NEVER again will anyone doubt the boost that two equine crania can give to both a local economy and the cultural life of a country. The much-loved Kelpies, public art in the form of a pair of horses’ heads 100ft high, have won the Pioneer Award at the World Canals Conference, taking place in Inverness.
That these prestigious awards include in other categories the likes of Venice’s Waterways, puts the Forth & Clyde Canal in very fine company indeed. But The Kelpies, personifying both a lost industry and, in the words of artist Andy Scott, “a proud declaration of intent for the future of Scotland”, well deserve their place.
They may have their detractors, particularly among those who scoffed that they would be populist, but the people do indeed love these majestic beasts and so, clearly, do discerning awards panels with an eye for public art and how it can help to regenerate areas like waterways.
Of course, the Kelpies are just part of the successful Helix parkland project that has transformed 350 hectares of neglected land between Falkirk and Grangemouth into a popular visitor attraction and marine hub. Other canals may live in the shadow of the giant Kelpies, but we are sure there are spin-off effects for them too, with such awards raising the profile of all Scottish waterways and their possibilities.
This award also raises Scott’s profile as high as his horses’ heads and will doubtless be a more professionally satisfying victory than his other one earlier this week against a German-style burger van that had encroached upon the Kelpies’ territory.
As for the bonny beasts themselves, who knows the secret of their appeal? Is it their grace and style? Their very size? Their stillness in movement? Their movement in stillness? Whatever the case, these working horses are once more paying their way, trailing life and commerce and pleasure in their wake.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel