We are moving the BTCV Edinburgh blog to a new home with all the rest of the BTCV office blogs so they can all live together in harmony. Plus you can catch up on what all your fellow volunteers around Scotland are up to at the same time!
Please copy and paste the link below into your browser to hop over to the new blog!
http://blogs.btcv.org.uk/btcv_scotland/
See you there!
We're now in our super new office in Wester Hailes which means we have a new address and phone number:
BTCV Scotland
12a Dumbryden Road
Edinburgh
EH14 2AB
Tel. 0131 442 4930
Our email remains the same - edinburgh@btcv.org.uk
It's been a while but we're back!
Well, how to sum up the last month in a concise way? We've moved office to an actual building made of bricks which those of you familiar with our old office will know is to be very welcomed. I will publish our new contact details separately.
Project wise, the big news is we've finished Newhaven Church! 18 days of hard work have really paid off and it looks amazing and the Church are overjoyed with their new deck. Everyone involved should be very proud of the work that we've done, it's a testament to what volunteers can achieve! Check out the photos to see the finished article!
We've also been building some more jigsaw shape raised beds (last seen at Gardening Scotland 08) for Strathesk Primary School in Penicuik, erecting a greenhouse and shed for the Orchard Clinic at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital and pulling up Himalayan Balsam with the Countryside Ranger Service.
On the Volunteer Officer front it's been all change again as Alaitz has returned to Spain and Ianire has arrived to take up her 4 month post with us. We've also been joined by Vicks and soon David will return from his month away in Slovenia. Alan is dipping his toe in the water of being a VO to see how it suits him. It's great to have a team of good VOs working with me to make our projects run better and make sure I don't forget anything!
We'll be back to regular postings from now on, so keep an eye on us!
Chris
We finally made it to Gardening Scotland. So we didn't help build it we just ripped it apart but it looked great before we destroyed it so well done to Heath and everyone who helped. Then on Wednesday we were back at Newhaven Church doing much the same stuff.
For the last couple of weeks we've all become regular churchgoers as our presence at Newhaven Church is almost constant. The results of our commitment are showing as the deck and ramp are looking great and even the picket fence is springing up. Everybody involved should be very proud of the project! We do edge ever closer towards completion as the final deck board was laid today on the ramp so now it's just handrails, planting and extending the fence around the garden (I'm sure we'll be finished in no time at all).
We did manage to squeeze in a different location on the 27th as we headed over to the Hermitage of Braid to clear and re-edge some paths and cutback some vegetation. We even got in some Himalayan Balsam removal, obviously a sign of Summer coming! It was great to see the Blue Tit nest again on the live video link. Last time we visited there were eggs and now there are many hungry mouths to feed, the adult birds are being kept very busy providing food.
The group spent the whole week at newhaven church. We painted the hand rails, cemented posts, constructed joists for the the ramp, laid the first section of decking, broke lots of stones, Nicky had lots of frustration trying to break one very tough rock whitch eventualy turned into a very nice looking bear, put up fenceing on the main part of the decking whitch we attached rope to for climbing plants.
So all in all a very productive week and things are shapeing up really nicely
p.s thanks to chris and the cafe for the lovely cakes.
Last week was unfortunately Anna's last week as a VO with us before she heads off to Iceland for 4 months to move rocks around.
Anna has been a great VO and I would like to thank her for her enthusiasm and commitment to the role, not even letting a broken finger suffered in the line of duty slow her down. I know she will be missed greatly as will her eclectic CDs, delicious cakes and games.
The group was at the Hermitage of Braid at the start of the week. We fixed some steps, removed saplings and planted ox-eye daisy.
We were then at Craigmillar on Wednesday, where there have been some problems with motobikes in the park. So we were repairing some of the paths with whindust and doing our usual litter pick.
On Thursday we braved the winds and headed to Easter Craiglockhart. We removed some japanese knotweed and cut back a lot of vegetation from the paths. We also scraped and cleared some of the cobbles, revealing a feature that had been buried under a few years' worth of grass and nettles. We then headed up the hill to clear away vegetation growing up around a set of steps.
We were back at Newhaven Church on Tueday and Thursday this week. The holes for the posts were dug on Tuesday, and the big frame finished off. On Thursday we started positioning the posts. There was a lot of head-scratching and tweaking, checking and double-checking before we started adding the cement! We also got the smaller frame built and positioned.
On Wednesday we were at Broughton Primary School, building a couple of classic BTCV, shabby-chic raised beds for the kids to grow things in. We also helped out with weeding some of the other planters in the playground. The kids were very interested in what we were up to, and we hope they get a lot of enjoyment out of them.
We carried on at Newhaven Church on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. We didn't have too many more obstacles, only a couple more giant rocks to get past. The ground is now level to within nanometres (until the plan changes again...), so we've started to dig the post holes and build some of the frames.
On Thursday we were at Portobello Community Orchard. We were clearing the ground along the south side of the orchard, ready for the community group to plant some espaliers. A couple of determined sorts had a go at removing some of the smaller tree stumps around the orchard, with varying degrees of success.
The group started quite a big project at Newhaven Church this week. We are putting in some decking and a ramp for use by the Church cafe (we can strongly recommend their coffee cake). So on Tuesday we removed the turf and started digging. It all went pretty well until the end of the day when Kate found an old gas pipe...
So on Wednesday we were back at the church and a man from the gas board was going to come to verify that the pipe was indeed dead. However during the tool talk we got a slight whiff of gas; it was probably from the gasworks over the back wall but we decided it best to leave. So after a quick changeover of tools, lunchtime saw us at Corstorphine Hill playing a few games of Tunnel-Tig to keep warm in the mist. We then spent the afternoon removing some old rickety fencing and clearing a lot of litter.
The pipe turned out to be completely dead, no one was ever in any danger, so we were back at the church to continue excavations on Thursday. There was some slight confusion over levels and a lot of huge rocks had to be shifted, but we made good progress.
The group were at Ferryhill Primary on Tuesday, working on a couple of different tasks. The majority was working in the millennium woodland lifting the crowns of the trees, making it easier for the children to move about the woods. The other job was to build half a dozen tree guards for some young apple trees, which had been planted at the end of the football pitch. They look great, but we just hope the kids don't see them as a challenge!
We were back at the Rocheid Path for the final (woohoo!) couple of days on Wednesday and Thursday. Some path edging was put in at the far end (no sleepers this time) and heather added to brighten it up a bit. There were a few holes in the path at the top end which we filled with rock and covered with whindust. We also lobbed a lot of topsoil down the gigantic slope, in the hopes that something might be encouraged to grow and so that anyone hopping over the edge won't break their ankles. Some rowan and hawthorn were planted further up to try to shield the houses opposite from missiles thrown from the path. Some stones apparently actually hit their mark and break windows; perhaps the perpetrators should be signed up to the Scottish cricket team!
It's certainly been a busy period of change on the Volunteer Officer front as I'm sure you've all noticed. Gemma has departed and we have been joined by Alaitz and most recently, David.
I would like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to Gemma for all of her hard work as a VO. She contributed hugely to the Edinburgh office with her enthusiasm, hard work and wondrous baking. This blog was her invention and has proved to be such a success that all BTCV Scotland offices have joined in! I wish her all the very best for her new job as Seasonal Ranger at Hopetoun House and look forward to hearing all about it.
I am sure that Alaitz and David will make great additions to the BTCV Edinburgh team and we can still rely on Anna for cakes!
We started the week back at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, working in the orchard preparing the ground for more carpet-tile paths and also finishing spreading the bark in the garden at the Orchard Clinic.
At Ravelston Woods on Wednesday we repaired some post and wire fencing. We also planted a lot of prickly plants; the plan being to discourage people from climbing to the top of the quarry where they keep ruining our fences!
We (hopefully) sorted out some drainage problems at Craigmillar Castle Park on Thursday by building 2 french drains. We also raked over some earth and sowed wildflower seeds. And as Pat was in shorts for the first time, we can announce that it is officially springtime.
We spent the week at the Orchard Clinic of the Royal Edinburgh Hopital. We were building raised beds in two of their gardens for the patients to grown their own plants and veg in. The planting in the borders was also pretty dull, so we were taking out a lot of bushes and putting a more interesting variety of plants in their place.
Tuesday began with a lot of wheelbarrowing, and we made a start on the horseshoe-shaped raised bed. This raised bed was completed and filled on Wednesday, and the planting in this garden was finished off. We moved on to the second garden on Thursday which was quite a hike around the building. A square raised bed was built in record time by a crack carpentry team, while the rest of the group concentrated on preparing the borders for planting. There was even more wheelbarrowing to fill the raised bed and the planting was completed. Thanks to everyone for all their hard work!
As it was Gemma's last week, there was lots of baking. And despite all the mickey-taking Chris' brownies were actually very good. Maybe with a bit of encouragement he might be persuaded to fill the baking void...!
Last week we did several different tasks. On Tuesday we went to the Four Winds Nursery in Inverleith Park to help them build some new steps. The steps look incredible, and we have seen lots of people admiring them.
On Wednesday we spent our first day this year on the Pentlands. One group disappeared in the morning to collect juniper cuttings, and we didn't see them again until lunch time. It sounded like they'd walked a long way, and they still had time to collect 700 cuttings which were taken down the the Inch nursery at lunchtime to be planted. The rest of us cut back gorse from one of the paths at Hillend and made a big bonfire.
On Thursday we went to Corstorphine Hill. In the morning we were removing litter from a few areas of the hill. In the end we collected about 20 bags. After lunch we went along to the walled garden and helped dig over a bed for planting, remove some old fencing and put in a new picnic bench.
Last week we also welcomed Alaitz, who has come over from Spain for a few months to help us out. This week is also my last week before I start my new job at Hopetoun House. I hope to see some of you there. Thank you for the wonderful experience at BTCV over the last couple of years. I've made new friends, learnt new skills and helped other people, and after all, isn't that what BTCV's all about?
Gemma
We had three very different projects this week. We started the week with some willow weaving at Simpson Primary School in Bathgate. The kids seemed pretty excited and intrigued by what we were doing. We built a den with 2 curvy, flared, sinusoidal tunnels coming off it in the nursery playground. Possibly our best willow structure yet.
We were at the Rocheid Path (again) on Wednesday putting in the final few sleepers and doing some path clearing and laying whindust. There’s a few bits to finish off so we’ll probably be back there soon (again again) but it’s all looking pretty fantastic.
It was on with the waders and pink rubber gloves on Thursday for a spot of fishing in Lochend Park. We didn’t catch any actual fish, but we did get tyres, mountain bikes, fencing, a space hopper and a laptop. The waders didn’t leak (hurrah!) but most of us still got pretty wet (boo).
I’ve been volunteering with BTCV for nearly 3 years now but over the last few months the work for me has taken on a slightly different aspect….. I’m retired and have the time and the inclination to develop new skills….. So..... I’m teaching myself the skills and knowledge involved in traditional bowmaking and find that some of the work I do with BTCV is actually creating the raw materials I need…. Everyone thinks of Yew wood as the right stuff for bowmaking…. But actually, it’s very hard to come by and for someone at my stage of development far too expensive to take the risks involved in learning the craft. (My main guide “The Bowyers Bible” was very reassuring that all bowyers break their first few bows)….
What I have found is that the small trees and saplings of Ash and Birch that we often cut down to make room for more diverse undergrowth are ideal for an “apprentice” bowmaker…. and free! All but one of the bows pictured are made from Ash or Birch from the North Edinburgh cycle track….. as are my arrows….Mainly from last years growth of Willow….(I did buy the Turkey feathers but will be on the look out for free Goose feathers when they’re moulting).
I know other BTCVers who gather Willow for basketmaking and Ash saplings for Yurt making……. Sorry, no photos of the Yurts yet……
I should add that BTCVing also gives me good access to fuel for my multi-fuel stove, (approved under the smoke control laws). Last year’s cleared small trees and saplings are by now well seasoned…I take them home in my bike trailer after sawing them into trailer sized logs…..Thus getting warmed up at least 3 times… by sawing , cycling and burning! (Note the Willow basket trailer body).
Traditional skills like basket making and bowmaking are growing in popularity. I hope that BTCV, who already do some green woodworking courses down south will continue to develop links with traditional craftspeople to provide more such courses and to make optimum use of the raw materials we produce when volunteering....We were at Hopetoun House all this week, laying a snazzy new path for the patrons of the Antiques Roadshow to wander along, from which they could admire the house. Luckily a digger had been the week before and cleared out 6 inches of mud from the 100m section of path, so we didn't have to!
On Tuesday we laid and compacted all of the 6 tonnes of hardcore that we had. There was a lot of shovelling and a lot of wheelbarrowing. We finished off with a bit of rhododendron clearance and a fire.
Having done that first section, the following days' groups had even further to go with the wheelbarrows. We'd had more material delivered, this time it was old road surface, allegedly from the Forth Road Bridge... So on Wednesday one group continued with the wheelbarrowing and compacting, while another group got the fire going again for the rhododendron.
Thursday started with quite an impressive snow-shower which luckily cleared up to leave a beautiful sunny afternoon. We finished off the path, burnt the rest of the rhodie, and left the place looking a lot more presentable than when we'd arrived.
Last week we were back at the Rocheid Path. We continued with edging 88 metres of the path with railway sleepers, which we had to carry from the office. I never knew the distance between the office and the path was so far... We managed to get all but 5 sleepers put in, so we will be back next week to finish the job.
Near the path we also planted some hazel trees, honeysuckle, blackberry bushes and some other shrubs. We sowed wildflower seeds along the old path to attract butterflies and bees. In a few months the area should be unregcognisable.
On Thursday we built a fence along the end of the old path to try to stop people walking along there, so the new plants will have a chance to grow. When they are established we will remove the fence.
We also said goodbye to Ronnie last week. He is doing a course for the next few months, but we hope to see him again if he has a day off.
Today was Ronnie's last day with BTCV as he moves on to begin a course in social care at a local college and then to begin working as a carer.
Ronnie has been volunteering with us for two years with the last 12 months spent as a Volunteer Officer. Ronnie has been a great asset to BTCV Edinburgh and I know he will be missed greatly.
I would like to thank Ronnie for all his hard work and great commitment to BTCV and wish him all the best for the future. This blog will certainly miss his tales of The Hardy BTCV Adventurers. Hopefully we'll be seeing him now and again if he gets a day off!
Tuesday 17th
Today Chris led The Hardy BTCV Adventures along the notorious Rocheid Path. The slopes of Rocheid were a challenge but with good weather conditions the group started to dig out and prepare the existing path so that over the following days work could begin on installing new edging. Gemma(using her climbing experience)ventured down the north face with a couple of volunteers and started to prepare the lowlands this was so planting could begin over the coming days.
Wednesday 18th
Day two of the assault on Rocheid, Ronnie joined the group today this was to be his last adventure with BTCV for the time being so he led half the volunteers and Chris led the other half and work commenced. In great conditions they worked from opposite ends of the notorious Devil's Path on Rocheid, installing the new edging along it so that local travellers could use the path safely.
Thursday 19th
Day three and the Hardy BTCV Adventurers once again made there way along the Devil's Path at Rocheid, under a blistering sun the two teams worked tirelessly to install the new edging along the paths outer edge. Ronnie would like to take this opportunity(as you know i am moving on) to say a big THANK YOU to all the volunteers and staff at BTCV for giving me the opportunity to work with and get to now all of you it's been a pleasure, THANK YOU!!. Until we meet again.
Last week we were working with trees all week. On Tuesday we were planting trees at Blackness. A hedge was planted a few years ago around the community garden, so we were replacing the trees that had not survived. Many of them were eaten by rabbits so we put tree guards around them and hope they should make a good hedge in time. We enjoyed lunch on the metre strip of grass between the beach and the snow with a good view over the Forth Bridges.
On Wednesday we had a more destructive day at Drum Brae. We were lifting the crowns of trees in a Millennium woodland, helped by Edinburgh Natural History Society. At lunch time a chipper came and we spread the chips out as paths through the woodland. When we were not hard at work we enjoyed sledging. A ramp had already been built and we all took turns on some plastic bags that worked well as sledges. See some photos here.
On Thursday we did a similar task at Hawkhill Woods. It snowed during the day, but we didn't have to remove the branches; we left them instead as habitat piles.
Now the weather has warmed up so we can get on with our new construction projects. We'll keep you up to date with how things go.
This Week, Tuesday 3rd
Today we were up on the high plains of Corstorphine Hill.The group was split into two elite teams,the first one led by Chris were sent on a daring mission to dismantle mountain bike tracks built by local youths and to reestablish the original path system, the second team led by Ronnie was sent to do some general path maintenance, The Hardy BTCV Adventurers braved the elements as it was cold and wet day but were successful in their task.
Wed 4th
The Hardy BTCV Adventurers were given a new objective today and were sent to The Mighty River Almond the group led by Chris set about the task of removing the now collapsing chestnut pale fence and replace a section with a new timber handrail. We were also coppicing the over whelming Ash Trees the group armed themselves with loppers and bow saws and and the battle begun it was an almighty war but The Hardy BTCV Adventurers were Victorious. Lunch on the beach was also rather pleasant.
Thurs 5th
The final mission for The Hardy BTCV Adventurers this week was to Burdiehouse Burn LNR, it was a cold start to the morning fighting the sub zero temperatures the group led by Chris started to dismantle a fence that needed replacing, this took the best part of the morning , just before dinner as we started to put in new posts, Anna our new VO slipped and injured herself it was only a small graze but she required hospital treatment so Jess, the ranger took her. The group stopped for lunch and feasted on cakes Jess brought and after lunch we finished the new fence.
We spent the week at the North Edinburgh Cyclepaths chopping back brambles and snowberry, and removing saplings from along the paths. On Tuesday we had a cage at Five Ways; however we were working mostly on the path along the bottom of Warriston Cemetary which was quite a distance away. Luckily we were able to use the Kangoo to transport the full white bags up the path. They tried to take the cage away at lunchtime but Chris used his powers of persuasion to get them to come back later.
There was no cage on Wednesday so we stashed huge quantities of brambles behind one of the railway pillars, while another group worked on the ash and sycamore saplings. The brambles hadn't been cleared for at least 24 years - we figured this out Time-Team-style by examining the old Pepsi cans (in 1985 you could win a Duran Duran poster!)
We had a cage again on Thursday, which we blocked in with the Kangoo just to be on the safe side. There were more saplings cut down, and a large area of bramble removal was finished off with some rather ingenious use of ropes. It was a long walk on a rocky path with heavy wheelbarrows from where we were working to the cage but we managed to fill it to the top.
Tuesday 20th January
We were back at Muiravonside this week,the group was split into two teams to continue cutting down and burning the rhododendron.The fires were quite easy to get going thanks to the skill of our fire genie, Kate and very quickly the rival teams were waging war on the rhododendron but there was only going to be one winning team lead by Ronnie. At the end of the day we made sure both fires were left in a suitable state for the team to return in the morning.
Wednesday 21st January
Anna skillfully brought us back to Muiravonside today, the fires still had a lot of coals left from yesterday and the hardy BTCV adventurers had no problem getting them going again so some of the group continued to burn whilst others cut down the rhododendron . The mud continued to claim victims.
Thursday 22nd January
Chris brought the group back to Mud Valley where the group continued to burn the rhododendron again the fires were easy to get going all they needed was a boost from our specially modified flaming device. This was our last day here for a while but the Ranger was happy with the work done.
Our achievements removing litter at Craigmillar Castle Park on 7th January have been recognised on the s1 Craigmillar website.
Thank you and congratulations to everyone who helped out.
On Tuesday we went to Muiravonside where the Stirling group had done a fine job chopping down a lot of rhododendron. Our main task was to get the branches to the fire site and burn them. Sounds simple but it wasn't! We had to negotiate steep, muddy slopes to get the wet branches down to very damp fire sites. Kate and Gemma didn't seem to be having too much difficulty, but the other fire eventually got going around lunchtime (with a little help from a convenient plastic box lid). By the end of the day, just about everyone had slipped in the mud or fallen in the stream, except Anna...
We were back at Muiravonside on Wednesday, where Anna proceeded to fall in the mud as often as possible. Luckily there were plenty of embers left to start the fires again quite quickly (useful for drying wet socks). Halfway through the morning, those of us looking after one of the fires couldn't quite get the rhododendron down the hill fast enough; so we recruited Gavin to help us out. We then couldn't burn the branches fast enough to keep up with him while the other fire ran out.
Thursday saw us working in the orchard of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital correcting Chris' mistake (well it was just before Christmas...). So we were taking up the carpet in the orchard (no, really) and re-laying it the other way up. We also prepared more of the ground for carpet paths by digging out the top layer of nettle roots. It was a bit of a dreary, overcast day but everyone got a lot of good work done.
Last Tuesday we braved the snow and ice to visit Cammo. Our task there was raking a meadow that had been mown in November. Our task was made considerably more challenging by the cut grass being frozen to the ground. We made the most of the situation though, by raking what we could into a big pile, putting a hat, scarf and coat on it and making a "hayman". Unfortunately by the time the snow started to fall the hayman had been rugby tackled and so couldn't be turned into a snowman.
On Wednesday we went to Craigmillar Castle Park to remove a lot of litter. We found 3 motorbikes, lots of fencing wire, a fridge door, some carpet and several beds to add to the rest of the rubbish. The whole area looks very neat and tidy, and we were thanked several times by local residents. At lunch time we went to the newly installed adventure playground and tried out the climbing frames and slides. Nicky used waterproof trousers to prevent her getting wet on the slide, but this did make her fly off the end several times.
On Thursday we went back to Ravelston Woods to repair a fence. We put in about 20 new fence posts and connected them with wire. Untangling the wire was quite a challenge.
Hello everybody!!! First of all, I´m sorry I couldn't write to you before, because since I came back here, I have been very busy (family, friends, looking for a new job and grant), but in spite of everything, I don´t forget you, in fact, the only thing of Edinburgh I don´t miss is the Scottish weather, because since I came back here, everyday is raining or snowing and very very cold, it looks like I brought the Scottish weather with me. How are you??? I hope you´re fine and everything is ok in your lives.
Well, I send you this e-mail because I want to wish you MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR !!! with your families and friends. Have a good time.
A big hug from the Basque Country. Fatima.
