The weather was amazingly different from last night when we woke on the side of Loch Lomond. It was very sunny with a light wind.

We got going early so that we arrived at Hill House in Helensburgh 5 minutes before opening time. We watched the gates being unlocked and were the first visitors inside.

Hill House was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife Margaret Macdonald for Glasgow publisher Walter Blackie. Charles and Margaret also designed the furniture and fittings including lights, pictures, cupboards, chairs etc. Walter Blackie’s wife liked roses so Margaret created the rose emblem that has become famous linked to Rennie Mackintosh.

The whole building is amazing to see.

It was criticized heavily at the time as it seemed very sparse compared with houses of the time.

The shower was amazing with holes all around to give a full body spray.

The plans themselves were works of art.

New techniques using cement were used and the normal stone top plates on chimneys and roof ridge lines were not added to make the building look streamlined and uncluttered. This unfortunately has resulted in the building absorbing a lot of water. A protective canopy has been put over the top for around 5 years until it is repaired. But it does allow you to climb up over the roof and get a different perspective.

We also got good views over Helensburgh. The town was a Glasgow commuter town for rich businessmen in 1904 when Hill House was completed. There were many other impressive big houses.

The outside features were impressive too.

It was all amazingly stunning. It’s definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.

Sean had gone to visit the Submarine museum instead so we met him down at the esplanade.

We wandered round the streets finding some treasure in the charity shop. We got a corkscrew- an emergency replacement!

We had a van lunch on the sea at Helensburgh then drove off east through Glasgow towards Falkirk.

We arrived at the Falkirk wheel mid afternoon and parked in the Motorhome aire with great views. We pay only £18 and get access to toilets and showers – a superb location.

The wheel replaced 11 canal locks and moves 2 canal boats from bottom to top and Vice Versa in a circular motion.

After checking out the area we cycled 4 miles along the union canal to the Kelpies. It was a bit haphazard as a section of the canal was being worked on and we got put onto the road at some points, but we got there eventually.

It wasn’t too busy so we got some great photos.

There were several families of swans with cygnets.

We then cycled back to the Falkirk Wheel.

Glenn and I managed to have showers while cooking dinner. Glenn was an exhibitionist as he walked down the 200 meters to the showers like this.

The facilities are excellent and very modern. They are shared with the canal boats.

We had a very nice dinner – venison burgers with mashed potatoes and beans. The venison burgers were especially good – a healthy low fat meat that should be more eaten – as the deer population is increasing too fast everywhere.

It was a very quiet location for a good sleep. The alternative is the kelpies carpark which is very noisy beside the motorway with no facilities – not a good spot for an overnighter.