Activities

The Friends of Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill offer a number of activities throughout the year to help them satisfy their constitutional objective:

"To engage and involve the local community in environmental issues and action, through information exchange, education and practical activities."

Forthcoming Events

Christmas party : Sunday 11 December 1.30pm - 3.30pm

Come and join us for festive refreshments at Hermitage House. Jessica Morgado of the Countryside Ranger Service will present the plans for our exciting Community Wildlife Garden project for which funding has now been secured.

Recent Events

Activity days : Sunday 2 October 2pm - 4pm

Planting at the Wildflower Meadow near the Braid Road entrance, but meet at Hermitage House.

Balsam Bash : Sunday 3 July & 5 June 2pm - 4pm

Meet at Hermitage House at 2pm to start the 2011 Himalayan Balsam eradication programme.

Clean Up : Sunday 3 April 11am - 4pm

Spring Clean for Blackford Hill and Hermitage 3 April from 11am at the Observatory Car Park, as part of the Keep Scotland Tidy National Spring Clean campaign.

Clean Up : Sunday 6 February 1.30 - 3.30pm

We hope to be able to work in and along the Burn.

Clean Up : Sunday 5 December 1.30 - 3.30pm

This was cancelled due to the amount of snow and ice in the Reserve, but we offered festive refreshments at Hermitage House at 3pm instead.

Clean Up : Sunday 7 November 1.30 - 3.30pm

The water level in the Burn was too high for us to stick to our original plan, but we had a very fruitful clean up of the area below the Scout Bridge, particularly the quarry area. We found a sofa, a wheelless wheelbarrow, a long length of yellow pipe and many kilograms of other assorted rubbish.

Autumn Flower Walk : Sunday 12 September 1.30 - 3.30pm

Helen Gardner led another of her popular seasonal guide walks around the Hermitage.

Summer Flower Walk : Sunday 4 July 1.30 - 3.30pm

Helen Gardner led another of her popular seasonal guide walks around the Hermitage.

Visit to Corstorphine Hill Walled Garden : Tuesday 29 June 7pm

We arranged a guided tour of the Corstorphine Hill Walled Garden which many of you may find interesting. The committee is particularly interested in the light of our own Doocot Walled Garden restoration project.

Midmar Allotments Open Day : Sunday 27 June 2-5pm

The allotment holders very kindly offered to support us at their Open Day this year.

Spring Flower Walk : Sunday 2nd May

A small group led by Helen Gardner followed a similar trail to last year's Spring Walk. As was expected some flowers are later blooming due to the long hard winter. We were pleased to see the cowslip in the meadow has spread and now has two healthy plants. The primroses planted a few years ago are very established and masses of dog violets are flowering along the top path. Ramsons were just coming into bloom along with red campion. A small number of wood anemones and wood sorrel were seen near the burn along with opposite leaved golden saxifrage which is quite prolific. The large leaves of butterbur meant we were too late for the flowers but a kingcups were fowering at the edge of the water. A flower which appears very happy this year and seen in various places is lady's smock or cuckoo flower.

Sadly the erosion is very marked in the Hermitage, especially along the upper path. Barren strawberry seen last year can no longer compete with feet!!

Reserve Clean Up : Sunday 25th April

18 volunteers including several FOHB members had a very successful day collecting 50 bags of rubbish! There were lots of positive comments from passers by. We heard that some fines had recently been handed out by the environmental wardens to dog walkers who had failed to collect their dog's mess.

Greggs generously donated ginger bread men to keep up our strength and we will definitely organise another Spring Clean next year!

Thank you to everyone who helped including the Ranger Service for posters and litter pickers and Keep Scotland Beautiful for their pack of tabards etc.