Another take on the kelpies

The original Pictish kelpie sculpture design – half horse half fish – was the brainchild of welding and fabrication lecturer James Constable during one of the college’s innovative cross departmental workshops in 2015. He enlisted colleague Alex Fagan to help with the project. And, over the last two years they have inspired more than 80 City and Guilds Level 2 students and modern apprentices to work on the aluminium sculpture incorporating techniques such as metal shaping, welding, pop riveting and pipe shaping. Forth Valley College principal Dr Ken Thomson has promised it will take up a prominent position on display in the new Falkirk Campus which is due for completion in 2019. Until then it will be displayed in the front entrance window of the current Falkirk campus. The Kelpie is made of more than 300 scales, has at least 400 rivets, is around 20 kilogrammes in weight, is almost two metres in length from head to tail, took almost 200 man hours to create and is made of entirely recycled material.