The Nature Trail
Wild flowers along the River Goil Nature Trail
Not much of a photography blog, but I hope you find it interesting…
If you’ve read some of my previous posts, you’ll gather that I’m still quite heavily involved in community volunteering. I have for the past 10 years or so, been either an on-call firefighter, a volunteer for the local community development trust, or both. My past work experience allows me to contribute to all that boring techie and finance stuff that helps small, voluntary organisations tick along, and sometimes even punch above their weight. But the voluntary work I’ve enjoyed the most has generally involved being outdoors; getting hot, cold, muddy, wet, and often bitten to blazes. It’s so different to office work, yet so immediately impactful. Who knew that installing a drain, building a footbridge, or planting a tree could reward in ways that the whoop of a bunch of excited, overpaid sales execs never could (I had an inkling)?
One of my proudest achievements as a volunteer has been to help develop a network of low-level, easy access paths and trails along the River Goil, which today are used by locals, holidaymakers, and two local outdoor education centres. Helping people of all ages to more easily access nature, I believe, is an effective way to educate and raise awareness of our precious wild environment.
A component of the paths network is an informal nature trail that runs directly along the riverbank and through woodland glades. It was always partially there, but a series of deep, muddy drainage ditches and years of neglect, made it impassable in places and not too pleasant in wet conditions. Weeks spent clearing under- and over-growth, pulling up rusty barbed wire, and marking out the route with little marker signs, were followed by the construction of a series of boardwalks and footbridges, using pieces of old steel jetty to provide strength across the wider spans. These heavy chunks of metal were literally manhandled through the woodlands by a bunch of fellas who should know better at their age. Grippy boardwalk decking, along with some tasteful marker posts for the trail entrances were added to finish the job.
The Nature Trail has been a hit, particularly with dog walkers and those who like to wild swim in, or fish the river. Overall, it cost just a couple of grand to build - all of which came from external grants and kind donations of cash, materials, and time. This work, and the never-ending effort to maintain what we’ve built, is just a small part of the nature-focussed projects managed by Lochgoil Community Trust. Their hard work has seen them (us), nominated for a prestigious RSPB Nature of Scotland award for community involvement in nature projects, especially in terms of habitat restoration for migratory wild fish (Salmon and Sea Trout). It’s kind of bizarre that this isn’t being loudly and widely celebrated, but as with all such things nowadays, there are a few vociferous trolls and nay-sayers locally who would simply shoot it down. Just as well we’re mostly a quiet bunch who simply get on with stuff, having fun along the way.
