It’s been a busy couple of months for the Community Rewilding project across Glasgow and the Clyde Valley…
‘Rewild the Child’ – Back in April, 6 children went WILD at Faifley Knowes in Clydebank. They successfully charmed some worms out of the ground with their worm dancing, found lots of bugs and beasties and made mini bug homes which they took home for the bugs in their gardens. The children loved playing dens inside a bush while looking for bugs and burnt off lots of energy running around pretending to be worms being chased by a bird.
Looking for worms with Natural Networks Trainee Emma
‘Go Wild in Your Garden’ – The people of Yoker were invited to find out about lots of ways they could rewild their gardens, balconies and window sills at the end of April. Lots of people came along to the event and made recycled bird feeders, hunted for bugs outside and made wildflower seed bombs to deploy when they got home.
Discovering the inhabitants of the community garden in Yoker
Volunteers at Faifley Knowes – The Glasgow midweek volunteer group have also been busy rewilding the project’s flagship site in Clydebank, Faifley Knowes. Along with the help of a hardworking local resident, in the last month we have cleared a blocked burn, created 65m2 of wildflower meadow pockets, widened stretches of paths and replaced a set of rotting timber steps. We’ve also had all of the seasons needing woolly hats one week and sun hats the next!
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- A traffic cone, plant pots, kids toys, bin bags… no wonder the burn was blocked!
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- Doing ‘the wildflower wiggle’ to bed the newly sewn seeds in!
Timber steps before and after – WOW!
Greenock Green Gym – A brand new shiny Green Gym has started at Coves Reservoir in Greenock and the group is steadily growing in numbers and confidence as we discover more about the nature at Coves while getting a bit of exercise and having a good old natter each week. So far the group have learnt to ID and record a variety of plant and animal species, collected bags full of litter, cleared sections of overgrown path and next week we are exploring the site through the lens as we embark on some nature photography. Fingers crossed for sunshine…we’ve been very lucky so far!
Views over Coves Reservoir, the Clyde estuary and the mountains beyond
Finally, a hard working group of students from St Columba’s High School in Gourock took on the challenge of reclaiming some very overgrown paths at Gourock Park to ensure visitors can access the woodland areas of the park. With mission accomplished at Gourock Park, in the afternoon the group teamed up with the Green Gym at Coves Reservoir and cleared some path edges, collected up lots of litter and recorded some interesting plants and animals too. (Lesser butterfly orchid, azure damselflies, 4 different bees, 3 butterfly species and even a tiny wee froglet!). The students agreed it was hard work but they really enjoyed it (and it was better than being in class!).
St Columba’s High School + Green Gym… Team work makes the dream work!
Coming soon to a greenspace near you…
- Faifley Family Nature Day, Faifley Knowes, Clydebank – Saturday 2nd of July
- Volunteering days at Knightswood Park, Yoker – June 30th, July 7th, 14th and 21st
- Green Gym at Coves Reservoir, Greenock – Tuesday afternoons May the 31st – July 19th
- Rewild the Child sessions during the summer holidays – Faifley Knowes 9th July, Knightswood Park date TBC
Want to get involved or find out more? Please contact Rebecca Strofton on r.strofton@tcv.org.uk or 0141 552 5294.
The Community Rewilding Project is funded by The Robertson Trust and the Glasgow & Clyde Valley Green Network Partnership (GCVGNP).