Last week I went to a meeting at Greyfriars Kirk, one of the most historic churches in Edinburgh, famous for being the burial place of Greyfriars Bobby. The church wants to re-establish its herb garden and make the churchyard a more welcoming place for wildlife and people. As we stood outside there were birds fluttering in the branches above our heads (robins, blue tits, coal tits and chaffinches) and on the grass (a pied wagtail, magpies and a rather bemused looking oystercatcher) so obviously the church has a good start on attracting wildlife! As for people, the churchyard is a popular place for people to wander round, though when i visited it, several of the paths were covered in black ice which restricted things somewhat. The plan is to plant more native plant species, put up more bird boxes and to involve the local community in maintaining the space.
Greyfriars Kirk also operates GROW (Greyfriars Recycling of Wood) a wonderful project that recycles wood from old church pews to make furniture (both for the house and the garden) and bird boxes. The goods are made by people who have faced complex issues in their lives, such as homelessness and addiction, and helps them develop skills.
I know the churchyard well. This would be a wonderful proect, I should think. A nice oasis.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear of such things taking place.
ReplyDeleteWow - furniture from old church pews! That is soooo me!
ReplyDeleteAlways something interesting being talked about here!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Lara Glew. I've just visited your website and I was wondering if you'd be interested in exchanging links with my website. I can offer you a home page link back from my Recycling website which would be (http://www.lara-glew.com) with Page Rank 3.
Your link will be placed here:
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As mentioned, your link would be placed on the site home page, not on any "links" pages which may be buried in the site somewhere.
If you are interested please add the following information to your website and kindly let me know when it´s ready and I will do the same for you in less than 24 hours, otherwise you can delete my link from your site.
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DESCRIPTION: SnaffleUp The recycling web site designed to keep useful items out of landfill.
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I hope you have a nice day and thank you for your time,
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lara.glew@lara-glew.com
It's lovely to have these reminders of my favourite places in a beautiful city!
ReplyDeleteJackdaws have been crowding Venice roofs in these latest years together with pigeons, herring gulls and black-headed gulls. This year thoughthe jackdaws are shy and keep themselves scarce, maybe due to the bad weather as I noted in my blog on the exceptional high water and persistent sirocco onslaughts.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes, Davide
What a place .. nothing like that out here where Lewis and Clark didn't arrive until 1802 or so!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great project. Our local area is very progressive at encouraging "Back Yard Wild Life Habitats" and many churches participate. There is a fun tour every year.
PS - Racer has no passport :<)
Great projects, Greyfriars rock.
ReplyDeleteWe walked round the graveyard this October. The views around are so amazing and green spaces in the city (grave-filled or not) are so important. Good luck with it all.
ReplyDeletex
This sounds lovely....
ReplyDeleteIt is lovely to see that this is happening in a big city - we definitely need more spaces that wildlife can reclaim with our help. :)
ReplyDeletegreat idea, recycling church
ReplyDeletepews. wandering around cathedrals
in new york city is one of my
great pleasures.