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Ribbon of Light
Our feature magazine containing articles about the Falkirk area, the canal network and other stories of interest. (ribbon of light is a 'romantic' name for the canal as seen from above - 'zif you didn't already know that.. )
Issue 5
| The Soliton |
The Soliton
 The phenomenon of the Soliton, or single wave, one of the principles behind optoelectronics was first demonstrated by John Scott Russell on the Union Canal in 1838.
Born in Parkhead, Glasgow, he soon abandoned plans to join the ministry for a career in engineering. His first invention - a steam carriage - was initially successful, but his enterprise as a steam-coach operator between Glasgow and Paisley came to a sudden end in 1834, when four fatalities resulted from the crash of one...
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| Walter Alexander - From Bikes to Buses |
Walter Alexander
WALTER Alexander is the Falkirk Bairn who got an entire community moving.
The founder of the world's biggest supplier of double-decker buses is remembered as a shrewd business man with a vision which would shape the Scottish bus business for decades.
Walter Alexander was just 24 when he opened a small cycle shop in Camelon in 1902. He had already realised bicycles were not just enjoyed by families in their spare time - they were also used by hundreds to get to and from their work. Cautious as ...
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| William Forbes of Callendar - 'Copperbottom Forbes' |
William Forbes of Callendar
William Forbes, founder of the Forbes of Callendar family, was born in Aberdeen in 1743, the second son of a coppersmith. Tradition dictated he and his big brother George followed in their father and grandfather's foot steps and joined the business.
But by 1771 the ambitious William Forbes was living in London, leasing a house in Upper Thames Street and looking after the firm's booming interests in the city, while George supervised operations in Aberdeen.
It appears that running two factor...
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| Sir Thomas de Morham - The Loyal Noble |
Sir Thomas de Morham
FIGHTING for Scotland during the Wars of Independence brought great risk to Scottish nobles who refused to bend their knee to King Edward.
These were rich and powerful men who, as masters of vast tracts of the country, held the welfare and livelihood of thousands of Scots in their hands.
But they stood to lose everything - and possibly even their heads - if they opted for the wrong side.
They often held lands on each side of the border and were required to pay homage to both the Scottish and Englis...
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