Dalgety Bay Woodland Group
Welcome to the home page of the Dalgety Bay and Hillend Woodland Liaison Group. On this site you can find information about the activities of the group, pictures and descriptions of the flora and fauna found in Dalgety Bay, details of four woodland walks, and practical advice about how you can help with the conservation of our woods and beaches. And don't forget to have a go at our Nature Games section too.
The
Dalgety Bay Woodland Group is a voluntary association of individuals from the
communities of Dalgety Bay and Hillend, Fife, Scotland who have come together
because of a shared interest in the conservation of the numerous areas of
woodland in our town. The town has expanded rapidly in recent years and now has
some 10,000 inhabitants. As the population grows, so the pressure on the woods
and their wildlife increases. The Woodland Group was set up with the following
goals:
To
work with the Community Council and Fife Council to promote the protection,
conservation, regeneration and good maintenance of the woodlands in and around
Dalgety Bay.
To
assist in educating the public in the history, ecology and management of the
woodlands.
To
help protect the natural environment of the woodlands and their flora and fauna.
A number of
projects have been undertaken in pursuit of these aims:
The brainchild of
long-standing group member Jim Thompson, the Adopt a Wood scheme has had a major
impact on reducing litter in the woods and has been recognised with several
awards from Fife Council. There are currently 19 volunteers who undertake
regular clean-ups of their adopted wood using the pick-up sticks, bin bags and
gloves which are provided to all participants. In addition, clean-ups of woods
in need of special attention are held from time to time, giving all the members
of the scheme and other volunteers the opportunity to meet and discuss the many
weird and wonderful things they have unearthed in the course of their
litter-picking. Donibristle Primary School recently joined in by adopting
Longhill Plantation.
The following
woods are currently seeking adoption: Binning Strip, Donibristle Wood, St David's Clump, Crow Wood
and Hopeward Wood. Anyone interested in adopting one of these woods should
contact Alistair Hyde on 823169.
Litter bins
In order to make
the Adopt a Wood volunteers' lives a bit easier, we have successfully lobbied
Fife Council to site new litter bins near some of the woods. In an attempt to
use what bins we have more efficiently, we also mapped existing bins and made
suggestions as to how they could be repositioned so that people walking through
the woods are more likely to use them.
Five-year plan
The Group obtained
funding for a five-year management plan for the local woodlands which ran from
1997-2002. We are currently in the process of finalising the next
five-year plan, having surveyed all the woods in the town during the course of
the last few months with a view to identifying work needed on dead or dangerous trees,
replanting requirements and any other issues specific to each wood. Once the
plan has been drawn up and funding obtained, it will be implemented by Fife
Council and also by members of the group and other volunteers where possible. It
is our hope to involve the wider community in some aspects of implementation,
and the Community Council will be consulted before the plan is approved. A
substantial number of seedlings are currently being brought on by Jonathan
Ellington at a site in Rosyth with the intention of planting them in the areas
identified by the plan as suitable for new planting.
Access to the woodlands
There is little
point in having well-maintained woodlands if the public is unable to enjoy them
because of access problems. The Woodland Group has undertaken a survey of all
the footpaths in our woods, producing detailed maps and indicating the areas in
need of upgrading. We have received an offer of a grant from the Fife
Environment Trust for this project and are in talks with the Forestry Commission
to secure the balance of the costs. In addition, the steps at the north end
of Letham Hill Wood are a very concrete expression of the Group's work, and the
signposts there and halfway along Letham Hill Wood as well as on the coastal
path to Inverkeithing were also erected as a result
of the efforts of Andrew Cook.
Ross Plantation
Jim Thompson has
been instrumental in identifying the E. coli contamination in the wetland
area in Ross Plantation. Thanks to his determination and persistent lobbying,
this problem has now been recognised by Scottish Water. It is to be hoped that
they carry out their commitment to rectify the problem so that we can retain and
regenerate this very special habitat.
Publications
The group's secretary, Andrew Cook, has produced two excellent colour leaflets in recent years with the aid of a Millennium Award. The first, produced in 1999, provided a description of the town's woodlands and was distributed free of charge to some 4,000 local homes. The second was published in 2000 and gave details of four woodland walks around Dalgety Bay and Aberdour. You can now read the Woodland Walks leaflet online too.
Woodland Explorers
The Woodland Explorers group is aimed at acquainting 6-10 year olds with all the exciting things to be found in our woodlands. We organise free walks and activities for anyone who is interested in finding out about the bugs, birds and other creatures lurking in the woods. Monthly walks are led by Kim Blasco, Chris Ashton and Kathryn Green who is an RSPB Field Teacher. Our last outing in April saw a dedicated group of parents and children plant over 40 saplings of native trees such as oak, ash and birch in Crowhill Wood. We may be organising a pond-dipping outing in May, date and venue to be confirmed, otherwise look out for our stall at the Gala Day on 11 June. Please contact Kim Blasco on 825195 or Kathryn Green on 822370 for further details.
And what do all these smiling faces tell us? Planting trees is fun!
Have a read of the
Local
Wildlife section to learn more about
what you can see in and around Dalgety Bay.
Wildlife sightings
Different members
of the group have contributed to the list of flora and fauna in and around Dalgety
Bay that can be read in full under the Species
Records section.
Beaches
OK, so they're not
exactly woodland, but Dalgety Bay's beaches are a very important part of our
local environment, and are adjacent to some of our woods along the Fife Coastal
Path. Several of the group's members are involved in studying and maintaining
the four main beaches within the town's boundaries. For the past couple of years
we have been participating in the Forth Estuary Forum's Coastal Litter Survey
which involved detailed monthly surveys of the litter washed up on selected
beaches right across the Forth. This project has now concluded, however as part of the Forum's Coastal Litter
Campaign we continue to organise regular clean-ups of our local beaches, for which we
have enjoyed enthusiastic and very welcome support from the 1145 Squadron (Dunfermline)
ATC and the 895 Squadron (Dalgety Bay) ATC. Details published in The Diary. For more information on the Forth
Estuary Forum, visit www.forthestuaryforum.co.uk.
Open meetings
The Woodland Group
holds open meetings once every three months in the Parish Church. Times and
dates are published in The Diary. All members of the public are welcome to come
along and express their views about any issue relating to the woods. We often
have a guest speaker, and recent speakers have included Kim Blasco on the birds
of Dalgety Bay and Jean Cook on the flora of the Bay.
The group's next scheduled meetings are as follows:
Wed June 1st: Open meeting at Dalgety Parish Church at 7:30 pm.
Wed September 7th: Group AGM at Dalgety Parish Church at 7:30 pm.
Helen and Kim have moved house and have now given up cleaning the Binning Strip and adopted Steeple Clump which is nearer their new home. This means that there is a chance for someone who lives in the Harbour Place/West End area to adopt the Binning Strip. This is a fairly busy strip of woodland which really does need somebody to clean it up regularly and keep an eye on the trees. Another volunteer "retirement" means that Donibristle Wood is also now available for adoption. If you live near one of these woods and think you could help out, please contact Alastair Hyde on 823169.
If you are
interested in contributing to the conservation of the local environment in
Dalgety Bay, there are a number of things you can do to help:
Don't
drop litter in the woods or on the beaches. This includes poop scoop bags, which
should either be placed in public litter bins or taken home and disposed of
there. Fly-tipping in the woods (or anywhere else, for that matter) is illegal,
unsightly, and can smother wild plants. Garden waste should either be taken to
the tip or disposed of in your brown wheelie bin. The council will take action against
people found dumping garden waste in the woods.
Report
antisocial behaviour in the woods to the police. This includes vandalism,
illegal dumping and instances of alcohol or substance abuse.
Join
the Adopt a Wood
scheme.
Participate
in the wood clean-ups and quarterly beach clean-ups organised by the Woodland
Group and the Forth
Estuary Forum. These are advertised in The Diary. The annual wood clean-up is usually
in April.
Attend
the quarterly open meetings of the Woodland Group, which are also advertised in
the Diary.
Contact
us with your ideas and suggestions
about conservation of the local environment, or with details of your
observations of local flora and fauna.
Most
of all, go out and enjoy yourself exploring the woods and coast of Dalgety Bay.
The Woodland
Group's chairman, Alistair Hyde, can be contacted on 01383 823169 or alistair@dbay.fsworld.co.uk.
You can also visit the Forth Estuary Forum's web site at www.forthestuaryforum.co.uk.
Last Revised:
27.04.05.