But keeping a place of this scale looking as good as it does takes a huge amount of work behind the scenes.

My latest Spotlight visit gave me the opportunity to spend a morning with the small Grounds Maintenance Team responsible for looking after the grounds and outdoor spaces at The Helix Park and I quickly discovered that there is much more to this team than meets the eye!

One of the things I enjoy most about my Spotlight visits is discovering the skills and experience people bring to their roles which you would never find in a job title or description.

That was certainly true at The Helix.

Within this small team there is an extraordinary range of backgrounds, skills and interests. I met people with experience ranging from fine art and carpentry to conservation and path restoration on Ben Lomond.

Those skills can be seen throughout the park.

The team are encouraged to come up with creative ideas for The Helix and they showed me some of the features they have created themselves, using their knowledge and skills to enhance different areas of the park. Natural materials are reused wherever possible, including timber from trees within the park which has been given a new life as benches and other features.

Stone and wood have also been used creatively for signs, sculptures and landscaping, while the team is constantly looking at the environment around them and thinking about what else they can do with it. I particularly enjoyed looking at artwork of some of the birds that can be seen in the park while I walked in the “Wee Woodland Walk”.  

One comment during our conversation summed this up particularly well: "Everything in the park is a creative opportunity."

That attitude is evident in the care and thought that goes into the site.

What came through particularly strongly was the team's sense of ownership and responsibility for the park.

One member of the team described how they approach looking after The Helix as they would their own garden - with a genuine sense of care for the place and the people who use it.

They described themselves as "custodians" of The Helix, and I think that is a good way of capturing what I saw.

The team is trusted to use its knowledge and experience, bring forward ideas and think about how areas can be improved. That combination of autonomy and responsibility is important.

I have always believed that organisations work best when people are empowered to think as well as do - when employees understand what needs to be achieved and are trusted to use their skills and judgement to help make it happen.

The results of that approach are visible throughout The Helix.

Our conversation also went well beyond gardening and maintenance.

The team spoke passionately about the importance of parks in giving people an opportunity to connect with nature and the benefits that being outdoors can bring to both physical and mental wellbeing.

That is something I can certainly relate to. I spend a lot of my working life indoors, and whenever possible I try to get outside, whether that is walking before work, cycling or simply spending time in my own garden. There is something about being outdoors that helps you reset.

The Helix offers that opportunity on a significant scale.

There is the grandeur of The Kelpies and the busy visitor areas, but only a short distance away you can find woodland, meadows, wetlands and quieter areas where people can simply slow down and enjoy being surrounded by nature.

I was particularly interested to hear about the diversity of wildlife found within the park and the team's desire to balance the high standards required of a major visitor destination with creating and protecting habitats for nature.

That balance will become increasingly important as we think about biodiversity, climate change and how we manage our green spaces in the future.

The team also has another role which probably isn't immediately obvious - they are among the first people visitors meet while exploring The Helix.

They regularly stop and speak to people, answer questions and hear directly about what visitors like and what they think could be improved.

That means they provide an informal but valuable connection between the people using the park and those managing it.

And those conversations can be with people from almost anywhere.

The team talked about meeting visitors from across the UK and countries as far away as New Zealand and the United States. The Kelpies have travelled around the world through photographs and social media and have become a recognisable symbol of Scotland.

That makes the team's role in looking after their surroundings particularly important. For some international visitors, The Helix may be one of their first impressions of Falkirk.

At the same time, it remains very much a local park, used regularly by dog walkers, families, cyclists and people simply looking for somewhere to spend some time outdoors.

Being able to serve both those audiences is part of what makes The Helix special.

The thing that struck me most during the visit was the vast array of skills, knowledge and experience contained within such a small team.

But perhaps even more important was the pride they take in their work.

There was a real sense that this isn't simply a place they come to work each day. They care about The Helix, understand what it means to the people who use it and feel a responsibility for leaving it in a better condition for those who come after them.

At one point during our conversation, I joked that I had expected to meet gardeners and instead found myself talking to philosophers, poets and artists. But there was some truth behind the joke.

Our conversation ranged from grass cutting and stonework to conservation, biodiversity, John Muir, tourism, wellbeing and our relationship with the natural environment.

It was another reminder of something these Spotlight visits repeatedly demonstrate - the depth of knowledge, experience and talent we have within our workforce.

I would like to thank Mandy Brown, The Helix Team Leader, David Moody, Visitor Services and Outdoor Manager, and the Gardening Team for taking the time to speak so openly with me and show me around their workplace.

The Helix may be known around the world because of The Kelpies, but it is the care, creativity and commitment of people working behind the scenes every day that helps make the wider park somewhere Falkirk can be proud of.