For two days last week I went out with the TCV midweek volunteer group from Stirling. They have been going out to Easter Inch moss, near Blackburn, West Lothian, for a while now carrying out practical conservation work. Easter Inch Moss is an important peat bog habitat. Historically, the peat was extracted and used for industrial and horticultural purposes which has left the bog in a sorry state. TCV are working there as part of the wider management plan to restore the bog to its former glory as a wetland habitat that supports an abundance of plants and wildlife while also acting as a globally important carbon store.
Easter Inch Moss, West Lothian
We arrived on site on Tuesday and had come prepared for a wet day but did not expect horizontal snow! After a slightly extended tea break (due to the weather) the sun appeared and so did the volunteer group from Edinburgh. The task for the day was to construct dams out of plastic panels across some of the drainage channels to retain the water in the peat and increase the wetness of the bog. Once we had slotted the panels together and got them into position across the channel the arduous job of hammering them down into the peat began. Once through any tough vegetation at the surface the panels can be hammered through the peat relatively easily (until you come across troublesome roots and stones!).
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- Getting it into position
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- Braving the snow
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- Hammering in each panel
After retreating back to the minibus for lunch in the dry we returned to the dams to find water already building up behind them – conservation in action! We completed another two dams in the afternoon, before running out of panels, making a total of 5 dams for the day, not bad!
After a day back in the office (with very sore arms!) I was back out at Ester Inch Moss for another session of damn building this time at a different location with a slightly longer walk in. We met up with the Edinburgh crowd again and headed off across the bog laden with piling panels, spades, wooden planks and one of the most antiquated tools I have ever seen, known as a rutter (I’m still not convinced it shouldn’t belong in a museum, but I was reassured it would be an invaluable tool…). Fortunately some previous visitors to the bog had improvised and made some bridges out of pallets and shopping trollies to help us cross the drainage ditches and reach the site for the next dams. In contrast to Tuesday, the sun was shining and coats and fleeces were quickly flung aside as we got to work on the new dams. Some others also set about clearing some birch trees which will help to retain more moisture in the peat.
Two dams down, we stopped for lunch and to give our weary arms a rest. With a new burst of energy another two dams were completed in the afternoon and we were finished in time for a cup of tea in the sunshine and a group photo before heading back to the vans.
Posing with the rutter in front of a newly finished dam
I really enjoyed my days out at Easter Inch Moss and learned a lot from the leaders and the volunteers. I’d like to thank everyone for making me so welcome; it was a real testament to the TCV tag line ‘join in, feel good’ and I’ll definitely be back again soon to lend a hand with future projects!
