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

Autumn Flower Walk : Sunday 12 September 1.30 - 3.30pm

Helen Gardner has offered to lead another of her popular seasonal guide walks around the Hermitage. Please meet outside Hermitage House and wear sensible footwear. There is no need to book.

Recent Events

Summer Flower Walk : Sunday 4 July 1.30 - 3.30pm

Helen Gardner has offered to lead another of her popular seasonal guide walks around the Hermitage. Please meet outside Hermitage House and wear sensible footwear. There is no need to book.

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

We have 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 have very kindly offered to support us at their Open Day this year. It would be wonderful if members of the Friends could attend, and even better if some of you would like to volunteer to be stewards.

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.

Blackford Hill Festival Review

Wow! What a successful 1st Festival!

Festival marquee (Maggie Heatley)

Thanks to Countryside Ranger, Jessica Morgado, ably assisted by Ranger Susan Dickson, everyone seemed to have a wonderful time in the perfect weather. Can the weather ever be that good again?

Busy stall (Maggie Heatley)

All the stall holders were kept busy with enquiries and many of the 200-plus(?) visitors said to our Committee members that they had found the displays very interesting. Lots of faces were painted, kites were built, our captured moths were closely examined and our teas, coffees and juice seemed much appreciated.

Fun for kids (Maggie Heatley)

Spectators sat around the Superdog course in the warm sunshine to be entertained by an extraordinary range of sizes and ages of dogs. There were a lot of quick-thinking dogs around who realised that it was a lot easier to go round the obstacles than over them as the silly humans wanted them to do!

We are already being asked if there is going to be another one next year!