On Saturday I had the great opportunity to meet some of the Allan Water Catchment residents at the Doune and Dunblane Show where I had my first ever Natural Flood Management (NFM) Tent.
It was a lovely sunny summer day at Keir Mains, the show site just outside of Dunblane. The day started however with a minor calamity for the NFM tent, when I discovered the marquee pegs were missing from the marquee. So after making a frantic dash to Stirling and back we eventually got the NFM tent up and running just in time for the opening.
Volunteer Noelia and I at the NFM tent
The view of the show from the NFM tent
As the day progressed the show got busier and more people began to visit our tent and express an interest in the freshwater invertebrate samples collected from the Allan Water, and the Natural Flood Management Project on the Allan Water. It was great for us to interact with a mixture of local people and visitors from other catchments that enjoyed learning about life in the river and the NFM project. Some people even signed up to be NFM volunteers and participate in NFM on the Allan Water by tree planting in a fun and friendly volunteer environment, which is fantastic! If you are interested in becoming an NFM volunteer, e-mail l.belleni@tcv.org.uk for more information!
Volunteer Charlie and I talking to people about NFM and flooding
Volunteers Noelia and Patricia getting ready to engage with the public
During the course of the day we were lucky enough to see one of the mayfly hatch in our tent. I am doubtful if this mayfly survived as it appeared to have damaged it’s wing during the hatching process, and it is common for flies to die/drown whilst attempting to leave their former aquatic home to join the terrestrial world. However, it certainly provided some entertainment around the freshwater invertebrate laboratory!
Mayfly that hatched in the NFM tent with a damaged wing
It was a great experience organising my first ever NFM tent for an event, and I really enjoyed conversing with the many interested people that came and visited our stall. The last photograph is one of the cattle judging which was one of the centre piece attractions of the show.
Bulls being judged in the showring
Many thanks to my NFM volunteers on the day Charlie Perfect, Patricia Gonzalez and Noelia Collado Salas for making the tent a success, and a big thank you to Noelia for taking these photographs!