bridge for us and then we could bring our canal boat
through. So let’s go through the canal boats lift the bridge here, see where we would have ended up if we had
actually gone through the lift bridge. Just being honest,
there’s not really much to do in there. So we go down and have a look. If we had come through the Leamington lift bridge,
this is where we would have ended up. So behind me here are all these buildings. Looks like they’ll probably be apartment. It’s quite similar to Speirs Wharf in Glasgow. It’s all developed
now with office space and also cafes. But people are here living under canal boats in here. So there are mailboxes here. Over here there are more canal boats behind me. Do you know what really surprises me is
the lack of canal boats on the Scottish canal system. So I think it was all regenerated in 2001, and it really doesn’t feel very busy at all. So we’ve gone from Falkirk all the way here to Edinburgh and we can probably count on one hand
how many canal boats that we have passed on the Scottish canal system. So compared to the English canal system,
it doesn’t seem like it’s as busy at all. And maybe once things start
opening up here it will be different. I’m not sure, but yeah.
The whole experience has been so good though. I’m so glad we’ve had the whole experience
travelling all the way from Falkirk here to Edinburgh. What do you think, Hugh?
I agree. It’s been brilliant. I couldn’t have wished for a better person to spend it with. This is the Lochrin Basin,
the start of the Union Canal here in Edinburgh. When the canal opened in 1822,
this was a busy industrial hub. Boats would unload coal, timber
and building supplies for the city, and the area was packed with warehouses
and breweries. As the railways took over,
canal traffic died out and by the 20th century,
Lochrin Basin had fallen into neglect. During the restoration project,
it was completely transformed and today it’s known as Edinburgh Quay,
with a mix of modern apartments, offices and restaurants. Since we’re in Edinburgh, we’re going to
try the famous dish from Edinburgh, chips with salt and sauce,
which recently I have become quite a fan of. Sometimes when I’m offered salt and vinegar,
I sometimes think I would prefer salt and sauce. So this is the Fountain Park Fry. I’m going to head in here
for some chips with salt and sauce. One chips, please. With salt and sauce. Yes. Thank you. Since we’re in Edinburgh, Scotland, capital city,
we have to try the famous dish from Edinburgh. Salt and sauce.
This here is the salt and sauce. The sauce is basically a mixture of brown sauce and vinegar, but throughout most of the rest of Scotland,
it’ll be salt and vinegar that you’re offered on your chips. But in recent times I’ve really become quite a fan of
salt and sauce from Edinburgh. So let’s see how this one tastes. Very good. The last time I had salt and sauce, I hated it. I’m not a fan of brown sauce. So, let’s see.
I much prefer salt and vinegar. It’s pretty good actually. Taste is good, but chips are awful .
Really, really soggy. Obviously, a lot of sauce on top, but really mushy inside. No crispy at all. But taste is good. Really salty with a little bit of vinegar and the brown sauce. Would you say you are a salt and sauce convert
or are you still a salt and vinegar man? I think the salt and sauce on really good chips or fries
would be a lot better, but I think I’ll stick with salt and vinegar. But I’m starving so that’s
why I’m eating them at a rapid pace here. We have finished our salt and sauce. It was actually quite good.
What do you think, Hugh? Yeah. 7.57 okay. So next I’m going to be taking Hugh
to a whisky bar here in Edinburgh. So this whisky bar has been recommended
by so many of you in the comments. Also so many people in the whisky industry,
so many of my friends have all recommended this whisky bar here in Edinburgh,
but I’ve never actually made it to this whisky bar. So tonight I am going to go. It is called The Athletic Arms,
and I saw a sign outside that says there are over 400 single malts inside and going to attempt to turn Hugh into a whisky convert. Let’s see if it’s possible. This whisky here that I ordered is the Springbank 10-year-old. And this one here is the Kilchoman Machir Bay,
which is quite peaty. So would be interesting to see if Hugh likes it. Okay, Hugh, how are you feeling about trying
whisky here in the bar? Really nervous. Excited.
Excited? Good atmosphere. It’s really busy. It’s a good atmosphere. Yeah. They got a really good selection. So, fingers crossed we picked two of the best ones. So, let’s try this one first. That one is very nice. So Hugh, when you drink whisky,
just like sipping it. It’s quite easy to have it like a shot
because it’s a small drink. But sipping it slowly. This is the Springbank. Very, very nice. And then the next one is the Kilchoman Machir Bay. So this one is very smoky, so good try. But you might not like it. So. Very smoky. So Hugh, I think you should definitely start with this one. And I think if you don’t enjoy this one,
I think it’ll be hard to get into whisky to be honest. So let’s see if you like it. So, when did you last taste whisky and what was it like? My experience of whisky is like bourbon,
like Jack Daniel’s mixing whisky with a mixer. So in terms of malt whiskies,
I don’t think I’ve ever properly tried them. I used to work in a bar
and I used to serve a lot of malt whiskies, but I never actually tasted them but Yeah. I’ve had like famous brands.
They’re like blends of whisky I think and they’re horrible. So yeah, we’ll see what it tastes like. This is the Springbank. Doesn’t smell good. It’s all right. I’m not going to say I like it
because it’s just very, very, like, burning my throat. You could also add water. So we have water here that you can add. So if you want you can add a little bit of water
to the whisky to improve things. So strong. Just like ahhhh. I don’t love it.
Okay, okay. Now let’s try the next one. This is more of a smoky whisky. So try this one
and see how you get on with this one. Quite a different take on this. Taste exactly the same. This burns my throat. Oh, no.
A little bit sweeter, maybe. You said it’s peaty. There’s no way in my life
I will ever sit down and enjoy these drinks. I’ll never like that. Sorry. We’ve made it to Edinburgh, but the journey back is nothing
like we imagined. Torrential rain. Hugh, the canal boat’s lost power. No power and a deadline
we can’t afford to miss. I can’t move so my hands. We have to return the boat on time
and make a Falkirk Wheel slot. But with miles of canal still ahead of us,
will we even make it? Are you stuck? Help! Are you stuck?

🍷 Get your free case of wines w/ £9.95 postage over at https://www.wine52.com/RUTHWINE (UK only)

Hugh’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@UCw6hflfioKOlhKd1C1QOBpw

This time we are travelling to Scotland’s capital by canal boat. Scotland’s Union Canal runs from Falkirk to Edinburgh. After picking up our canal boat rental in Falkirk, we rode the Falkirk Wheel and are making our way along this beautiful canal all the way to Edinburgh… or so we hope!

This is our first time experiencing narrowboat life on UK canals, and it’s been a bigger learning curve than we expected. Will we make it to Edinburgh…?

🚣‍♂️ Falkirk Wheel Video (Scotland’s Canals – Video 1) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZfCZIXb8Wo&t=295s
🚣‍♂️ Falkirk to Linlithgow (Scotland’s Canals – Video 2) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KK-0kL-6Qo&t=53s

🍿 WATCH NEXT:
44 MUST-TRY SCOTTISH FOODS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9IpXfJndZ8&t=433s
SCOTLAND’S WHISKY ISLAND: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9IQXLRrujo&t=16s
1 WEEK LIVING ON A SCOTTISH ISLAND: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR49ihSl6FU&t=70s
SCOTLAND’S EVACUATED ISLAND: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uar6xdpRxpc&t=123s
ORKNEY ISLANDS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mdqewBUnKM&t=2s

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WHO AM I?
If we haven’t met before… Hi, I’m Ruth 👋 and I recently bought a campervan to travel my home country of Scotland after living overseas for 12 years. I’ve hardly seen anything or been anywhere in Scotland and now is the time to change that!

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