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Issue Number 54, June 2019
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In This Month's Newsletter:
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This Month's Activity
Bothy Clean Up and Pathway Improvements
Meeting this Saturday, 10am at The Bothy, 26b Gilmerton Dykes Street.
Activity - 10am Until Lunchtime
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Help Restore The Bothy! Fundraising with MyPark Scotland
You can donate to help raise much needed funds for The Bothy refurbishment. So far we have bought The Bothy from the council in Edinburgh's first Community Asset Transfer. We have had fantastic support from The Mushroom Trust, and from the council'c One City Trust. Restorationn work has begun wioth local firm Mitchell Roofing replacing the roof to keep The Bothy watertight.
We've approached a local housebuilder to see if we can get some help in kind, but we do still need more money. If you can offord to make a contribution, please use the attached butteon, which will take you to the MyPark Scotland fundraising website. Every little helps us make The Bothy a hub for our activities, as well as a classroom and window on the park.
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This Year's AGM, 18th June at 7pm - 'The Mystery of Gilmerton Cove', Speaker and Election of Office Bearers
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This Year's AGM will take place on the 18th June, 7pm at the Faith Mission, Main Hall, 548 Gilmerton Road, EH17 7JD. The Faith Mission is handy for buses, cycling and has ample car parking.
This year our Speaker is Margaretann Dugan who runs tours of Gilmerton Cove. Gilmerton Cove is the principle visitor attraction in the local area, and Margaretann will be talking about the Cove, it's history and recent work to increase attention for this important historical site. The Discovery Channel is coming soon to feature The Cove in a documentary about the Templars, so watch out for what should be a great programme. We will keep you posted about how that goes.
Gilmerton Cove have been great partners to work with and we're looking to do our first 'Doors Open' walking tour in the park this year with a little help from Margaretann and our own Mandy Rathjen, who has been doing much research on a range of local issues.
Come along and join The Friends. Everyone is welcome and there is no membership fee. We will also have an overview giving highlights from what has been another great year for the park and for our small band of dedicated helpers.
There will be a free raffle on the night with tickets for a family of four to visit The Cove, so come along, you can hear a great talkj and maybe get lucky too.
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Spring Clean Success Across South Edinburgh
Friends Campaign Sponsored By Bernard Hunter
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The Biggest ever Community Clean up - 4th 'Big Spring Clean', 'The Best Ever'
- 222 People Participating in Ten Clean Ups
- Over 400 Bags and more than 4 tonnes of Litter Cleared
- 11 Organisations Involved
- Over 668 Hours of Cleaning Activity - Equivalent to 17 Working Weeks of Cleaning
Probably too many thank yous to fit in one Newsletter, but we do want to say thank you to everyone who participated in this year's 'Big Spring Clean'. This is our fourth year, and we decided to try and expand the clean up across the Liberton/Gilmerton area, and the response from the community was superb. We're simply listing all the organisations that helped including our sponsors and The Evening News, which has given us great coverage. Thank you to everyone who turned out to help.
We'll be putting down stencil signs and getting new metal signs to help get the message home to people to bin their litter. Thanks to all these organisations for helping:
- The City of Edinburgh Council
- Lloyds Bank Corporate Volunteers
- The Friends of St Katharine's Park
- (Our) Friends of Burdiehouse Burn Valley Park
- Liberton and District Community Council
- Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust
- Goodtrees Neighbourhood Centre
- The Murrays Residents
- Tiphereth
- The 93rd City of Edinburgh Guides
- Bernard Hunter
- Edinburgh Evening News
In the words of Arnie, 'We'll be back!', and hopefully even bigger and better next year. Enjoy a selection of pics from the clean ups, and check out the excellent two page spread that featured in last Friday's Edinburgh Evening News, and some of the other coverage we've had.
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Edinburgh Evening News - Friday 31st May
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And in Other News - Some Other Highlights from the Park
1. 'Sign of the Times!'
Thanks to Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust and The Mushroom Trust for new wayfinding signs. Last year we were successful in securing funding from one of our great supporters (the Mushroom Trust) for some great new signs to improve information for park users. We got a little help from Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust. Just look at the lovely news signs all over the park. Even The Bothy is signposted!
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2. 'Dirty Weekenders' Help Again
We're lucky to have some great groups that help us out regularly in rthe park. One such group is Edinburgh University's 'Dirty Weekenders'. Recently they have been in Ellen's Glen and did some great work repairing areas of the burn bank that had been eroded.
Their work has been fantastic, but we don't have any pictures of them in action, so check out a couple of fairly chilled Mallards beside the area they repaired. The willow weaving is seen in the bottom right. Big thanks to one of our favourite groups.
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3. Pentlands to Porty Pathway Update
The feasibility study on the Pentlands to Porty Pathway has recently been completed by leading Environmental Consultancy Ironside Farrar. The results will be shared shortly, but this puts us in a good position to see the dream realised of being able to walk and cycle the length of the burn, and to link with other local pathways. We will also be promoting the plans in the council's next Local Development Plan. More information soon.
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4. Brilliant Bird Walk
It wasn't all work and clean ups last month. We had some great fun at the Bird Walk with another dear 'friend' Graham Checkley. In total eighteen people turned out, and coincidentally we saw or heard eighteen species of bird. Those included some blue tits that were nesting in one of the many boxes that The Friends group has installed in the park. Thanks Graham, and thanks to all who turned out.
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Wildlife Corner - The Badger
Not much need for explanation as most people will be familiar with the Badger. Few might realise how close they live to them though. This one was pictured in a resident's garden with a trail cam less than 200 metres from the park - we're not sharing the location just in case.
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We don't have any official sightings in the park, but it is likely that badgers are occasional visitors. Sadly, a dead badger was spotted on Gilmerton Road recently. Thankfully a rare event, but it does indicate a healthy population locally. Thanks to our special badger spotting resident - you know who you are.
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The Year Ahead
Information for activities - All children must be accompanied, and please dress for the weather:
We're rearranging our activities for the year, so just looking ahead for the next few months. The council is acquiring a machine for edging pathways, so this (very tough) task will be one we don't have to do - great news. We're also looking at a new floral planting scheme to help brighten up the park as well. We're therefore drawing up a revised schedule, so watch this space.
- This Saturday, 8th June 30th at 10am, Bothy Area Clean up and Path Improvement (the steps down from The Bothy)
- Saturday July 13th at 10am, 'Balsam Bashing'. This is removing an invasive species from the park - great fun
- August 10th, Pathway Improvement (those steps again)
All these events kick off at The Bothy.
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Visit Burdiehouse Burn Valley Park
In the coming month, the wildflower meadow at Burdiehouse will be coming into it's own. It's on the hill just at the back of Burdiehouse Street. There arfe an array of wildflowers, but notably this is one of the best places locally to see wild orchids. Enjoy!
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