Ninewells Arboretum, Riverside Nature Park and the Botanic Gardens Cafe 24.2.14

Today the Monday walkers had intended to go up to Invergowrie for a walk, however the bus we were on broke down so we had a last minute change of plan and instead decided to walk through Ninewell's new Arboretum (where our bus broke down) and along through Riverside Nature Park to the Dundee Botanic Gardens for a coffee.

Before getting in to the arboretum itself we passed the newly constructed Ninewells Community Garden where our Greenbuds group go gardening on Fridays.

They had clearly been very busy!

 

 

The snowdrops were out in the arboretum and their was of course a variety of interesting trees.

We saw the Maggies centre which is a very funky building.

We then walked along to the Riverside Nature Park.

Riverside Nature Park has been created from Dundee's old landfill site and opened in 2011.  Trees and wildflowers have been planted to form new wildlife habitats.

 

Just before leaving the Nature Park we made friends with one of the locals.

We then headed to the Botanic Gardens cafe for refreshment.  A great day was had by all.

Forfar Lochs 17.2.14

Today the group went for a walk around Forfar Loch after getting the bus from Dundee.  The weather was a bit dreich so the group walked at a brisk pace.  

The loch had a variety of wildlife...

 

...as well as some unusual fungus.

The loch itself is surprisingly big and the walk was almost 3 miles long.

Near the end of the walk there's a stone and a little decorative dyke commemorating the Forfar Witches and also stating the fact that they were just (very unfortunate) people.

In 1563 the newly created Church of Scotland made it illegal to either be a witch or to consult a witch in an attempt to stamp out pagan practices. This Act of Parliament was not abandoned until 1736. In between 1563 and 1736 is known from documentary evidence that at least 1,500 people were executed for the crime of being a witch.  To this total Forfar contributed 42 people suspected of being witches, of whom at least 9 were executed. Only 3 were men.

 It was a very nice part of the world and a great day was had by all.

Morton Lochs 2.12.13

This week the Monday walking group headed off to Morton Lochs.  The group got the bus over to Tayport and headed along the coast where they saw the old military defences from World War 2 and also some different bird species such as the Curlew and Mallard in the picture below before heading in to the woods.

We then walked through Tentsmuir woods itself which is a Forestry Commission woodland and so is managed for timber.

They then reached Morton Lochs itself.

Morton Lochs has a few different bird hides on site which offer great views of the beautiful lochs.  This day the group saw swans, heron and moorhens.

 The group then walked back to Tayport across the Scotscraig golf course before getting a bus back to Dundee.  A great day was had by all.

McManus Collection Unit 28.11.13

On Thursday the Greenbuds and Mens group combined and headed along to the McManus Galleries Collection Unit.  The building was originally the museum itself until it moved to its present location.  The building is now used to store and catalogue new and old items that the museum doesn't have room to show.

 

When we first arrived we were met in the lobby by our fantastic hosts David and Mike who explained the role of the Collections Unit.  The lobby itself had a huge variety of interesting things including a range of model boats, different mounted animals heads and an original concept model of the Murraygate Dragon statue.

  

 

 



 

After the introductions we went downstairs to the Natural History section where we saw pure tonnes o' bonnie animals.

 

 

 

 

 

We then walked through to the next section which had fossils, stones and ancient pottery.  After this we went all the way upstairs to another section which seemed to be a big mishmash of different things including plants, trees, lichens, mosses, plant seeds, more animals and loads of other things.

 

 

The seed below is from Ibicella lutea which is a species of flowering plant known by the common names devil's claw, unicorn plant, martynia, proboscis flower, and ram's horn. It grows in dry conditions, such as those in desert regions.  The name "devil's claw" comes from the shape of the double-clawed seed pods. The sharp-toothed claws on the pods attach to large animals that brush against them, acting as the plant's method of dispersal.

 

After this we moved on to the last section which included butterflies, moths and a model sailfish.

 

This concluded another great day out with DAMH.  A great day was had by all.

Alyth, Tullyfergus and Blairgowrie 14.11.13

Today the walking group got on a bus to Alyth for a walk to Tullyfergus.

It was a nice sunny day with a fresh wind.

To the northeast of the town a hill-fort, possibly of Pictish date, stands atop Barry (or 'barrow') Hill. The remains consist of massive collapsed stone ramparts that take advantage of the topography of the Hill. Local legend connects the fort with King Arthur, and it is claimed that Guinevere, Arthur's queen, was imprisoned here for a short time.

 

After we left Alyth we head off through the Den of Alyth for Tullyfergus and the leaves on the tree's and on the ground were nice at this time of year. 

Den is from the Scots word meaning wooded glen and this area features many walks of varying length through mixed open woodland.

 

We stopped by a small loch for lunch then headed off for Blairgowrie by the Cargill's Way.

 

When we got back to Blairgowrie we got the bus back to Dundee.

 From around 1600 to the turn of the 19th century, Blairgowrie had a fairly stable population, recorded at 425 inhabitants in the first Statistical Account in 1792.  The second Statistical Account of 1853 notes a disproportionate increase due to an influx of families attracted by the expanding textiles industry.  Gaelic was declining but still partially spoken in the upper part of the parish at that time, with all speaking English.
 

 

A great day was had by all.