Picture1Hidden treasures in the city: Our summer bumblebee and wildflower survey programme is continuing apace. Anna was out with a merry band of ten volunteers on 16th July, undertaking a canal wildflower survey for which the data feeds into the Botanical Society of Scotland‘s Urban Flora of Scotland Project. And it was a very knowledgeable band of volunteers – sharing their own skills and experience including archeobotany (the study of plant remains from archaeological sites), horticultural plant knowledge, outdoor learning and medicinal herbology, while Sunday 17th saw the second bumblebee survey taking place.

The dates for the next surveys are Sat 6th August (Wildflowers), and Sunday 21st August (Bumblebees). All very welcome to attend; please contact info@scottishwaterwaystrust.org.uk to let us know you are coming along.

Spring Cleaning: A wee bit late for a spring clean maybe, but we have had some keen volunteers from Adobe’s offices in Edinburgh helping us to keep the canal and its environs spick and span. Back in June they spent a morning helping our Volunteer Development Officer John to tidy up the community garden on the edge of the canal at Calders in Sighthill, as it had been getting very overgrown. And on 7th July they joined our Cultural Heritage Officer Gemma, getting handy with the paintbrushes to conserve the historic canal bridges while learning about the importance of caring for these structures in the long term.