Hello all, another week gone at Edinburgh and another VO bites the dust, this is Rachels last blog before moving on to pastures new and I’m sure at the end of it will be some moving and poignant words of farewell. But we’ll start with Tuesday….
As has been mentioned in previous blogs the Hermitage of Braid has been going for its Green Flag status and this Tuesday was Judgement Day, as opposed to that other ”Judgement Day” that was supposed to happen last weekend. So, we were back sprucing the place up as the judges made their rounds. We cut back several laurel hedges down to (a very tall) shoulder height to improve the views and cleared a few of the paths that had become littered with debris after Mondays high winds. We also helped uncover old draingage ditches that hadn’t been seen since around their creation and create two new stone circle features. The day was interspersed with many stoppages to watch assorted duckings, goslings and cootlings (whats the real term for a baby coot?) all of which were out in force and are very hard to resist watching. Unfortunately we were so busy trying to get everything done before the judges came that we forgot to take any photos, but trust me, it all happened! (RJ)
So on Wednesday…there was a bit of change, we headed out to East Lothian and the beach! Fortunately the wind had dropped since Monday, so the Rangers were happy for us to be out..unfortunately it still rained – on and off. When we arrived at Gullane Bents, we were met by the aforementioned ranger (Richard) who led us on a merry journey into the sea buckthorn labyrinth. During this small amount of time we still managed to lose Rob and Dave – who ‘got lost’ – whilst still technically on a path.
Obviously the task for the day was cutting back the buckthorn – but only select bits. (i.e. the bits which went over the ‘paths’). The main problem was that we could either have the volunteers working along the paths …getting steadily further and further away – and therefore lost; or have them working in a fairly enclosed space and risking losing limbs/eyes etc. So we did a bit of both – but we still managed to leave with the same number of people (and the same people!) and number of limbs/eyes etc as we started with. Phil found a wasp nest – actually the wasp found him first. And Tommy found a golf ball…so clearly the season has truely begun.
Lunch was spent by the beach – after a while, as a result of following Tommy’s directions of “its just over the hill”. It was supplemented by a ‘suprise’ leaving cake (well 2 actually). Then it was back to the buckthorn for a bit more bashing.
A nature walk followed, along with a quiz to test everyone’s tree knowledge.
Thursday we were back to Gullane, working on a slightly different section of the coast – but essentially it was the same as Wednesday – clearing the stuff away from the main paths. There were many interesting sights to see, including the fabulous views over the Firth of Forth, house martins wingings about; nesting warblers (who to be honest, were a little bit out of tune) and some early purple orchids growing right in the car park. We also found a common toad. A rousing chorus of “Oh! A deer!…A female deer!” started when we did indeed catch site of a roe deer.
By lunchtime we had ‘run out’ of sea buckthorn – which was a bit ridiculous – I mean it was growing everywhere! But we stopped and ate looking out again over the sea. This was followed by another ‘suprise’ cake – which was very nice (This ‘leaving’ lark brings in so many cakes I think I might try it again and see what happens..).
Rob and John sat out the afternoon in the van, whilst the rest of the group went back to the Wednesday’s area and cleared a bit more buckthorn. We were joined by the ranger – and some pouring rain. Then it was back to the van and back to Edinburgh after doing battle with all the thorns.
And so, it is indeed my last blog for a while as I’m leaving to join the Forestry Commission for some summer work; but I intend to be back (at least on a Wednesday) in a couple of weeks. I’d just like to thank you all for a very memorable year, I’ve really enjoyed working with fabulous peope – such as yourselves. I hope you’ve enjoyed my nature walks (Rob and Sarah are promising to take these over) and learned new new species/plants etc…so carry on and be prepared for the Christmas quiz!
Thank you all!
To view photos of past and present projects and our volunteers in action please click here