Lc04p24 by Pishwanton Wood

Page 24

www.eastlothiancourier.com

East Lothian Courier, 5th April, 2013

www.eastlothiancourier.com

Page 25

News focus

‘Upside-down boat’ is new centrepiece of unique 60-acre nature classroom l Trustee Dr James Dyson speaks at the opening ceremony inside Pishwanton’s new science building

l by Bryan Copland IF YOU go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise. Pishwanton Wood, to be precise; and the surprise? A creative environmental project with a new £420,000 “upside-down boat” as its centrepiece. The wood, near Longyester – south of Gifford – is home to the Life Science Trust (LST), established in 1992 to “research, teach and promote educational methods that enable people to rediscover a healing, physical and spiritual connection with the natural world and to develop the skills of living in creative partnership with their environment”. Based on 60 acres of land at Pishwanton since 1996, LST last month realised part of its vision for the wood when it opened its near half-a-millionpound Goethean science building (pictured right). Built by hand, such has been the length of time that the building has been worked on that LST chief executive Dr Margaret Colquhoun cannot remember when construction began. But she believes this is a major step forward for what is dubbed ‘The Pishwanton Project’. “It’s amazingly civilised – we’ve never had anything like this in this place before. It’s been so wild for so many years,” Margaret told the Courier. With the opening of this unusual building and its “upside-down boat”-shaped roof, those who attend LST’s many courses or events have a great new home for their work; while for those passing Pishwanton on the minor roads at the foot of the Lammermuir Hills, it is a curious point of interest. As well as the main room, with its yellow washed walls, high arched roof and enough windows to light and heat the room sufficiently even on a chilly spring day, this building is home to a toilet and shower room, a conservatory, a kitchen for making juices and jellies and a therapy and conversation room. Built to be as ecological as possible – using local timber and a main oak beam from East Saltoun – this building will be the base for Margaret’s

teaching of Goethean science, which was founded by German Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (17491832) with the principle that the scientist is not a passive observer of an external universe, but rather has a participatory relationship with nature. Even the water for the building is pumped from a nearby marsh. About 900 metres further west, nearer the entrance to Pishwanton Wood, is LST’s second building – its craft workshop, where all kinds of homemade products are created or skills taught. Constructed by hundreds of volunteers, the 12year-old building – smaller than its new neighbour – is the only one in Scotland to have a gridshell roof, a curved grid structure. It is the base for activities ranging from birch broom making and art to pottery, weaving and spinning. “We started in here and everybody met in here at first,” Margaret explained. “This is the main place where we do our work. People come on Mondays and Thursdays and we do all sorts of projects. We do a lot of work with people with special needs. “In the summer, a lot of students come from abroad and we do harvesting, processing herbs, making juices and jellies with them. “We want to expand the processing in the new building, and also the experience of people being in the outdoors – growing things and harvesting things and turning them into something useful. “We’ve been talking about using work here as a ‘green gym’ for the over-50s. But we could do with two or three more people as volunteers, because they’re really helpful.” Similar to many other projects, LST – a registered charity with four trustees (pictured below) – is reliant on fundraising. For the new science building, much of the money came from grants bodies and trusts. Further applications have been lodged with some of these organisations to help fund Pishwanton’s

first wooden chalet, with five in total planned. Margaret, of Longformacus in the Scottish Borders, says these will offer visitors to the wood “super camping”; accommodation for those taking part in a course at Pishwanton – or simply wanting to escape from it all. A large part of LST’s work at Pishwanton is helping those who need time to rest and recuperate from the stresses and strains of everyday life. “We are trying to do everything by hand so that people can come and learn and take it with them wherever,” said Margaret, a former biologist. “If we had lorries and machines we could do everything much quicker, but it’s not important. What’s important is the experience, not the speed. l Life Science Trust’s four trustees (left to right): Christian Thal-Jantzen, Betty Stolk, Dr James Dyson and “People who can’t cope with machinery or moRichard Ramsbotham bile phones and things like that come here and

know that it’s a safe place.” Much of Pishwanton is still being developed, with a herb garden – currently still under a blanket of snow – being grown near the new science building. Within the building, there are granite worktops for cutting plants and bottling things “with a nice view”, while small plants will be grown within the conservatory before being taken out and planted in the herb garden itself. Those herbs are used for all manner of products: mainly teas, but also in ointments, creams and medicines. “All things that you can do yourself in your own kitchen, people can come here and learn how to do them and take them away,” Margaret said. “We study the plants with people so that they can

come to an understanding of what a plant does for you medicinally. “It’s like reading the book of nature and turning it into something which is healing. “We also use the wood as a place for healing people. If someone needs help, they are given a task in a place that would be beneficial for them. “This building is an upside-down boat in shape, so that you can really have a space above to think. You feel uplifted as a human being.” Work to raise LST’s profile continues – as Margaret admits “we’ve been a bit hidden in the woods”. But for now, Pishwanton is looking forward to a busy 2013/14 with a number of courses and events planned, starting with ‘Beholding the Heart of Nature’ – which follows the year at Pishwanton through the cycle of the zodiac, including plant ob-

servation, landscape study, animal observation, art, movement, music and physical activity appropriate to the time of year. Margaret admits that the opening ceremony for the new science building on March 24 – conducted by Major Michael Williams, Vice Lord Lieutenant of East Lothian – was “quite an emotional occasion”. She added: “It’s amazing, because I’ve been working for this for 17 years – to have a place to teach in Pishwanton. “The whole place is really the classroom: [the new building] is the indoor space and outside is the outdoor classroom where we study nature, the landscape, the plants and animals. It is very special.” Find out more about the Life Science Trust, and Pishwanton Wood, at www.pishwanton.org

l LST chief executive Margaret Colquhoun

l Sir Chris Bonington CBE, LST’s patron