Copy
View this email in your browser

April Newsletter

Hello everyone,
 
It finally does seem to be spring.  With the government announcement that not only are we free to travel within Scotland but we are free to travel throughout the United Kingdom things are certainly improving.
 
With this opening up, BDCH will be able to return to some practical work.
 
First will be work on the Biggar / Pyatknowe path and, in particular, the repair of the damaged bridge on that path.  We have received a grant from Biggar Community Council (thanks to Ventient Energy Glenkerie Community Fund) which has allowed us to buy materials to repair the bridge.  In addition we plan strimming and general maintenance along the line of the path.  We hope that this work will be completed in May.
 
We also intend to distribute copies of the revised town trail leaflet to Biggar shops as they re-open at the end of this month.  You will recall that the printing of that leaflet was also supported by the Community Council Ventient Energy Glenkerie Community Fund.


 We have received tenders for the Bizzyberry path improvement and have submitted grant applications to the Clyde and Glenkerie Windfarm funds.  Clyde has approved our application, so we look forward to Glenkerrie's decision at the end of June. After that (if our bid is successful) we will be able to commission the work and get it started.
 
We are also currently preparing a tender document for the first phase of the Biggar / Symington multi-use path and hope to have costings for this by the summer.
 
As you will be aware, BDCH looks after both Little Mitchellwood Community Woodland and the adjacent Old Quarry. A regular user of the Old Quarry is Claire Knox who uses the quarry as the venue for her forest school.  The following is an Ian Murray's interview with Claire about the forest school and what goes on there.
 

Mitchellwood Quarry Forest School


Tell us about your organisation and what it does.
Wild Things Scotland CIC is a community interest organisation that provides nature connection workshops for children, families and individuals in the Biggar/Lanark area.  We have been up and running for over 4 years and previous to that I was a volunteer Forest School Leader for a local playgroup providing preschool Forest School sessions up at the quarry.
Covid restrictions have obviously had a big impact on what we can do at the moment. Before, we ran a wide range of activities including our after school club up at the quarry, holiday sessions for children, family sessions, adult tool sessions such as simple green woodworking projects and spoon carving and we also linked in with the local school and other organisations to deliver forest school sessions.
How long have you been using the Mitchellwood Quarry and what do you do there?
Wild Things has used Mitchellwood Quarry for 4 years and prior to that used the wood for Tinto Acorns, a forest school ran by volunteers for pre-school children.  The demand for forest school sessions became apparent as we were asked to run sessions for older children and I took this on and decided to incorporate Wild Things as a community interest company allowing us to access funding to run sessions throughout the year.  We normally run weekly After School Club sessions on a Wednesday, some weekend sessions and some day sessions during Easter, Half Term and summer holidays.  It’s a great wee wood which is easily accessible from the school and we hope that as the children who attend our sessions grow up they will take with them a respect and knowledge that will ensure they use the wood sensibly in their older years.
Within sessions we build dens, have nature craft projects, get mucky in the mud kitchen, cook over the fire, forage, play games and most of all have lots of fun!  The children love it!
What do the kids get out of the experience and how does it fit into other things that you do for the children?
The children gain so much from the sessions; they have time to come together after school, in nature and play freely with adults close by for help.  They learn new skills, co-operate as a team with both children and adults to complete tasks, learn about risk, get muddy and smile lots!

As each year progresses we develop the activities with older children taking more charge of tasks around the camp such as wood collection and fire lighting and helping the younger children with their creations and play.  It’s a great inter-generational group where all ages play together.

Are there any plans for future developments?
This year we are focussing on trying to get back to normal and offer as many of our usual activities as we can after last year’s downturn.  We were very lucky that for the majority of the time we were able to offer the after school group with limited numbers and a bubble group that couldn’t change.  This was a real benefit to the children who came along.  However, this year we’d like to roll that back out and get as many people as we can back outside enjoying our local woodlands and nature to help us all get back on track and feeling great again after such a challenging time.

Thanks to Claire for taking the time to talk to us about her work. It is great to see local children having the opportunity to enjoy this natural environment and learning to respect the outdoors.
 
Thanks to you as well, for your on-going support of BDCH.

Kind regards

David Chalmers (Chair)

You can visit our website at www.biggarheritage.co.uk

Copyright © 2021 BDCH, All rights reserved.


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp