The Green Team Blog - the year 2007

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4th November 2007

Pease Bay - submitted by Callum

We headed out early on the Sunday, after playing some ice breaking games to get to know each other a bit better. It was just under an hours trip to Pease Bay, a really nice costal area near Dunbar complete with the reverse, where we would carry out our work, and a campsite filled with surfers come to brave the Scottish weather. In fact it was a chilly morning as the group walked into the reserve and were given a tools talk. We then proceeded to fell the sycamore trees in the area, a foreign tree which dominates the local British ones and can become a nuisance for the rangers who are trying to help the local trees prosper. We worked hard all morning and then broke up for a well earned lunch. Some of the group returned to the minibus to escape the droves of midges swarming us, even this late in the year.

After lunch we came together for some more games and finished off removing the sycamore trees from the area. We then played some games to get the group really using their senses, including one where we sat on our own and just listened, to the surrounding area and noted what we heard. The amount of different sounds, and the variety of what you heard was amazing. We where then taken on a little walk, further into the reserve, whilst being educated about the wildlife and environment by our very knowledgeable ranger. The day came to close after this and we finished by packing up our stuff and helping carry some fencing equipment back to the caravan site, where we had a review of what everyone thought of the day. The group then jumped in the minibus to return to Edinburgh, tired, but pleased with the work they had done; another great day helping the environment, many thanks Green Team.

2nd September 2007

Almondell & Calderwood Country Park - sent in by Sophie

On Sunday 2nd September, Green Team spent the day at Almondell and Calderwood Country Park, chopping down trees. Though perhaps not something you’d imagine a conservation group undertaking, the activity was necessary in order the create space for other plant life in the area.

After the short minibus drive, we started the day off with a few icebreakers up the cairn, and then got straight down to business. I’d previously though there was a sort of science to forestry, but was soon proven wrong: as we found, saws, loppers and hard hats are all it takes!

By 3 o’clock, the tree chopping had resulted in the creation of two substantial habitat piles and the clearance of a fantastic amount of space. After some highly competitive tea making in storm kettles, we finished off the day with a game of charades, which we used to discuss what we’d learned and the various areas of the John Muir Award.

Many thanks go to the leaders and park rangers for an enjoyable and informative day in the woods!

25 August 2007

Binning Wood

The picture says it all!

3 June 2007

Gullane Beach - sent in by Olga

Green Team Project - working in partnership with East Lothian Ranger Service.

We arrived at Gullane Beach at about 10:30 am After playing crab-football and having a ’tool’ talk, we moved to our site. We were split into two groups. Half of us started constructing a new path. The other half began clearing away some of the invasive Buckthorn. Constructing the path was hard work as we had to remove the vegetation with spades and mattocks but the result was satisfying! After a break we changed over. The Buckthorn was prickly and difficult to get at, but once you managed to get in and cut it, the job became easier and also rewarding.

The weather was very hot and humid and it rained a little bit after lunch. At about 3 pm we finished work and had a ’penguin race’. We then went down to the beach. We were given the interesting task of making a sea turtle and a sea goddess out of anything we could find. The results were very impressive and we lured them out to sea!

We left Gullane at about 4 pm feeling tired but with a sense of achievement. There were eighteen of us taking part in the project, not including the Green Team leaders or the Ranger.

28 April 2007

Stonehouse

We arrived to a beautiful day, at Stonehouse in South Lanarkshire. Our aim for the day was to have cleared the area from litter, to plant trees and wildflowers and to build a kissing gate. We split into two groups and
after lunch we swapped our jobs over. We finished the kissing gate (it looked excellent) and the rest of the team had planted three fruit trees and wildflowers around the area. After we had finished our tasks we
played scavenge hunt, it was a mad dash trying to find all the items!!

When we arrived at the accommodation, we had sausage, beans and mash for dinner, afterwards we played nature’s gift. Melanie wanted to go on a bats search, so we all went out looking for them. Fortunately we saw one flying over our heads!!

We went back inside and played spoons! Which was brilliant, especially with Jen getting extremely excited about winning the spoons! The next morning we were up at eight o’clock. We had a lovely breakfast,
due to Nick’s amazing hash browns!

Our aim for Sunday was to cut down excess branches from the trees and to build bat boxes! When we got to the park Penny had arrived! We played clothes pegs and the juggling name game. We then started on our jobs; we made some fantastic bat boxes and cleared the pathway from overgrown branches. We headed back to the accommodation after a game of buzzards and crows and egg boxes!

We rounded off the weekend with the horse shoe and reviewing our weekend, which was great! Thank you Green Team for a brilliant weekend!!!!

21 April 2007 - sent in By Catherine, Belle, Fiona and Andy

Lochore Meadows

We started off the weekend with ice-breakers such as the “groovy dance game” and the classic ball game, and were then introduced to our lovely leaders. We arrived at Lochore Meadows only to be greeted by rain! We were introduced to death ‘Dallas’ with his rather overstated precautionary measures on the use of tools and nature's hazards.

We were soon down to work cutting down trees for building our fence in the afternoon. We discovered Fife had a large population of old foggies, who were rather taken by Catherine (leader), what a ‘babe in the wood’!!!

We eventually stopped for lunch when the rain got the better of us, but were soon back out playing crows and buzzards, where Catherine and Callum worked well together as the evil buzzards.

The group then got back to work hedge-laying and planting trees (or breaking spades!) and managed to plant 300! The guys were using froes to split wood for posts. The fire then had to be put out, using a lot of (fairly dirty) water. We then headed off to the accommodation, where the bus tried to take a tricky turn and ended up blocking the road! We then had a really nice tea and went for a night time walk and saw Dundee.

On Sunday we started off by planting a variety of trees. We planted Birch, Hazel and Scot’s Pine, outside a fence that caught Fiona! After a long lunch we went for a walk and saw a lime kiln and heard lots of Skylarks. We then went to falconry and saw lots of interesting birds of prey. There was a feeding vulture (eww), which we saw fly (and waddle) for its food. We then headed home, after having a great weekend…..Thanks Green Team!

24 March 2007 - sent in by Aidan

Linlithgow

Our residential weekend began at New Parliament House on a gloriously sunny Saturday morning at 9.00am. Once all the paperwork and formalities had been exchanged we headed off in the minibus for Linlithgow. As it was Melanie’s first attempt at navigating that brute of a vehicle I am sure I wasn’t the only one feeling a bit nervous. But it was not long until we realised that she was very capable and we were in Linlithgow in no time.

The day ran without a hitch, unless you include gate crashing a funeral with the minibus. We began by coppicing trees to allow the loch to be clearly seen from a nearby manor. As usual the Green Team squad attacked those willows with some gusto, and the ranger was amazed to see what short work we had made of his woodland area. Midday soon arrived and lunch was devoured at a remarkable rate after such fervent work. To finish off our break, the group discussed the weekend ahead and played a Green Team favourite “Buzzards and Crows” (a far superior version of tag). The afternoon consisted of more of the same satisfying work under the shadow of the great palace, and the day’s hard work was rounded off with a leisurely stroll around the loch’s banks.

We reached the 1st West Lothian Sea Scouts’ hut, eager to put our feet up for a well deserved rest. Not long after we arrived, a fine dinner of baked potatoes and home-made apple crumble was steaming on the table. Full and content, the evening was rounded off with an outdoor fire, with further fun n’games until we collapsed into our beds.

After an early start (not helped by the change of the clocks) we headed off to Muiravonside, a nearby farm and wildlife area, where we were met by extremely friendly pigs and other endearing animals. Here we were split into groups to carry out tasks on maintaining the public paths in the area, including the addition of drainage and step building. The morning flew by and before we knew it the job was done and we said goodbye to the animals. We returned to the Scout hall for a final evaluation and to pack up our gear. After a final heated game of “Catch the Cup”, we exchanged natural gifts with each other and we left, weary but pleased we had contributed to the weekend.

I am a relative newcomer when it comes to Green Team, only having previously attended a couple of day schemes, but I found a residential experience vastly improved my contribution to conservation, and allowed me to make many friends. I highly recommend a residential trip to anyone who is looking for a lot of fun, and just a little hard work.

11 March 2007 - sent in by Malcolm

Vogrie Country Park

As it was Jackie's first time driving the mini-bus, by the time we got to Vogrie country park everyone had fully woken up and been shaken into a mood for doing hard work. We started with the old classic ball-throwing name game, and then followed Jo around the pond area where we were going to work, so that she could show us what we had to do and how it would help.

Relieved to know that all the hard work in the pond itself had already been done, we set about building refuges for newts. 'Group 3' excelled in this task and had soon finished their authentic 'rugged, nature look' construction, the others followed with more contemporary styles, one including a patio and an impressive entrance. These 2-metre high feats in exterior and interior design were appreciated by many passers-by who were enjoying their walks around the area, but will hopefully also be appreciated by the newts themselves. The homes were mainly made out of logs and dirt (between which the newts will find spaces to live in), but we also used some bricks and plastic tubes for entrances. The whole thing was topped off by slabs of grass, leaving it looking natural.

The lunch break was pleasant, sitting at the picnic tables. To get warm again we played a game called 'buzzards and crows' which is essentially tig-ala-green-team. After this we got back to work on our constructions, and to finish off the day a rather large bonfire was started, in which we cooked bannanas in tin foil with choclate bits inside. This was a brilliant way to top off an amazing day helping the enviroment. Thanks to the instructors and Jo.

24 February 2007 - sent in by Isla

Wiston Lodge

We arrived at Wiston Lodge to the usual grey day, but soon cheered up with a few bonding games. Next we were given the legendary tool talk and rather over enthusiastically set to work "Rhoddy bashing". However this actually resulted in chopping down a whole laurel bush before we realised that it was not Rhododendron, and guiltily pretended nothing had happened before tackling the huge bush. The work, though quite hard, was very satisfying as the majority of the rhododendron was cleared in no time. After a delicious lunch of warming soup we played some more games then connected with the trees (some more seriously and successfully than others), wrote poetry and made some environmental art in the drizzle which certainly made up fully prepared for our dinner and some light entertainment in the evening. This consisted of a world exclusive of the "Enviro-show" which although aimed at 8 yr olds we all laughed at and even learned a few things. Next came a combined leader - participant quiz which lasted well into the evening with both sides of the generations learning lots of useful things (Participants, how to tell the difference between a bluebell and a harebell.Leaders, what an emo is.) and ending in a climactic contest of paper and scissors, desperately trying to make something which stood up at least. We all went to bed feeling very content.

The next morning we surprisingly played some more games and then set to work hauling our chopped Rhododendron up to the bonfire site through various self-created methods, including bits of hijacked fence. This process was amazingly slowed down by the presence of a pen of very small collie puppies that were beside our track and needed a five minute break to pat every time we went past. After many wet attempts a bonfire was finally started and we discovered new ways of toasting marshmallows. After a much anticipated lunch of roast chicken we said goodbye to some of the more veteran members and clamoured back onto the bus. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable weekend.

11 February 2007 - sent in by Mikey

Newbattle Abbey

The day was kicked off by Nick making us all dance in the rain introducing ourselves and our dance moves. Jen then talked about the John Muir Award and the different parts. Then the hard work really started. Our aim for the morning was to clear the plants and trees that were over growing the public footpaths around Newbattle Abbey.

At lunch we all crammed into the Wardens' Lodge to escape the rain and eat our lunch. It is officially the most people that they have ever had inside! After lunch we did some stretching to warm us up for the mad game of Killer Frisbee were people got even muddier.

After path building we did a sound map and a scavenger hunt. The wood was really wet so we only managed to have a small fire. Then it was home time and we trekked back to the bus just as the sun was coming up. All in all it was a good but muddy day!