Welcome to our newsletter – keeping you up to date on Woodland matters.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
Friday April 17th Get your Bike Fixed for Free drop in event
Sunday April 26th Woodland Walk, Pond Dipping and Lily Pond BBQ
Wednesday Evening May 20th Orienteering Event
Nature is coming back!
The area around the Lily Pond is slowly recovering from decades of neglect. Clearing of the invasive non-native Rhododendron Ponticum continues apace as more volunteers join us in our efforts to restore natural woodland and increase biodiversity. Over 20 nestboxes have been constructed from our own milled timber and some are occupied already. The five squirrel feeders are filled regularly and red squirrels are now seen from Castle Drive every day (see the picture below from our trail cam footage). Come to our Pond Dipping and BBQ event on Sunday April 26th to learn more. The volunteers working on Saturdays are always happy to answer questions as well. Only one Grey Squirrel has been reported this year (near the walled garden). If you see a Grey Squirrel in or near the woodland then please email woodland@ccdt.org.uk and/or record the sighting on Squirrel Sightings – Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels
Get Your Bike Fixed for Free:
this Friday 17th April
The Development Trust is pleased to support an event from Recyke-a-bike. This is a drop-in session from 10am until 3:30pm at the Community Centre on St Ninians Road so no need to book. Please come along and have your bike looked at. Entrance will be via the sports hall emergency exit to avoid having bicycles moving through the centre corridors.
Try Not to Get Lost in the Woods
Orienteering is an exciting outdoor adventure sport that exercises mind and body. The aim is to navigate between checkpoints or controls marked on a special orienteering map. As part of World Orienteering Week Forth Valley Orienteers are organising an evening event in the woods on Wednesday May 20th. Visit
Polmaise (World Orienteering Week activity) Event – Forth Valley Orienteers to find out more about how you can enter the event. There will be a variety of courses set out from 2k to 5k and there will be different levels of difficulty. Newcomers are very welcome. Visit New to Orienteering – Forth Valley Orienteers to find out more about the sport. 
The Walled Garden
The Walled GardenWe can see Spring coming with seeds coming through, frogs and butterflies also arriving in the garden. We have just received funding for a larger shed and polytunnel to allow us to grow more vegetables and flowers to share with the community.
If you find you have extra seedlings please think of donating to us by contacting garden@ccdt.org.uk. If you have any surplus garden things please consider donating.
At present we urgently need slabs preferably 3×2 to use for the base of the new shed and workbase please let us know.
We have regular volunteer days. Watch out on social media or noticeboards, we also go up during the week. If you would like to join us please email the above address or message us on Facebook (Gillies Hill Community Woodland)