Explosive exhibition makes a bang

The town's Callendar House will host Exploded: Carron, Shrapnel & Nobel in Falkirk, a year-long exhibition beginning this weekend.

The Carronade short smoothbore, cast iron cannon was created in the town in 1778 and was used during the Battle of Trafalgar and the American Civil War.

The industry was also key to providing jobs for locals during both world wars.

World famous names such as Henry Shrapnel and Alfred Nobel came to the Falkirk area to develop munitions which were produced by generations of local workers.

To mark the start of the exhibit on Saturday, the Earle of Loudon's Regiment Jacobite re-enactment group will fire a cannon in front of Callendar House.

'Local lives'

The exhibition will feature a range of artefacts from Falkirk Council's collections relating to the local manufacture of explosives, munitions and artillery from the 18th century up to the present day.

During the year-long event, Dr Tony Pollard of the BBC's Two Men in a Trench programme will visit the exhibition to give a talk on the impact Falkirk had on the industry.

Visitors will also be invited to try their hand at being a 'munitionette', a term used to describe the women who put together explosive shells on the assembly line.

Falkirk councillor Adrian Mahoney said: "This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about the major role played by Falkirk in an industry which not only changed local lives and landscapes, but impacted across the world."

The free exhibition will be open Monday to Saturday from 1000 to 1700 GMT.

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Falkirk Council
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