Borders Forest Trust

Due to the hard frost and forecast of snow, the 4th Feb Corehead Volunteer Planting Day has been cancelled. Apologies for any inconvenience and hopefully the weather will be on our side for the 3rd March.

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

Borders Forest Trust would like to wish all of its members, supporters and partners a very Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for 2012. Thanks for all your support in 2011, a year when the number of trees planted by BFT (and its volunteers) passed the million and a half mark. We couldn't have done it without you.

You have until the 16th of December to order from BFT's exciting range of woodland themed gifts for Christmas. We've got hand-made soaps and candles, greetings cards, Chris Rose's Carrifran Lookout print and the Carrifran Wildwood Story. To order visit our Shop in the Support Us section.

The Carrifran Wildwood project has been shortlisted for the RSPB's new Nature of Scotland Awards. The project is being considered in the Innovation category and the results will be announced on the 1st March 2012. See www.rspb.org.uk/natureofscotland to find out more.

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.

Do you enjoy taking photos of Borders woodlands? Then why not submit a photograph for the Borders Forest Trust 2011 woodland photography project? This summer we’re hoping to uncover an inspiring assortment of woodland images, a selection of which will be used in the 2012 Borders Forest Trust calendar, and we need your help!

We’re looking for photos taken at Borders Community Woodlands and other BFT sites which showcase all that our local woodlands offer, whether it’s a habitat for wildlife or a place for recreation and relaxation. From close-up shots of interesting tree bark to families out enjoying a woodland walk to shots the evening sun setting over the woodland, there is no restriction on the way you can choose to depict woodlands. For full details about the project please visit the Publications page of the website. Deadline for entries is 9th September 2011.

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).

A new pilot Healthy Walks project has begun, led by BFT Community Woodlands Officer Lisa Brydon. It's being run in partnership with NHS Borders and Scottish Borders Council Walk It! initiative, and involves a low-level, friendly walk to encourage people to become more active. The walks start from Darnick Village Hall at 10am on Tuesday mornings and takes in Darnick Community Woodland along the way. It's hoped that if the project is a success then it will be developed in years to come.

Borders Forest Trust is pleased to announce that its new Director is to be Callum Rankine.  Callum and his wife will shortly be moving down from Ross-shire to live in the Borders and he will take up this post on 3rd May.  He was previously Director of the Mammal Society and before that worked for WWF (UK) and WWF (International).

The Trust is delighted to announce that its Corehead Building Biodiversity with People project has won the Safer and Stronger category of the Dumfries & Galloway Rural Awards. The category was judged by Dr Kate Braithwaite, Director Rural Programme, Carnegie UK Trust and the award made at a ceremony at the Easterbrook Hall, Dumfries on 12th November. The Corehead project will feature in a new Good Practice Guide from Dumfries and Galloway LEADER.

On the 9th of March Borders Forest Trust took on three new Woodland Workers through the Future Jobs Fund for a period of six months. This fund enables BFT to employ the three young unemployed people and develop their skills in the woodland sector with a view to preparing them to either set up their own contracting business or be more employable in the sector with local contractors. The team are managed by BFT’s Site Manager, a position funded by the Scottish Borders 2007-13 LEADER Programme. In September, BFT was able to take on two more employees via the Future Jobs Fund and we're pleased that they are gaining good experience and making a valuable contribution to the Trust's work.

A new project is underway to map existing woodlands in the Scottish Borders with a view to encouraging more native woodlands to be planted in the future. Borders Forest Trust was chosen to deliver the project following research by the Scottish Borders Woodland Strategy Group which identified the need to evaluate the development of forest habitat networks in selected catchments and to assess what progress has been made in delivering the Scottish Borders Woodland Habitat Action Plans. The project will use GIS map data to create a picture of the existing forest habitat network, assessing biodiversity gains due to the expansion of native woodland habitats in five selected Borders catchments over the last ten to fifteen years and will provide a planning tool to guide the development of new native woodlands within a forest habitat network. The areas of new native woodland will be benchmarked against the suggested targets for native woodland expansion in the Scottish Borders Woodland Habitat Action Plan.

A new series of volunteer planting days has been announced for autumn/winter at Carrifran Wildwood. Over 50,000 trees have been planted to date by volunteers already and their help is invaluable - why not get involved? Visit the Events page for full details and dates.

BFT is pleased to announce a new weekly volunteering day at Corehead Farm & the Devil's Beef Tub. Why not join Site Manager Ed Glenwright to help with conservation tasks, including tree-planting, fencing, tidying, wildlife monitoring surveys and drystone walling. These volunteer days offer a great chance to learn new skills and make a valuable contribution to safeguarding our natural habitats. Volunteers should meet at the Moffat Ram statue on Moffat High Street at 9.30am on Wednesdays to be transported to the site. Please bring waterproofs, sturdy footwear and a packed lunch. To register interest email ed@bordersforesttrust.org