Regular reserve visitors, blog readers and Facebook friends will know that we are involved in an exciting project called Save Our Magnificent Meadows
Save our Magnificent Meadows is the UK’s largest partnership project transforming the fortunes of vanishing wildflower meadows, grasslands and wildlife. Led by Plantlife, the partnership is made up of 11 organisations, including RSPB Scotland and is primarily funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. At Loch of Strathbeg, we are using specialist cutting equipment and grazing by konik ponies to restore 22 ha of fen meadow as well as running events to inspire people about meadows and raise awareness of the trouble they are in.
2016 is the final year of the project and we have a lot of exciting events and activities to celebrate.
Photo by Northumberland Wildlife Trust
Today we are officially launching our Meadows Doric Poetry Competition so we can celebrate meadows, their wildlife and what they mean to people through verse.There will be three categories in the competition – 11 and under, 12 to 18 years, and 19 and over – and each entrant can submit a maximum of three previously unpublished poems between now and midnight on 30 May.
We want to encourage Doric speakers of all ages to set pen to paper and help us to celebrate meadows and their amazing wildlife. The entries will be judged anonymously and first, second and third-place prizes awarded for each age-group category. The winners and first two runners up in each category will also be invited to perform their poems at the Meadows Celebration at Loch of Strathbeg on 2 July. The event, which is on National Meadows Day, will be full of family activities, music, poetry and storytelling all aimed at celebrating meadows and the links with north east culture.
The esteemed judging panel for the competition is made up of Jean MacKinnon, Les Wheeler and Robbie Shepherd. They will be looking for poems that capture the magic of meadows, the wildlife that lives in them and/or people's personal and cultural connection to them.
As well as a chance to perform their poems at our National Meadows Day event, winners will receive a selection of prizes including a book of poetry (see http://bit.ly/23I6arM for details) and may see their work displayed around the reserve in future as we hope to turn some of the winning entries in to interpretation so it can continue to inspire people for years to come.
So dinna be blate, tak up yer skailie, an’ fae the hert scrieve o’ yer wunner for ‘es bonny quate meadow. And don't forget to read about 'the important stuff' including rules and terms and conditions too here.
To get an entry form, just click on the attachment below (you might need to click on the blog title to see the attachment).