This week the Thursday group were at The Vat Run in South Queensferry. The site is in the process of being transformed from abandoned and unmanaged woodland, to a mountain bike facility with plans to include a number of graded single-track routes and a pump track. In addition to this, the woodland is being managed by Euan, the local ranger to ensure that native species of trees, wildflowers and grasses are allowed to flourish.
On this occasion, the Thursday team were ensuring that an area of grassland, complete with a lot of very tasty wild strawberries, was allowed to grow into a wildflower meadow. There were a lot of larger trees and shrubs encroaching on the grass, but they didn’t last long!
Neil, Pam and Stuart got to work removing the low overhanging branches which were blocking out the light.
Kate removed a great deal of ivy from a lot of the trees, saving them from being strangled, while Rob and Sarah removed the cut branches and used them to complete a dead-hedge in another part of the site.
Thankfully it wasn’t necessary to remove too many large trees, but I think Pat did have a bit of fun taking this one down.
By the end of the afternoon the grass had a lot more breathing space thanks to everyone’s hard work.
To see a selection of photos from past and present projects, please click here