This March Messy Church Cranshaws launched a new project - growing a publicly accessible ‘Wee Forest’ on a hitherto neglected piece of ground beside the Church. Funded by CELCA [SCO 35892] a local windfarm fund, and designed by Rachel Sutherland, it will help to sustain and develop the biodiversity of our local landscape. We invite you to…come and see! It’s just begun, so the trees are very small.
WHERE? Adjacent to the churchyard wall; follow the path from the carpark right round the far end of the church, and go through the small gate in the wall.
WHAT YOU’LL FIND. Over 600 trees and shrubs, (in about 18 varieties of native hardwoods), have been planted to create over time a wonderful habitat for all manner of creatures. As the name suggests, it is not large! (Just 10 m x 55 m.), but it will be good for our environment, and will make a wee contribution to the world-wide effort to counter global warming. There are some wet areas and some drier, which in time will attract a greater variety of insects and birds.
WHY? Messy Church is simply doing something towards caring for Creation. It is also the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year, with its Green Canopy initiative. It is a long-term project, that will develop over many years - a heritage for the future.
UNIQUE? No. There are currently over 60 ‘Tiny Forests’ in the UK, and many hundreds around the world. According to Nature Scotland, 20 Wee Forests will be planted from Ayrshire to Aberdeen in the winter of 2021/22, and now here in Cranshaws in the Borders. So, there will be a continuously developing habitat right on the doorstep. Come and see, and watch nature at work.
A Quiet Place to be. Still to come will be sitting areas, a table, and spaces in the design to provide reflective opportunities, or hold worship events outdoors, or simply enjoy being alone or with friends.
OUR THANKS TO a great team of helpers from our local Teen Challenge Centre at Whitchester. Also, to a lot of expert assistance from local friends and residents from Longformacus and Abbey St Bathans.
It’s A WORK IN PROGRESS, so If you would like to be involved from time to time, please let us know. There will be plenty of opportunities! Contact Bill on 01361 890242, or bill@greenhope.co.uk.
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