Summer 2009 - Scottish Natural Heritage

SNH Area News
Strathclyde and Ayrshire
Correspondents: Geoff Atkins, Dorothy Simpson, Martin Twiss
Estate in better state
Ten years ago the beautiful woodlands
and ancient buildings of Dalzell Estate,
near Motherwell in Lanarkshire, were
in a sorry state. A recent restoration
project has turned their fortunes
around.
With the help of Heritage Lottery
funding, it has been possible to
reconstruct and replant the Japanese
garden, create new paths and improve
the ponds for wildlife. In addition, the
funding allowed the historic buildings
to be restored, including the Hamilton
family mausoleum, bridges and follies.
The estate lies on the edge of
Motherwell, sitting on the banks of the
River Clyde, and includes the Baron’s
Haugh Nature Reserve. The Haugh
would have provided summer grazing
for the estate in the past, but is now
managed for wetland birds.
The project team, led by North
Lanarkshire Council staff, included
the specialist expertise of RSPB and
support from SNH. Local people have
also been involved from the start.
“It was a big project that worked
well because of all the people involved,”
commented Geoff Atkins, SNH’s local
area access offi cer. “Dalzell Estate and
the neighbouring RSPB Baron’s Haugh
Reserve have fi nally become the visitor
attraction that they deserve to be.”
You can fi nd out more from the
website:
www.dalzellandbaronshaugh.co.uk
Saltcoats solution
The Clyde coast holiday town of
Saltcoats recently sought to reduce
the impact of climate change by
improving the town’s fl ood defences.
Engineers came up with the idea of
building sea defence structures, such
as breakwaters.
However, the Saltcoats beach
contains fossilised trees dating from
around 300 million years ago (pictured
above) and these were in danger of
being destroyed by the building of
breakwaters.
The ‘trees’ are within the Ardossan
to Saltcoats Coast Site of Special
Scientifi c Interest (SSSI). The rocks of
this site formed when a volcano was
active in the area and at a time when
the land and climate were very different
from today.
Fortunately, the engineers and
SNH staff were able to come up with
a solution to protect the trees, by
reducing the size of the breakwaters
and positioning them away from the key
rocks. The option also helped to avoid
spoiling the views from the town.
As for the trees, the design of the
fl ood defences has meant that it’s
been possible to leave a gap in the
breakwaters around the fossilised
stumps. They’ll now be left undisturbed
in their 300-million-year-old location to
remind us that nothing stays the same,
not even the climate.
Gorge trail opens
You can now access an improved trail
through two of the gorge woods in
the Clyde Valley Woodlands National
Nature Reserve (NNR). The trail follows
the course of the gorge for about four
miles through Cleghorn Glen and
Cartland Craigs, and there’s a new
leafl et to guide you.
A local sculptor, Alan Kain, has
designed eight posts to physically
mark the line of the trail through the
gorge. The designs he used on the
waymarker posts were based on wildlife
drawings that children from the local
Robert Owen Memorial Primary School
provided.
The posts were installed in May
and the children have now visited the
woods to see for themselves how
their drawings are helping to raise
awareness of these outstanding and
dramatic woodlands.
The Clyde Valley Woodlands NNR
is unusual in that it’s a mosaic of rich
wildlife habitats among living, working
landscapes. People’s homes and
workplaces are interwoven with the
woodlands.
This project is part of our ongoing
effort, along with our NNR partners
(South Lanarkshire Council and the
Scottish Wildlife Trust), to re-engage
local communities with these special
woodlands.
44 The Nature of Scotland