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Welcome to IFF's March 2019 e-newsletter
In this issue:
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Inner Forth Futures' aim is to make sure that the legacy of the Inner Forth Landscape Initiative continues to make a difference for the people and heritage of the Inner Forth. It's a partnership of nine organisations including RSPB Scotland (lead agency), Scottish Natural Heritage, Clackmannanshire Council, Stirling Council, Falkirk Council, Fife Council, Central Scotland Green Network Trust, Historic Environment Scotland and Sustrans. As a partnership of local authorities, public bodies, charities and community groups,we are working together on a series of projects. You can download our information leaflet here.
Our project area has expanded slightly from the boundaries of IFLI to include more of the towns and villages in Stirling, Falkirk, Clackmannanshire and Fife that are near to the Inner Forth. The map above shows where we will be focussing our work. This landscape defies the rules. Spectacular flocks of waders and wildfowl feed against a backdrop of steel towers and chimneys. Ancient castles gaze down on factories and warehouses, while the relics of past industries are now surrounded by woodlands and wildflowers. At the heart is the tidal River Forth and the dramatic mudflats and saltmarshes along its shores.
Sadly, many people only see the industry and commerce, while the area’s rich natural, cultural and historic heritage is often overlooked or neglected. IFLI aimed to create a greater appreciation and awareness of this rich heritage, and Inner Forth Futures is determined to continue that work.
Our vision is that the sense of connection, purpose and place that put the Inner Forth at the forefront of the industrial revolution in Scotland will be revitalised. We aim to achieve this using a landscape-scale approach with heritage at its core to inspire people from all walks of life to care about its future.
Over the coming months we will be starting work on a number of initiatives to help us achieve our aims. Watch this space to find out more!
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Inner Forth Futures has received a National Lottery grant of £47,000 for an exciting heritage project, called Inner Forth Wanderings and Windings. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project will enable the creation of eight heritage trails around Stirling, Falkirk, Fife and Clackmannanshire, encouraging people to explore the wildlife and history of this unique landscape at the heart of Scotland.
The project, with a total value of £67,000, aims to work closely with local communities around the Inner Forth to develop a suite of eight, day-long, waymarked and promoted walks and cycles. They will use existing paths and tracks to encourage local people and visitors to the area to explore the landscape and discover some of the many hidden gems to be found around the Inner Forth. These might include nature hotspots, historic buildings, riverside views, cultural landmarks or simply places to escape from the bustle of urban life.
We are in the process of commissioning two pieces of work to help us deliver this exciting new project, one to help organise and run the workshops we plan to hold, and manage the information and signage for the trails, and one to work with local schools on a creative project to help celebrate the new trails once they are in place. Once the first contractor has been appointed we will be announcing more details about the first round of workshops.
We're also delighted to report that a new team member, our Heritage Engagement Assistant, has been appointed to help manage the project. They will be starting in April, and we'll tell you more in our next newsletter.
You can find all the information about the project, and the commissions, here.
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Image: Robert Trevis-Smith/IFLI
To start the process of planning the Wanderings and Windings routes, and to allow people who can’t come along to the meetings to also get involved, we are setting up a Wanderings and Windings Facebook group, and inviting as many local people who would like to get involved as possible to join. It will be a closed group, which means that anyone can find the group and see who runs it, but only members can see who’s in it, what they post, and post themselves. The Inner Forth Futures team will moderate the group, and approve any requests to join.
As a member of the Facebook Group you will receive updates on workshop planning, locations and dates, and any other news about the progress of the project. Most importantly, you will be able to contribute to discussions, talk directly to other group members, and share your own ideas and aspirations for routes around the parts of the Inner Forth that you care most about.
If you would like to join the group please visit the Inner Forth Wanderings and Windings group page and click the ‘Join’ button just below the title strap. We will aim to approve your request as soon as we can after we receive it.
We would be delighted if you could join.
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Image: Red-tailed bumble bee. David Palmar/www.photoscot.co.uk
The UK has lost over 97% of our species-rich grasslands in the last 100 years! This loss has led to a significant decline in our pollinators, many of which are confined to small fragments of habitat and unable to move across the countryside. It has recently been predicted that 40% of insects could become extinct through the loss of habitat.
B-Lines, a Buglife-led project, is an imaginative and beautiful solution to the problem of the loss of flowers. The B-Lines are a series of ‘insect pathways’ running through our countryside and towns, along which Buglife are restoring and creating a series of wildflower-rich habitat stepping stones. They link existing wildlife areas together, creating a network, like a railway, that will weave across the British landscape. This will provide large areas of brand new habitat benefiting bees and butterflies– but also a host of other wildlife.
B-Lines have now been mapped across the entire CSGN area (as well as all of Stirling and Fife), which includes most of the Inner Forth. These mapped routes will help prioritise work on the ground to ensure the best benefits for our pollinators. Not only will our wildlife benefit but as projects deliver work on the ground people will also benefit with the addition of colour and life to our landscapes! You can see the map itself at https://www.buglife.org.uk/b-lines-hub/map
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Image: Kinneil House - the birthplace of the Boulton and Watt engine. David Wilkinson
This year sees events across Scotland, the rest of the UK and beyond marking the bicentenary of James Watt’s death in August 1819. It is also the 250th anniversary of his most famous patent, and foundation for his success, the condensing steam engine.
Watt’s early life in Greenock and Glasgow, then later engineering achievements with Matthew Boulton in Birmingham are widely and justly recognised. His work in the Inner Forth, and the area’s key role in the Industrial Revolution, have perhaps had less attention. Sites in the region will highlight these important chapters in the story over the coming months.
Kinneil House in Bo’ness (pictured) kicked off the year by commemorating the patent granted on 5 January 1769. Kinneil was the setting of several years of development and secret testing of the engine, in partnership with Dr John Roebuck, co-founder of the Carron Iron Company.
Among other sites with a Watt connection are Torryburn, where Scotland’s first Boulton & Watt engine was installed for mine pumping in 1776; and Kennetpans Distillery, location of Scotland’s first Boulton & Watt rotative engine a decade later.
For more information on all the 2019 events across Scotland, check out www.jameswatt.scot and follow @watt2019 on Twitter.
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Braveheart celebrates the launch of its new project, Smart Moves
The Braveheart Association have recently launched their new Walk with Braveheart project ‘Smart Move’. Funded through the Paths for All Smarter Choices Smarter Places fund, this project will continue to support local people to become physically and socially active through walking, along with raising awareness of active travel within their local area.
Walk with Braveheart has a variety of weekly and monthly walks across the Falkirk District for people of all abilities and needs. They are a really friendly bunch, and you're guaranteed not only a great walk, but interesting and fun conversations with other group members along the way - and quite often a cafe stop afterwards! For more information on their new ‘Smart Move’ project please visit www.braveheart.uk.net or contact Walking Development Officer Eva Finlayson on 01324 673703 or eva.finlayson@nhs.net
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Images: Ami Kirkbright/RSPB Scotland
The RSPB team at Skinflats Nature Reserve, near Falkirk, are proud to present a new education space called the Forth Nature Hub. It's a space designed to be used by students and their teachers to get out and explore nature on the banks of the Forth. It has the added benefit of having the Inner Forth resource box available for teachers to loan, which is full of lesson plans and activities which help to tell the story of the Inner Forth and its wildlife. It also has plenty of kit to help in discovering nature on the reserve.
The education room and three resource boxes were both funded by the Inner Forth Landscape Initiative, and have proved to be a huge success. Mrs Lewis from Redwell Primary, Alloa said: ‘The children really got a lot out of the cards from the wildlife box. We took them outside to use in a matching game and created art work using natural resources from around our playground. The map of the River Forth was also great fun! I put the pieces around the playground and the children used maps to complete an orienteering activity. A terrific resource!’
They hope that the Forth Nature Hub will be an equal success, getting students closer to nature and to discover the secrets of the Inner Forth. For more information about how to hire the education room or a resource box, or to request a leaflet, please contact innerforthreserves@rspb.org.uk . The teacher's pack for the resource box can be viewed online and downloaded here.
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2018 excavation on the site of the Roman fort annexe at Mumrills/ Geoff Bailey
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Falkirk Museum & Falkirk Local History Society are always looking for volunteers to help with archaeological work throughout the Falkirk district. Some of this work is pre-planned (see below|, but much is in response to opportunities. Each year, for example, there is a fieldwalking exercise on one of the Antonine Wall forts after it is ploughed, and this usually takes place in late March, but this year it took place in early February due to the early ploughing of the site. Similarly two weekend digs have been needed as a result of ground disturbances by other agencies in February. If you'd like to get involved, and can manage a flexible schedule, they'd love to hear from you. Contact Geoff Bailey at geoff.bailey@falkirkcommunitytrust.org.
This year's programme so far:
29 April – 5 May: Community dig in Zetland Park, Grangemouth, on the site of the medieval monastic grange which gives the town its name. The enclosure is still surrounded by an earth bank and ditch from which 13th century pottery was recovered two years ago. This year the group will examine the SE corner of the interior where there is the best chance of surviving remains.
20 July – 3 August: Excavation and survey of the forecourt at Kinneil House, concentrating on the gatehouse indicated by last year’s resistivity survey. The perimeter walls were demolished in the 1570s to reduce the defensive capabilities of the Earl of Arran’s palace block.
August: Excavations in the annexe to the Roman fort at Mumrills. Trenches will be dug in two gardens of villas built on the site of the Roman industrial complex in order to determine the type of occupation of the south-west corner of the annexe. Previous work in the vicinity has uncovered the huge cobbled foundations of aisled buildings. Date to be confirmed, but late August is anticipated.
28 – 30 September: Continuing the exploration of the complex of Roman temporary camps in the school playing fields at East Carmuirs Primary School as part of the Big Roman Week in the Falkirk area. This is part of a large collection of camps associated with one of the most important assembly points for the army.
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Calling all local community groups and event organisers! Just to let you know that the Inner Forth Futures events calendar is up and running again, and we are keen to use it to help local communities, charities and other not-for-profit organisations around the Inner Forth to promote their events. If your event is happening anywhere within the area shown on the map below, and has any kind of historic, cultural or natural heritage aspect to it, do send us the details and we will aim to add it to our Events listings, and share it on Facebook and Twitter if we feel it's appropriate. Because we cover the whole Inner Forth area, you will be reaching a wide audience of people who share your love of this great part of the world. Email your events to info@innerforthlandscape.co.uk.
See inside Kinneil House
Sat 23 March, 12-4pm
Kinneil House, Bo'ness
A rare chance to see inside this historic mansion. Tours are free and will be run by The Friends of Kinneil and Historic Scotland. More info.
Learn how to ID and record butterflies
Sat 30 March, 10am - 3pm
Plean Country Park, Stirling
A free event run by Butterfly Conservation Scotland with Stirling Rangers. Booking necessary. More info.
RSPB Eggcellent Easter Treasure Hunt
Sat 6 April, 10am - 3pm
Black Devon Wetlands Nature Reserve, Alloa
Family treasure hunt with a twist at this lovely wetland reserve. More info.
RSPB Wetland Wander - Dawn Chorus Walk
Sat 4 May, 5.30am - 7.30am
Black Devon Wetlands Nature Reserve, Alloa
An early start - but it will be worth it for both the birds and the coffee and croissants afterwards! More info.
Barony Theatre presents Hobson's Choice
Mon 6 May - Sat 11 May 7.30pm
Barony Theatre, Bo'ness
The Barony Players are reviving this hilarious story of Lancashire life in the 1880s. More info.
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