We have just finished working on a brilliant project to restore some of the historic designed landscape that makes up much of the nature reserve. Not only will this give an amazing glimpse into the past, but it will create some fantastic new homes for wildlife as well. The work has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund through the Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership (CAVLP). Much of the project has focused on replanting some of the old parkland that led from the historic Dalzell House stately home down to the banks of the River Clyde. Many of the ancient trees were on their last legs. Volunteers spent many a weary hour recording the what trees are left so that we could best plan how to replant the area. Most of the new trees were planted to recreate old avenues leading down the hill to the riverside. Planting the wee trees wasn't that hard work, but building sturdy wooden fences around them to protect them from our cattle certainly was!
The nearby Chestnut Walk was also suffering badly, with many of the centuries old chestnut trees under attack from disease. We planted some young sweet chestnut trees in between them to take their place in the future. They shouldn't be affected by the same diseases as the horse chestnuts, and will also grow into impressive mature trees. And we won't need to change the name of Chestnut Walk too!
Another lovely aspect was re-planting an old orchard that was also on it last legs. Just a few gnarled pear trees were left of the orchard that would once have supplied fruit to the estate. If you look up from the old stone bridge over the Dalzell Burn, you can now see young apple, damson and plum trees on the hillside. These were planted by local school kids, who had a fantastic chance to learn about the fascinating history of Baron's Haugh and Dalzell Estate as part of the process. The great news is that all have leaves unfurling just now, and even better some are flowering already. So, come along for the first Baron's Haugh fruit harvest in decades this autumn.
Finally, it would have been hard to spot, but there had once been a curling pond in the corner where the parkland meets the end of the Chestnut Walk and the River Clyde. It was so overgrown and silted up, you really had to use your imagination to see it! But with the help of old OS maps we knew it was there. In fact it had been in use for a long time; from the 1860s up until the first world war. With the help of our helpful staff archaeologist we did some excavations to understand better how it would once have functioned, and uncovered a clever system of sluices and pipes leading from the nearby Dalzell Burn. The pond has now been re-dug and looks pretty smart.
All that remains are for some nice interpretation boards to be installed, with extra information on Baron's Haugh's past. So all in all, it has been a fantastic project. If you haven't been to the nature reserve for a while, it is worth a look!
For more information on other great work being supported by CAVLP, have a look at www.clydeandavonvalley.org