Valley Life: Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership newsletter Spring 2016

Š Crown copyright South Lanarkshire Council

Valley Life Spring 2016

Features [Page 2]

A blooming good time Connecting communities

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#WildTimeLAN 2016

Your archaeology needs you!

There was a fantastic turn out from volunteers of all ages who came along to help record the archaeological site of Hoolet Row in Chatelherault Country Park at the end of January, and CAVLP Heritage want you to join them in their quest of archaeological intrigue!

Geology revealed

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Training, volunteering and events

@ClydeAvonValley Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership clydeavonvalley www.clydeandavonvalley.org Phone: 01555 663 430

The Capturing the Past project requires volunteers of any age and ability to help research and record lesser known archaeological sites in the Clyde and Avon valleys, until autumn this year.

FREE archaeological based training and hands-on learning activities on the themes of mapCRAFT, Tasting Through Time, Sheep to Shawl and Brick by Brick, are available for individuals and groups of all ages who want to explore the hidden stories of the Clyde and Avon valleys.

Future volunteer group site visits will take place on the first and third weekends of February, March and April. Sites will include St. Ninian’s Kirkyard, Stonehouse; Morgan Glen; New Lanark and Craignethan Castle. Find out more by emailing cavlp.heritage@gmail.com / 01555 665 064.

Clyde and Avon valleys photo competition WANTED! Photos capturing the seasonal beauty of the Clyde and Avon valleys. Submit your winter images before 29 February and spring images before 31 May for your chance to win a framed print. Photos should be sent to info@clydeandavonvalley.com. Entry criteria is available at www.clydeandavonvalley.org.

Our People, Our land, Our History; Shaping our Future

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Looking forward to a blooming good time Clyde Valley Orchard Cooperative keep themselves busy It’s almost that time of year again, when Clyde valley orchard blossoms burst out of the winter gloom and catapult us into spring, making for spectacular viewing through the Clyde valley villages.

Before the blossoms The Clyde Valley Orchard Cooperative (CVOC) have been busy over the winter – keeping themselves occupied with a new juice production unit and gearing up to the fourth annual cider competition.

Taste of the orchards For the first time, CVOC have use of an apple juicing production and storage facility, meaning that the group are able to produce local apple juice for wholesale and retail.

They hope to sell 2000 bottles after the 2016 harvest.

Going head to head With Dry January but a distant memory, hold onto your hats for the results of the annual CVOC cider competition, which takes place in April. Around 25 Clyde Valley orchard owners are expected to enter the competition, each with

Connecting communities with the Clyde River and Avon Water A project to improve much loved pathways linking communities with the Clyde and Avon valleys has begun.

Part funded by Sport Scotland, Community Links will open up well known routes connecting communities on the shoulders of the Clyde and Avon valleys to riverside walkways, which have been identified as not being used to their current potential.

Opportunities will be created for healthy walking and activity through landscape exploration, improving access to features like ancient wooded gorges, sites of historical interest and geological forms which are unique to the area.

Stay tuned for details of which routes will be included.

their own secret recipe and blend.

After the bumper harvest of 2015 and now with four years’ experience behind them, CVOC are expecting delicious results.

To find out more, visit: www.clydevalleyorchards.co.uk Sign up to the CVOC newsletter by emailing: cvogsecretary@yahoo.co.uk

Go wild with #WildTimeLAN in 2016 If you’re a real wild child and love nothing more than an outdoor adventure with your family, you’ll be pleased to hear about the growth of Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership (CAVLP) funded play initiatives, #WildTimeLAN, in 2016.

Fruits of their labours Memories of fruit growing and market gardening in the area have provided song writing inspiration for Law, Overton and Underbank Primary school children.

Co-ordinated by The Lanarkshire Songwriters Group, public concerts will be held later in the year where you’ll have a chance to hear the melodies first hand.

CAVLP are working closely with Little Pips, Larkhall, Wild About Lanark as well as North and South Lanarkshire Countryside Ranger Services, to grow outdoor learning and natural play activities during 2016 – details of training and events where you and your family can release your inner wild child to be announced soon.

The initiative follows the success of CAVLP funded wild play focussed projects in 2015. Four parents and one teacher were trained to Forest School levels 1, 2 and 3, allowing them to lead outdoor play sessions that will benefit over 150 children. Covey Befriending Service built confidence and skills of nine Stonehouse children through Wild Time Tuesdays.

Pupils of Underbank Primary School ran wild with Forest Skills Training whilst families and friends of St Mary’s Primary School, Lanark, enjoyed woodland play events in the spring and summer.

Outdoor play is gaining increasing attention in the media as an elemental part of childhood development. It’s recognised as important for facilitating a life-long love and understanding of the natural world, whilst encouraging and inspiring children to develop personal, social and emotional skills by taking part in motivating and achievable activities.

Swamps, ice sheets and underground caverns – Clyde and Avon valleys’ geology revealed

Return of the salmon 35km of new spawning area for migratory fish will be opened up with the installation of fish passages at Ferniegair and Millheugh weirs on the Avon water near Hamilton, this coming summer.

A collaboration between RAFTS, SEPA, Clyde River Foundation and CAVLP, rock easement will let Atlantic salmon, sea trout, brown trout, lampreys and eels pass through areas once blocked by these redundant barriers which date back to the industrial revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Over the last months, Katie Whitbread, geologist from the British Geological Society, has been out and about, exploring the area’s rocks and landforms as part of the ‘Shaping Our Landscape’ project. She said, “It was amazing to find so much evidence of the power of water on our doorstep - a real voyage of discovery.”

The number of beautiful river gorges in the area is testimony to the erosion of powerful rivers over the past 15,000 years. These gorges were carved by the Clyde and its tributaries since the last glaciers retreated. The erosion of these valleys also revealed the sedimentary rocks they are carved into. These rocks tell the story of the rivers that crossed the area depositing sediment between 300 and 400 million years ago.

The interplay between these forces of nature and mankind in shaping the landscape is fascinating - from stately Chatelherault Hunting Lodge built from local sandstone, to hidden underground caverns quarried into sandstone and creepy adits (mining tunnels) carved deep into gorge walls for coal extraction.

The next stage will seek funding to improve access to some of these geological features. Path improvements and new information will reveal the dramatic history of the ever changing landscape of the Clyde and Avon valleys for all to enjoy.

Free Training and Volunteering Opportunities FREE hands-on learning opportunities with CAVLP Heritage, dates and times flexible to suit individual needs.

Explore the production and working lives of people in the Clyde and Avon valleys through a variety of FREE workshops, including MapCRAFT, Tasting Through Time, Sheep to Shawl and Brick by Brick. Contact cavlp.heritage@gmail.com / 01555 661 555 FREE CAVLP Heritage Board Game Design Night, every Tuesday, 7-10pm, Settler’s Café, 40 Castle Street, Hamilton, ML3 6BU. Board game design night inspired by local history and heritage. No booking required FREE Community Gardening Activities with Clydesdale Community Initiatives (CCI), every Tuesday until end March, 10:30am-12:30pm, Lanark Moor Sensory Garden, Lanark. Contact CCI on 01555 664 211 / enquiries@cciweb.org.uk FREE Environmental Conservation at Scottish Wildlife Trust Falls of Clyde with CCI, Thursday 25 February, 10:30am-2pm, Falls of Clyde Visitor Centre, New Lanark. Contact CCI on 01555 664 211 / enquiries@cciweb.org.uk FREE Environmental Conservation at RSPB Baron’s Haugh with CCI, Thursday 3 March, 10:30am-2pm, RSPB Baron’s Haugh Nature Reserve, Motherwell. Contact CCI on 01555 664 211 / enquiries@cciweb.org.uk FREE Environmental Volunteering at Scottish Natural Heritage Cleghorn Glen, Monday 21 March, 10:30am-2pm, Cleghorn Glen, near Lanark. Contact CCI on 01555 664 211 / enquiries@cciweb.org.uk

Events

FREE Keeping Glasgow in Stitches Exhibition, Thursday 18 February-Friday 1 April, 10am-4pm, New Lanark World Heritage Site. An exhibition of the twelve banners created to celebrate Glasgow as the European City of Culture 1990 FREE Capturing the Past at Morgan Glen and Broomhill House, Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 March, 10:30am-4pm Morgan Glen, Larkhall. Join CAVLP Heritage for a day of archaeological research and training as well as story finding in and around Morgan Glen. Booking essential. Contact cavlp.heritage@gmail.com / 01555 661 555 FREE Capturing the Past at New Lanark, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 March, 10:30-4pm, New Lanark World Heritage Site. Join CAVLP Heritage for a day of archaeological intrigue, in and around New Lanark World Heritage Site. Booking essential. Contact cavlp.heritage@gmail.com / 01555 661 555 27th Scottish Family History Society Family History Fair, ‘Heritage along the Clyde’, Saturday 23 April, 9:30am4:45pm, New Lanark World Heritage Site. Find out more about tracing local family history. Entry to 4 speakers throughout the day and a buffet lunch is £20. To book contact: 01555 661 345, Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm / trust@newlanark.org / buy online www.newlanark.org FREE New Lanark Spring Food and Gift Fair, Monday 2 May, 10am-4pm, New Lanark World Heritage Site. For more information visit www.newlanark.org/visitorcentre/events FREE Capturing the Past at New Lanark, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 March, 10.30am-4pm, New Lanark World Heritage Site. Join CAVLP Heritage for another day of archaeological research and training as well as story finding around New Lanark. Booking essential. Contact cavlp.heritage@gmail.com / 01555 661 555

For full listings go to www.clydeandavonvalley.org/events Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership David Dale’s House, Rosedale Street, New Lanark, Lanark, ML11 9DJ. www.clydeandavonvalley.org info@clydeandavonvalley.com @ClydeAvonValley

Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership

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The Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership is a Heritage Lottery Fund supported programme, working with 10 key partners: Central Scotland Green Network Trust, Clydesdale Community Initiatives, New Lanark Trust, North Lanarkshire Council, Northlight Heritage, RSPB Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Wildlife Trust, South Lanarkshire Council and Rural Development Trust