Borders Forest Trust

Borders Forest Trust is delighted to announce the appointment of a new Director, Jane Rosegrant, who will take up her post on 12th June.
 
Jane lives at Walkerburn near Innerleithen and is currently Regional Director with Voluntary Service Overseas responsible for various countries in the Far East and has also worked abroad for VSO.  Before that she was Programme Manager with the Big Lottery Fund in Scotland and Senior Programmes Director for Just World Partners, an NGO supporting sustainable development abroad.  Earlier in her career she was Director of the Centre for Human Ecology in Edinburgh.  She has a PhD on Rural Resettlement in Ireland.

The 1000th copy of the Carrifran Wildwood Story has been sold - a fantastic measure of the book and the project's success. Written by Myrtle and Philip Ashmole with members of the Wildwood group and a foreword by Professor Aubrey Manning OBE, the book celebrates ten years of the the Carrifran Wildwood project and has received rave reviews. Supported by Scottish Natural Heritage and available to buy online via the BFT shop or by calling the office.

Borders Forest Trust and John Muir Trust were able to make a bid for Talla Gameshope on 14th March thanks to the incredible generosity of supporters who made pledges towards the purchase of this special piece of land. Unfortunately we have now learned that our bid was not successful. We are all disappointed but very grateful to everyone who pledged support - we will be in touch with everyone individually in the coming days to say thank you.

An exciting opportunity has arisen to purchase and manage the 5400 acre Talla and Gameshope estate, a property in the wild heart of the Southern Uplands. Borders Forest Trust is working in partnership with John Muir Trust with the aim of making a joint bid on the 14th March for this important piece of land. Please see the guide on our Publications page which shows just what a special area this is.

In order to secure this land and bring it into conservation management, BFT is calling for pledges of financial support to help us. The estate is on the open market with a valuation of over £1 million, and we only have a matter of weeks to raise the funds we need.

We welcome contributions of any size; please give your support today. If you are in a position to make a pledge, please contact John Hunt, Chairman (director@bordersforesttrust.org) or Louisa Finch, Communications and Fundraising Officer (louisa@bordersforesttrust.org) for more information. Telephone 01835 830750 or write to Borders Forest Trust, Monteviot Nurseries, Ancrum, Jedburgh TD8 6TU.

BFT is pleased to announce that Phil Roe has started work as Corehead Farm Site Manager. Phil has recently worked as a ranger for Bury Council and as a woodland creation champion for the Woodland Trust. As well as his work on UK soil, Phil has  worked on rural projects in India and says he is looking forward to “the challenge of the multidisciplinary management role that applies the principles of ecological restoration to native woodland and connects it to the wider landscape through habitat conservation and community involvement.” He can be contacted by email via phil@bordersforesttrust.org

A fine autumn day drew a crowd of 84 competitors and many more spectators to this year’s Scottish Conker Championship, which took place in Peebles on Saturday 22^nd October. The championship, organised by Borders Forest Trust as part of the Tweed Valley Forest Festival, drew would-be champions from the Borders, Dumfries & Galloway, the Lothians and as far away as Devon.

The year’s Junior Champion is nine year-old Jordan McMinn of Peebles, who displayed incredible focus to beat runner up, seven year-old Hunter McCrone. McMinn’s conker had taken a battering through the rounds and was barely still attached to its string, but he remained cool, calm and collected and as a result walked away with the title. The Youth category was won by fifteen year-old regular competitor Charlie Griggs, another Peebles resident whose mother Fiona is a former winner in the adult category. Runner up in the Youth category was twelve year-old Matthew Lindsay.

The Adult competition was hotly-contested, but no-one could stand up to last year’s Adult runner up Maurice Hurrell of Tullibody, who displaced several opponents by obliterating their conker on his very first smash. The Adults runner-up was Phil Gates of Peebles.

The Rogues competition ended the day, with an “anything goes” rule meaning that the conkers had been subjected to all sorts of treatments to improve their staying power. In the final it was brother against brother as Peebles boys Andrew Wilson (age eight) and William Wilson (age 15) faced each other using conkers which were reputedly coated with yacht varnish. The indestructible conkers meant that the victory had to be decided by sudden death. William Wilson was the first to miss a shot, leaving his brother Andrew as this year’s Rogue champion.

All winners received a beautiful handmade elm burr conker made by local wood turner Bruce Frost from Wood Works in Peebles.

BFT was interviewed by Dougie Vipond recently for BBC Scotland's Landward programme as part of a feature on the sustainable use of hardwood timber. Our next door neighbours, Real Wood Studios, were the focus of the feature which was broadcast on BBC2 Scotland on Friday 21st October at 7pm. The programme is repeated on Weds 26th Oct at 2pm and is available on the BBC iPlayer until Thursday 27th Oct.

On 19th September the BFT team was at Morebattle Primary School for the launch of Tree Hugging Week. We've been overwhelmed by the support from the local community and several hundred tree huggers were out in force at woodlands across the Borders. The idea came from our Office Manager Sarah as part of our 15th Anniversary fundraising appeal to hold the first-ever Borders Tree Hugging Week, from 19th to 25th September. For full details please visit the Tree Hugging Week page in the Support Us section of the website. Our thanks to TreeSurv Woodland Management for supporting this year's event. UPDATE: Over £1000 has now been raised by tree huggers - thanks to everyone who's taken part.

We're really pleased to have received our first batch of hand-made BFT candles, available to buy in the online Shop. We've named them "Woodland Dawn" because of the mix of spruce, pine, fern and berry scents and because they made us think of a morning walk in the woods. They're made for us by a local company, Borders Aromatics, who are based in Greenlaw. Coming soon - Heather & Honey! All profits go towards our work planting and protecting woodlands for people and wildlife.

Borders Forest Trust has signed up to JustTextGiving by Vodaphone, a new service which allows people to make donations to charity by text. It's easy to do and all donations are very much appreciated!

Text BFTR10

£2 / £5 / £10 etc to 70070

eg BFTR10 £5

Your support helps us to keep on protecting woodlands and other natural habitats for people and wildlife.

 

The Carrifran Wildwood Story by Myrtle and Philip Ashmole and members of the Wildwood Group is continuing to receive rave reviews. Recent write-ups include:

"What is doubly inspirational is the huge voluntary effort that has gone into all aspects of the project and which is so faithfully recorded in this book. It is a wonderful read for any one with an interest in wild Scotland."

Nigel Hawkins. John Muir Trust Journal.  Spring 2011

"It is well worth while reading the Carrifran Wildwood Story – it has helped me to understand better how a relatively small group of people, without any obvious power except for their own determination, have achieved far more in ten years in terms of rewilding than many other areas of land in so-called conservation ownerhip."

Nick Kemp. Wild Land News Spring 2011

The book is available to buy for £15 & £5 P&P via the BFT online shop (Support Us) or by post (form available on the Publications page).