Feed

I visited Ash Close Woodland. On the first pathway there wasn’t much litter as there was conveniently a bin at the start. However On the second pathway that spans at least 500m there were lots. Although I managed to collect some of the litter, most of it was thrown over the walls. Unfortunately there is no way to get to them so they might be left there to decompose for a very long time. The reason for this is to happen so probably due to the lack of bins on that pathway so people do not know where to put it in a place that isn’t obstructive. The only other bin present is one right at the end of the pathway. A way to reduce litter in that area is to place a couple bins in the middle of the pathway. The first pictures were the pieces if litter i found and picked up. The second two pictures are what the woodland look like, showing the "walls" that I mentioned

Myself, Andy MacIntosh & Victoria McAllister spent the day checking Mink Rafts while driving around the forest in a Land Rover while wearing waders & surveying for Water Voles in the forests around Aberfoyle. We started with a coffee on a cold morning with an educational talk from Emily Marshall who runs the local Trossachs Water Vole Project. The Water Vole is difficult to find but you can find traces such as small round holes at the entrance to underground tunnel networks, signs of eating and the occasional small poo ! There are many small colonies of Water Voles in The Great Trossachs Forest after reintroduction in 2008 after they went extinct in the area in the 80’s. Protection is by monitoring the current population with regular surveys and controlling their predators like American mink in the nearby area by use of floating clay pads to observe foot prints. The American Mink is a non-native species that were wrongly released after closure of a nearby mink farm. Since then, these aggressive predators have devastated populations of Water Voles and other small animals.

Alison Cheyne & I set off at 10am from a busy Rowardennan Car Park and returned at 5pm after surveying part of the West Highland Way in our role as Volunteer Rangers for the National Park. Our route took us up to the Inversnaid Hotel via Rowchoish Bothy and back with both low & high roads checked on the 8 mile route. We both had a great walk on Glasgow Fair Monday with some short showers and very few midges and extended the route as we were enjoying the walk thoroughly. Rowardennan to Bothy along low path took us 2 hours with a 20 minute break inside the Bothy. We then set off for Inversnaid by rejoining the high path, this took 1 hour 10 minutes with a 30 minute break for lunch. The return was along the high path the whole way and we arrived at Rowardennan Car Park for a 5pm finish after chatting to many walkers along the way. We found 7 fallen trees, all passable with care. Many other areas were badly overgrown with ferns above head height in places with jaggy nettles laced throughout especially at lower leg area which could be problematic for those wearing shorts. All bridges, gates, boardwalks & regular wild camping areas were in good condition with very minimal litter found along the whole route. Many gulleys, cross drains and water bars were blocked with silt but we found no major flooding issues. All issues found including geotagged pictures were passed to the National Park who will organise volunteer and regular work parties to clear many of the issues we reported.

A sunny day to explore the bridleway that runs parallel to the waggonway. We could hear the birds, as we had the place to ourselves. The brambles are changing from blossom to berries.

Final session and exhibition at end of project

More Photos from sessions 2 and 3

Some of the activities done across sessions 1 and 2