Out on a whim – A Day to Make a Difference at Leadburn Community Woodland
A group of staff from the College Office at the College of Science and Engineering used their ‘Day to Make a Difference’ to help local conservation group, ‘Friends of Leadburn Community Woodland’, remove invasive rhododendrons from an area of scientific importance.
Whim
It was a typically grey but thankfully dry and midge-free November morning, as we met our volunteering contact Rik in the tiny hamlet of Whim, just south of Penicuik.
It is believed that it got its name when the Duke of Argyle bought the land ‘on a whim’ before then building a stately home there in 1734. Whim House is nowadays a care home, and the original surrounding gardens and woodland have long since overgrown. Whim Wood, where we’d be working, is part of Whim Bog, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The bog itself is a lowland raised bog habitat important for several species of sphagnum moss as well as bog asphodel and the carnivorous round-leaved sundew.
Rhododendrons
Rhododendrons are a popular garden plant but one particular species ponticum has become invasive in many parts of the UK. Originally planted by Victorian estates as ground cover for pheasant rearing, in many areas it has been forgotten and then tends to grow fast and sideways, smothering the ground and eventually shading out almost all other ground vegetation.
College Office staff in Whim Wood getting ready to start chopping rhododendrons.
Our task
Our task for the day was relatively simple – clear out as many rhododendrons as we could to help the woodlands regenerate and improve its biodiversity. A selection of tools was available for us – loppers, for chopping off small stems and branches, saws for larger branches and trunks, and mattocks, an axe-like implement for digging out the stumps and cutting the root system around them.
After safety guidance from Rik, we got to work chopping, sawing and then piling the dead leaves and branches into giant stacks. At the beginning, the sheer quantity of branches and vines was daunting, however, after about an hour you could see the combined effort of the group making a dent as several big rhododendrons got trimmed back and removed, allowing other neighbouring trees and plants to breathe for the first time in many years.
Lopping rhododendrons
At times it felt counter-intuitive – surely all this destruction couldn’t be good for the environment? Rik assured us that conservation is not always about planting new trees and that sometimes the less glamourous jobs like this need to be done.
We stopped for lunch sometime after midday and a few of us went for a stroll in the woods. The Friends of Leadburn team, made entirely of volunteers, have been working this woodland for almost two years and have made some impressive progress. We saw hundreds of stacks of dead leaves and newly opened spaces where previous work had been done, and it does look as if they are slowly winning the battle against the ever-persistent rhododendrons.
The team having lunch
After lunch we got back to the hard graft – and it was quite hard, especially compared to the pampered comforts of working from home or being in a cosy office all day. That said, it was a welcome change to be outside in the fresh air, in beautiful surroundings and getting to know colleagues in a completely different way.
More lopping and chopping.
After another couple of hours of chopping, we had cleared a satisfyingly large area, and Rik told us to call it a day. We made our way back to the cars quietly exhausted, and with a few sore feet, backs and arms we headed satisfied back to Edinburgh. Job done!
Friends of Leadburn Community Woodland
The Friends of Leadburn Community Woodland also manage an area just to the south of Leadburn, where they have rewilded around 50 hectares land since 2007. From there, they sell their own freshly cut and very reasonably priced Christmas trees at weekends in December to fund their projects and other woodland charities. See their website for directions or contact leadburncw@hotmail.com for more details.
If you are interested in volunteering for the Friends of Leadburn Community Woodland or would like to arrange a similar trip for your own work group. https://leadburnwood.com/volunteering/
A Day to Make a Difference
‘A Day to Make a Difference’ is a scheme which offers University staff the opportunity to use one working day per year to volunteer for a charity or community project of their choice.
https://local.ed.ac.uk/staff-and-students/volunteer
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