Friends of the Pentlands - Hamish Clark

Hamish Clark is chairman of the Friends of the Pentlands. He thanked to club for its invitation to speak to the club.

Their aims are to promote, protect and enhance the Pentlands. 

The club’s volunteers undertake a wide variety of tasks. These include litter picking. The public leave an enormous amount of litter behind. Hamish showed us a photo of a tent which had been abandoned. They have a tree planting team who also look after the trees. The garden team look after the garden at Harlaw. Tea and cakes are available for visitors which brings in a little money. For the disabled there are wheelchair visits round Harlaw. The bird hide at Bavelaw is looked after, as are the styles gates and signs. Work on paths, vegetation cut back and drainage work is all undertaken. 

Hamish hoped we now understood the diverse work carried on by the volunteers. 

There are, however some downsides:

Because of Covid many activities have had to be suspended. There have been problems owing to extreme weather. People regularly light fires. There are problems with visitors parking badly. There are also problems with dogs worrying sheep. 

Hamish thought we would agree that the Pentland Hills was a great asset. He illustrated his talk with a variety of excellent photos.

The club’s vote of thanks was given by Bill Strang

If you would like to read more look at the following:

FRIENDS OF THE PENTLANDS - INFORMATION SOURCES

Website (for general information)      https://pentlandfriends.org.uk/

Facebook page          https://www.facebook.com/Friendsofthepentlands1/ 

For any enquiry          https://pentlandfriends.org.uk/contacts/       or      hamish.clark@pentlandfriends.org.uk