A meeting was held in school on 16th September. Representatives of the Council, the architects, Scottish Natural Heritage and Greenspace, along with the local Biodiversity Officer and members of the school's staff and pupils on the Eco-Schools committee and Environmental Group discussed the forthcoming building work and its impact on our grounds. Our environmental work was noted with much interest and assurances were given about protecting our meadow and relocating our flowerbeds and polytunnel.
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During last summer holidays, contractors dug up patches of our meadows and left areas of rubble. Heavy machinery has left further areas flattened. When complaints were made about this, the contractors returned and attempted to put things right by scattering grass seed! This bizarre episode introduces an alien species to the meadow.
The railway company have also been in during the summer and have felled many trees within our grounds without seeking permission. The tree and shrub cover has been drastically reduced in places.
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Our orchids were truly spectacular last year !
The addition of the Northern Marsh Orchid is a significant development - and we also have its hybrid with Common Spotted Orchid, making 4 different Orchid species on the site.
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The county BSBI Recorder, Dr. McPherson, visited the site on Monday 4th July and noted several further species, as well as corroborating (and in some cases correcting) a large number of species we had found since his previous visit. He also sent several specimens to be checked by referees. As a result, we have now identified a hybrid willow and a second cotoneaster.
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A major botanical website has acknowledged us by placing a link to us on their map of the UK. We hope more will follow.
To see the page in question, click HERE.
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A major task for the coming season is to prepare a schematic plan of the whole site. This will enable us to plot and monitor the location and distribution of each species. We hope to make these results available on the website in due course.
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