17 10 430 https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/4/472/GG_Bk_5_Place_Names_single_page_AW.pdf 418674217c4ba49d70793f9a8134e47e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Galloway Glens Booklet 5 - Glenkens Place-names Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Booklets Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available GGLP Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Glenkens Place-Names A Window on our Past by Gilbert Márkus Galloway Glens Address 5 St Andrew Street Castle Douglas Dumfries & Galloway DG7 1DE Website https://gallowayglens.org Social Media @gallowayglens ISBN 978-17395875-5-0 @gallowayglens Published by Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership, 2023 text © Gilbert Márkus graphics © Martha Schofield Design https://marthaschofield.co.uk edited by Sarah Ade sarah.ade@gmail.com printed by J&B Print Ltd, 32A Albert Street, Newton Stewart The Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership Scheme: 2018 - 2023 2 The Galloway Glens Scheme focused on the Ken/Dee river catchment in South West Scotland, flowing from source in the Galloway Hills to the Solway, including the settlements of Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright. The Galloway Glens Scheme was an initiative of Dumfries & Galloway Council’s Environment Team and ran from 2018 to 2023, aiming to ‘connect people to our heritage’ while boosting the local economy and supporting sustainable communities. Primarily funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the scheme worked with a range of partners and was supported by the Galloway & Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere. One of the projects supported through the Galloway Glens Scheme was called ‘The PlaceNames of the Galloway Glens’. Working in partnership with researchers in Celtic & Gaelic at the University of Glasgow, the project collected and analysed the place-names in seven parishes in the Glenkens. The research was predominantly done by the author of this booklet, Gilbert Márkus, and the work was overseen and contributed to by Professor Thomas Owen Clancy and Dr Simon Taylor. More than 2,000 names were published on an online, searchable database designed by Brian Aitken, also of the University of Glasgow. A series of events were held between 2020-23 to highlight what has been uncovered. The project was a great example of harnessing national expertise from the University of Glasgow to better interpret and understand Galloway’s heritage. This booklet is part of a series of publications which record just some of the remarkable discoveries and projects undertaken through the Galloway Glens Scheme. Galloway Glens Area Map Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter X ii CONTENTS 1 Introduction .......................................................................page 1 2 Layering Languages ..................................................page 2 - 6 3 Running Water............................................................page 7 - 9 4 Animal Life ...............................................................page 10 - 13 5 What Grows - Plants and Trees ..........................page 14 - 16 6 Living on the Land .................................................page 17 - 20 7 A World in Colour ..................................................page 21 - 23 8 Saints in Space .....................................................page 24 - 26 9 People and Stories .................................................page 27 - 30 10 Thank You to All Our Supporters ............................page 31 11 Bibliography and Further Reading ..........................page 32 Images on pposite page, clockwise from top left Rhins from Fintloch Dalry Bridge New Galloway Community Garden New Galloway Kirk This page, Galloway Glens Biosphere Exploreers Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter 1 1 INTRODUCTION When we refer to a place by its name, we are actually quoting someone else. We are speaking words which were first uttered by another, whether it was two or two thousand years ago. As we speak those words we are offered a unique glimpse into that person's world, and into another time. Through this booklet we will step into that other world as we explore some of the place-names of Galloway, asking what they mean and what they tell us about the people who coined them. We will be travelling through centuries of peoples' lives, looking at the languages they spoke and the words they used. Galloway has an interesting languagehistory, with many different tongues having left their mark. People named some places according to the animals or birds, the plants or trees, that they saw there. Places were seen as having colours or textures too, which are also represented in names. They named some places – as we still do, of course – after the people who lived there or owned the place. As many of our name-giving peoples in the area were farmers of some sort, they named places after the kinds of farming that were practised there. Some places were named according to a perceived association with saints, or with fairies or deities. The names offered here are all taken from a searchable online database which was prepared as part of the Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership, now freely accessible at https://kcb-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk/ There you will find nearly 3,000 names identified, analysed and discussed. Some of these names appear nearly two millennia ago, a lot more in the Middle Ages (many of them still surviving) and a few first appeared in the nineteenth century. 1 2 LAYERING LANGUAGES Brittonic In the place-names of Galloway we can track changes in the languages spoken by the people who lived in the region. The earliest surviving names show that a Celtic language was spoken, more specifically a northern dialect of Brittonic (sometimes called Brythonic or British). This is the language ancestral to modern Welsh, and we have evidence of it as early as the second century. The Greek-speaking geographer, Ptolemy, recorded the Novantae and Selgovae as two tribes in this area around AD 150, possibly relying on sources from almost a century earlier. The name of the Novantae is formed on the base of Celtic nov- ‘new, fresh’ (and perhaps by extension ‘lively, vigorous’), while the Selgovae had a name which refers to hunting (see proto-Celtic selga‘hunt’; Welsh helgud, and hela; Gaelic sealg). Ptolemy also names the River Dee as the Deva, a Celtic name meaning ‘goddess’ (see discussion on page 7). Image, Dalry Fountain 2 Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter 2 Old English The old Brittonic language survived the Roman occupation of much of Britain, but by the seventh century we can see traces of a new language in our area. Bede records that the Northumbrian king Æthelfrith began to expand his power: “He more than all the rulers of the English devastated the British people... for no-one among the military leaders nor among kings had made more of their lands either tributary to the English people or places for them to dwell, having exterminated or subjugated their people.” 1 Æthelfrith may not have conquered as far west as the Dee before his death in AD 616, but his successors certainly had within a few decades. The Northumbrian dialect of Old English (a Germanic language rather than a Celtic one) left its mark early. Glenswinton, for example, though it is a Gaelic name containing gleann (‘valley’), also contains an earlier Old English place-name, *Swinton, which is swīn tūn (‘pig farm’ - think of English swine and town). The parish of Parton is also Old English, perhaps from pearr-tūn (‘enclosure farm’ - Parr in Lancashire may have the same origin), or pere tūn (‘pear farm’). On the northern boundary of Parton is Shirmers, which appears to be scír-meare (‘shire boundary’), perhaps marking the early boundary between the Old English shire to the south and the British (or later Gaelic) territory to the north. During this period of Northumbrian settlement we can assume that most people in our territory continued to speak their native Brittonic tongue – it probably continued in this area until the tenth or eleventh century. It seems that Old English was concentrated in the southern coastal areas, on more fertile ground, in centres of lordship and in the lower parts of the main river valleys, during that period of Northumbrian dominance. 3 1 HE i, 34. Image on opposite page, Torrs Path Norse At the end of the eighth century, coastal settlements and churches in Britain were suddenly assailed by violent raids conducted by Norsemen. In some parts of Britain these Viking attacks resulted in the extermination of entire local populations, so that the native language and the native place-names simply disappeared. In some cases the Norse invaders colonised and subjugated local people who remained in place. In other cases they settled and took land but assimilated into local communities, learning to speak Gaelic, becoming Christian and inter-marrying with local kindreds. entirely on the southern coastal plain. It does not extend inland, or uphill. It may be that these Norse names are associated with places of lordship, suggesting that Norse-speakers were in positions of power at the time these names were coined. Norse assaults on Britain were renewed in the 870s, seizing large swathes of land in north-eastern England and establishing the Viking kingdom of York. Meanwhile Vikings had already established themselves as rulers of Dublin and were extending their control around the Irish Sea area. The result of this new political reality was a sustained period of Norse influence throughout the area, including Galloway, and this is reflected in the presence of Norse place-names. Several such place-names survive on the Solway coast: Kirkdale, Kidsdale, Almorness, Eggerness, Bagby, Appleby, Corsby and Sorbie. Gillian Fellows-Jensen identified thirteen settlement-names in Galloway coined in Old Norse. The distribution of these Norse names however, is rather restricted, being almost 4 Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter 2 Gaels and Gall-Ghàidheil Out of this world of Norse-speakers settling among Gaelic-speaking lordships and kingdoms, and adopting their language and customs, there appeared a new ethnic group known as the Gall-Ghàidheil (in older Gaelic Gall-Goídil) – a name which means ‘the foreign Gaels’. Although people of this name first appear in Ireland in the 850s, the term appears mostly in the historical record a century or two later with reference to people in northern Britain. Thomas Clancy has discussed the name and its significance and outlined its shifting spatial location (Clancy 2008). It seems to have referred initially to people in the outer lands of the Firth of Clyde, with a gradual shift southwards into Renfrewshire and Ayrshire, and down to the Solway coast. At this southern extreme, the modern name Galloway is itself simply a later spelling of the name Gall-Ghàidheil. In the twelfth century the name seems to have referred to an extensive territory from the Clyde in the north (Strathgryfe for example, and possibly even Bute, Kintyre and Cowal) to the Solway coast. Only later, as the kingdom of the Scots expanded its area of control, did the Gall-Ghàidheil territory shrink dramatically, until the name came to refer only to the area now called Galloway. It is not entirely clear what the term Gall-Ghàidheil meant to those who coined the name, nor whether it 5 was originally used by the actual members of the GallGhàidheil group, or whether it was used about them by others - it would be slightly surprising for them to regard themselves as ‘foreign’ (gaill). It is clear that in this compound name, Gall-Ghàidheil, the noun should be in control: they are Gaels. They speak Gaelic. Perhaps there are other implications to the word as well – does it imply some kind of treaty or alliance with other Gaels? Does it imply that they shared the Christian faith of the other Gaels at a time when many of the Norse did not? But we must also ask what was ‘foreign’ or gall about these people. Did they continue to speak Norse as well as Gaelic? Does the term refer in part to their genealogical descent – to Norse-speaking ancestors – whether real or fictional? Does their ‘foreign-ness’ refer to their affiliation with Norse rulers elsewhere in the Irish Sea area, or even ultimately to kings in Scandinavia? Did they use Norse legal processes, or pay tribute to Norse-related overlords? These Gall-Ghàidheil communities lived in an area which was heavily influenced by Dublin, the Lords of the Isles and the Kingdom of Man during the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries. These were also Norse-descended dynasties, but gradually became more Gaelic-speaking Scots and English as they became enmeshed in the region’s culture and politics. It may not always have been clear where the line was drawn between Gall-Ghàidheil and other Gaelicised Norse-descended lordships. In any case, it is to the GallGhàidheil that we owe most of the old names of the Galloway Glens project area; they are Gaelic, because the Gall-Ghàidheil spoke Gaelic. Beginning in the later Middle Ages the dominance of Gaelic in local speech was gradually eroded by the growth of Scots, the Germanic descendant of the older Northumbrian dialect of Old English. The similarity of the two languages means that we cannot always be certain whether a place-name was coined in Old English or in Scots – Old English tūn (‘a settlement, farm’) is hard to distinguish from Scots toun. And Scots itself blurs over time into what we might call modern Scottish Standard English – what most people speak today – and this is the language underlying the last great period of place-name formation. It is not always easy to know whether a name was coined in Scots or in Scottish Standard English. Nor if this is even a meaningful distinction. Gall-Ghàidheil Gall-Goídil the foreign Gaels 6 Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter 3 3 RUNNING WATER RIVER DEE The great defining feature of our landscape is the River Dee. For thousands of years it has been a corridor connecting travellers between the coastal area and the interior. It is one of only eighteen rivers in the whole of Scotland named by the Greek-speaking geographer Ptolemy in his survey of around AD 150. He recorded the river’s name as Deva which means ‘goddess’. So, like so many rivers around Europe, she was a living and divine being, born in the hills and flowing down to die in the Solway Firth. We encounter such goddess-spirits in many river-names in ancient Europe – Sequana, for example, now the Seine in France. There are early GalloRoman shrines inscribed deae Sequanae (‘to the goddess Sequana’), all of them near the sources of the Seine, and many of them associated with offerings deposited in or beside the river. The offerings suggest that she was associated with healing. There may have been similar offerings left to the goddess of the Dee – a bronze ponycap (second century BC), a bronze mirror (first century AD) and a cauldron have all been found in the low-lying lands around this river, which we should remember used to flood dramatically and suddenly over the surrounding area. Could they have been votive offerings to the Deva? Might they even have been offered by early farmers begging her not to flood their fields? 7 Ptolemy’s informant probably knew only the lower reaches of the river. There are several significant tributaries which form the Dee, however. The Blackwater of Dee flows into it from the west, the River Deugh from the north, and the Water of Ken from the north-east. Which of these was regarded as the headwater or source of the Dee is now impossible to say. THE WATER OF KEN The upper part of our project area is commonly known as the Glenkens. Its plural form with final -s is quite modern, and it is not clear why it took that form, nor why it attracted the definite article. The earlier records are always singular in form: Glenkan 1181 Glenkarn 1186 (probably a scribal error) Glenken 1276 Glenken 1369 Glenkene 1510 The name is Gaelic. It is the gleann or ‘valley’ of the Ken, the river that flows from the north-east into the River Dee. And this river-name gives rise to interesting questions. What language does it come from? In this area, and given that river-names are often very resistant to change, even when everything around them is changing, the name is most likely Brittonic. Given that the earliest forms have an 'a' rather than an 'e' in their final syllable (Glenkan and Image, High bridge of Ken Glenkarn), I would suggest that the most likely origin is in a Brittonic word can meaning ‘white, bright, brilliant’ (whence modern Welsh can). Could the Water of Ken have been seen as a ‘bright’ or ‘white’ river? Might it even have been seen in this way in contrast to another river which was seen as darker? The Ken flows into the Water of Deugh, a name which probably comes from Gaelic dubhach (‘dark, gloomy’), probably so named because it flows down from peaty hills and often washes great quantities of peat away, making its water tremendously dark. Could the Ken and the Deugh therefore be seen as a contrastive pair, the ‘bright one’ and ‘the dark one’? 2 2 Albeit coined in different languages unless Duach represents a Gaelicised version of a name in Brittonic containing du (‘black’) and presumably therefore also independently of each other. URR WATER The name first appears in the twelfth century in a charter by Uhtred, son of Fergus, granting rights to Holyrood Abbey in the territory “from the river of Urr (a flumine Hur) as far as the River Nith (ad flumen Nith)”. It appears again on Blaeu’s map of Galloway (1654) as Orr R and on Roy’s map (c1750) as Water of Orr. It is likely that the name comes from Old Gaelic or (edge, boundary, margin). Part of the Urr does actually form the boundary between Kirkcudbrightshire and Dumfriesshire, but more significantly it was also the boundary for church purposes between the dioceses of Galloway (to the west) and Glasgow (to the east). That seems to have been an important political boundary in the twelfth century – perhaps between Cumbria and the Gall-Ghàidheil who gave their name to Galloway. 8 Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter X POLMADDY This is a Gaelic name, poll madaidh, ‘hound burn’.3 It flows through an area that was once a royal hunting forest, so perhaps the ‘hound’ in the name refers to the hunting dogs that were used in the pursuit of deer and other quarry (see further discussion on forests with reference to Polmaddy on p19). The burn is Polmaddy Burn on modern maps, and Polmaddy village once thrived on its northern shore, with several mills and corn kilns and even its own inn – all now in ruins, but well worth a visit. There are numerous burns in this part of Scotland called Poll-, and this is slightly strange. The word poll in Gaelic usually means ‘pool, hole, pit, hollow, wet miry meadow.’ But in much of southern Scotland poll refers to quite lively streams – there are at least 35 such names in our area. It is not clear why the word’s meaning has shifted in this way, but it is likely to be due to the influence of Northern Brittonic *pol having this meaning (in contrast to its modern Welsh descendant pwll ‘- pool, pit, hollow’). Among our poll-names are: 3 Note that madadh allaidh is a ‘savage wild dog’ or ‘wolf’, while madadh ruadh is ‘a fox’. It is less likely that either of these is concerned here. Above image, Polmaddy Burn Image on opposite page, Pine Marten, photo © Iain Leach 9 • • • • • Garple, garbh poll, ‘rough burn’ Polcardie, poll ceàrdaich, ‘burn of the smithy’ Polharrow, poll na h-airbhe, ‘burn of the wall or fence’ Poljargen, poll deargain, ‘kestrel or hawk burn’ (or perhaps some other ‘little red’ thing) Polshagg, poll seabhaig, ‘peregrine falcon burn’ 4 ANIMAL LIFE WILD ANIMALS Place-names often point us towards the presence of wildlife and other aspects of the natural world which are no longer present. Such place-names reflect the responses of our ancestors to the animals and birds around them. This may sometimes have been practical – watch out for the fox and the eagle! Sometimes there may have been a particular story about some event involving an animal. But most often such names probably reflected merely the natural curiosity and appreciation that people have who live and work alongside birds and beasts. Gaelic names include: • • • • Clashbrock, clais [nam] broc ‘badgers’ ditch or hollow’ Auchenshinnoch, achadh nan sionnach ‘field of the foxes’ Craigower, creag gobhair ‘goat’s rock or cliff’ Alwhat, ail chat ‘wildcats’ rock or cliff’ Scots-speakers also recorded the animal world in their place-names: Otter Isle is a small island in the Barlay Burn. Fumart Liggat is perhaps more obscure. The fumart is a ‘polecat’, while 10 Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter 4 Deers Den, Goat Burn, Cat Craig, Tods Hill a liggat is a ‘self-closing gate’ – often one separating arable land from grazing land. This animal also appears in Fumart Glen. Deers Den, Goat Burn, Goat Craig all refer to wild animals which still commonly graze the hills in our area. Hare Cleuch is a ravine or hollow where, according to the OS Name-Book, hares used to hide (though note that hare can also mean ‘grey, hoary’). Some Scots names commemorate the same animals as our Gaelic names: Cat Craig (wildcat – three places of this name) and Tods Hill (fox) which, according to the NameBook ‘takes its name from the Fox which is often seen crossing this hill from an adjacent wood’. Snake Bank is on a nice south-facing slope, which is just the kind of place where snakes like to bask in the sun. The OS Name-Book, however, has a more elaborate explanation of the name (the grammatical peculiarities are in the original): “Two Girls whose Surnames were Grame and Ramsey (domestics in Bogue farm house) and a young Shepherd called Grame (brother to one of the females) was out collecting the Ewes to the Bughts (pens or enclosures) for 11 the purpose of the young Women to milk them, possibly the Shepherd had been longer than his wonted time of arriving with them. As the two Girls had lay down on this Bank and fell fast asleep. As the Shepherd approached he observed something creeping into the Mouth of his favourite Mary Ramsey, which he instantly awoke them and immediately got about a scotch pint of milk drawn from the Ewes and sternly ordered Mary, to drink it. She drank it and immediately vomited up a Snake. The Shepherd drew it instantly away and buried it in a Moss which was at hand, even R and his own sister saw not it. Not many Months afterwards Grame & his Sweetheart got married and as soon as the secret was told her by her husband she immediately fevered and died.” It may be that other place-names referring to animals or birds also have a story like this lying behind them, sadly now lost. BIRDS Some of the birds referred to by place-names are still part of the landscape, while others have disappeared. Scots names abound: Gouk Thorn is ‘thorn tree of the cuckoo’, while Cuckoo Stone celebrates the same bird under a different name. Cock Knowe is a hillock where cocks are seen (perhaps grouse, blackcock or such-like game birds), while Cockplay must refer to the ‘lecking’ of such birds when the males clear a place and flap and display in order to attract a female during mating season. Corvids abound of course; Ravens Craig and Corbie Craig (corbie ‘crow’) may refer to birds nesting on the steep rocky slopes, or merely to their gathering there. Pyatthorn is ‘magpie thorn-tree’ - the house of Pyatthorn is shown beside a clump of trees on a map of 1853. Heron Strand was presumably a stream where herons fished. We have Goose Isle (formerly Goose Isles in 1797) in the River Dee, and a Cushie Craig (cushie is a ‘dove or woodpigeon’) where presumably pigeons nested. Another bird that must once have been common here is the red kite. Various place-names refer to them under the Scots name of glede (a local variant of the more usual gled); we have a Glede Bog, a Glede Hill and two places called Glede Craig. This bird was long ago hunted to extinction in Galloway, but it has been reintroduced in recent years and is now often seen and heard in the southern part of our area. Gaelic place-names also record the presence of birds. Polshagg is poll seabhaig (‘burn of [the] hawk’), seabhag usually referring to the peregrine falcon. Craigenellie may be creag na h-ealaidh, ‘rock of the swan’, while the second part of Petillery seems to be iolaire (‘eagle’), which fits with what we know of the former abundance of eagles in the area until they succumbed to persecution in the nineteenth century. Dunveoch is dùn nam fitheach (‘hill of the ravens’), birds which we fortunately still have with us. Polshagg poll seabhaig burn of the peregrin falcon 12 Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter 4 FISH The River Dee and its catchment was once famous for its fishing. Many medieval charters mention fishing rights as a significant part of the estates being granted, while writers over the last few centuries have stressed the economic value of salmon above all – the most valuable and perhaps the most plentiful fish in its time. But as far as I can see only one name seems to refer to this fish – Lanebreddon, a stream-name which is probably lèana bradain (‘stream of salmon’). Other fish may be referred to by Loch Brack, from Gaelic loch breac, ‘loch of trout’, breac meaning both ‘speckled’ and ‘trout’ (the speckled 13 Image, Trout fish) – it would be strange for the loch itself to be regarded as ‘speckled’. The Scots name Eel Spring Strand refers to the European eel, anguilla anguilla, once very common and an important part of the diet, though it has declined by 95% nationally in the past 40 years. Though the pike is not a popular fish for the oven today, it was once widely eaten. Its significance to people in Glenkens is attested by place-names containing the Scots word for the fish, ged; Ged Strand, Ged Burn and Ged Point. 5 WHAT GROWS – PLANTS AND TREES The Glenkens has historically been well-wooded. The parish-name of Kells is Gaelic coille, with the suffix -as, meaning ‘wooded place’. Placenames also reflect the different kinds of trees which grew here. Perhaps the most important was the oak, and Gaelic place-names containing darach (‘oak’) point them out to us; Knockindarroch is ‘hill of the oak, or of the 'oak wood’, while Arndarroch is earann nan darach - ‘share or division of the oaks’. Scots and English names continued, after the decline of Gaelic, to celebrate the presence of oak woods and trees sometimes using aik (‘oak’) or aikey (‘abounding in oak’) in Scots, and sometimes using the more familiar modern oak: • • • • • Big Oak of Earlston Akey Bush Aikey Hill Oakenbog Oak Knowe (three of these, in Kells, Dalry and Balmaclellan) Birch trees are fast-growing ‘pioneer’ species in Scotland, the first significant tree that takes over land which is returning to natural regrowth. In Gaelic the birch is beith, while beitheach is ‘belonging to Image, River Ken, near St. John's Town of Dalry 14 Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter 5 or abounding in birch’. Pulbae Burn is poll beithe (‘burn of [the] birch tree’), while Drumbay is druim beithe (‘birch ridge’) and Craigenbay creagan beithe (‘little rock of birch’) or creag na beithe (‘rock of the birch’). Largvey, now lost, is probably learg bheith (‘slope of birch trees’). In Scots and English birk and birch also bear witness to the tree: Birch Hill, Birk Green. Thorn trees, both hawthorn and blackthorn, are commonly mentioned in place-names. In Scots and English place-names these are hard to distinguish, as both trees are simply called 'thorn' – though in most cases hawthorn is more likely to be the tree named. In Gaelic place-names the two trees are easy to distinguish; the hawthorn or whitethorn is sgitheach (earlier scé), while the blackthorn is droigheann (earlier draigen). The hawthorn is not a particularly valuable tree for timber, but it was used for fuel and there are also a number of traditions around it which suggest it was significant as a marker for gathering-places, as a place where legal proceedings might be conducted, or as a boundarymarker between adjacent lands. Knockskaig is probably cnoc sgitheig (‘hill of a small hawthorn’), Barskeoch is bàrr sgitheach (‘hill-top of hawthorns’), Polskeoch is poll sgitheach (‘burn of hawthorns’), and Marskaig (earlier Marskeogh) is apparently marg sgitheach (‘mark-land of hawthorns’). A reference in Scots to the hawthorn also occurs at Old Haws. The Blackthorn appears in two places, Knockdrinan and 15 Knockdronnan, both meaning ‘hill of the blackthorn thicket’, cnoc droighnein. In other references to thorn trees it is impossible to tell whether hawthorn or blackthorn are being mentioned, though hawthorn is more likely: • • • • • • • Thorny Hill Bogle Thorn – ‘thorn tree associated with a ghost, fairy or goblin’ Gouk Thorn – ‘cuckoo thorn’ Pyatthorn – ‘magpie thorn’ Craigythorn Shiel Thorn – ‘thorn by summer grazing land’ Pattiesthorn – a personal name The rowan tree is common throughout Scotland. It may appear in Drumwhirn, druim a’ chaorainn (‘ridge of the rowan’), and Knockwhirn, cnoc a’ chaorainn (‘hill of the rowan’). It certainly appears in the following Scots names where rowan and an older roan are used: • • • • Clint of the Rowantree Rhonepark Roan Hill Rowantree Burn The alder tree is one that prefers to grow in wet ground on riversides, in marshy hollows or on flood-plains, and the names referring to alders reflect that watery preference; Big Alder Pool, Little Alder Pool and Carsphairn, which is Gaelic cars feàrna ‘water-meadow of alder’. The willow, in Gaelic seileach, earlier sail and saileach (related to Latin salix), is also found in place-names. Older references are Darsalloch (daire saileach - ‘grove of willows’), Knocksallie (cnoc saileich - ‘willow hill’) and Barnshalloch (perhaps bàrr an t-seileich - ‘willow hill-top’), while Willowbank appears in the nineteenth century. Craigencolon is ‘rock of the holly’ (creag an cuillinn, or in modern form creag a’ chuillinn), and Cullendoch is probably cuillionnach (‘place abounding in hollies’). Holly Island in the Black Water of Dee speaks for itself. Other trees are remarked, perhaps because of their fruitbearing potential; Cherry Hill (the native gean or wild cherry, prunus avium), and nearby Crabtree Hill (crab apple, malus sylvestris). Carnavel is càrn abhaill (‘apple tree cairn’), which might refer either to the crab apple or to the domesticated orchard apple malus domestica. Parton, as we have seen, might be pere tūn (‘pear farm’). Hazelbush Burn also promises a bit of nourishment at a certain time of year. Before commercial plantations with alien species such as Sitka spruce, the reference to ‘pines’ or ‘firs’ in placenames must refer to the Scots pine, pinus sylvestris. Loch Goosie has nothing to do with geese, but is loch giuthsaich (‘loch of the pinewood’), while Fir Hill had a large pine near its summit. Image, hawthorn 16 Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter X 6 LIVING IN AND ON THE LAND Where people settle in a landscape they use their language to name their dwellings. Brittonic trev (Welsh tref) meaning ‘farm, dwelling, settlement’ appears among our earliest names in the now lost Treuercarcou and Threave. Incoming Northumbrians used their equivalent word tūn to name Parton. It was during the period of Gaelic settlement, perhaps in the thirteenth century, that baile became the preferred word to name ferm-touns, extended farm communities, and gave us names like Balmaclellan, Balmaghie, Balgerran and Ballingear. When smaller parts of larger estates are named we find other terminology. Gaelic earrann (‘a division’) appears in two significant clusters – a northern one, many of them containing a family-name, and a southern one, many of which refer to aspects of church life. Another word for smaller land-units (and settlements) is achadh (‘field’): • Auchenshinnoch, achadh nan sionnach ‘field of the foxes’ • Auchenvey, achadh a’ bheith ‘field of the birch’ 4 • Auchreach, achadh riabhach ‘striped or variegated field’ Many names refer to land-use in a farming economy. One of these, which is still for me a little obscure, is White Hill. There are as many as forty-five places called White Hill in the seven parishes of our survey! They are almost all clustered in the lower ground on farmland, in the river valleys and near farmsteads. The name, so common in these parts, must designate a particular function in each farm – perhaps the grass was left to grow long for winter use, going ‘white’ when it dried out in the autumn, giving rise to the name. 17 Other names reveal various other aspects of farming that were going on: • Knocklae is cnoc laoighe, ‘calf’s hill’ • Knocklearn may be cnoc làiridhean, ‘mares’ hill’ • Airie gets its name from Gaelic àirigh, ‘summer grazing or shieling’ - usually on hilly ground which is too exposed for winter grazing, but sometimes on low ground which is too wet in winter. The same word appears in Clenrie which is claon àirigh, ‘sloping shieling’, while Garrary is garbh àirigh, ‘rough shieling’. • Shiel appears in various compounds, and also means ‘summer grazing’, the Scots equivalent of Gaelic àirigh. There are eighteen names containing this element. • Knockgray is cnoc greighe, ‘horses’ hill’ in older Gaelic, later ‘hill of the herd or flock’. • Ironlosh is earrann loisgte, ‘burned division’, referring to burning off rough growth to allow farming. Loskie also contains this word for ‘burned’, loisgte. It is worth noting that there is little evidence in these medieval Gaelic names of sheep farming. The economy at that time was largely a cattle economy with arable farming in the valleys. There are a large number of names that reflect a later shift into sheep farming, all in Scots and English, confirming the impression made by the first Ordnance Survey map which has ‘sheep rees’ (a Galloway term for sheep pens) marked all over the hills: • Hog Hill (six of these – a hog is a young sheep) • Lamb Rig (six of these – a ridge of land grazed by lambs) • Sheep Hill • Washing Pool (in the Water of Ken, ‘where sheep have been washed annually’ according to the OS Name Book • Shepherd’s Rig (twice) • Tup Knowe (a tup is a ram) • Stell Knowe (twice) and Stell Head refer to stells, ‘sheep shelters’ • Wether Hill (twice) – a wether is a castrated ram Blairmuck is blàr muice, meaning ‘pig field’. Sadly the place was ‘gentrified’ in the nineteenth century and it was re-named Blairmichael. It is a bit less mucky than it was, but the original name gives us a glimpse of another kind of animal farming. And we may recall that Glenswinton incorporated an Old English swīn tūn (‘pig farm’). 4 Using the older, masculine form of the noun. Image on opposite page, sheep on the pack road 18 Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter 6 Place-names also point to some of the crops grown. • Fauld o’ Wheat, a quaintly antiquarian re-naming of what was Wheatfield in 1853 • Orchard Hill • the 'forest' remained. Place-names reflecting its deerhunting history include: • Nether Forrest and Upper Forrest, two settlements in the heart of the Forest area Garryhorn, probably Gaelic garadh eòrna, ‘barley field’ • Loch of Forrest (1654, now called Loch Harrow) • Forest Lane (a burn that flows into Polmaddie Burn) • Lint Holm – ‘riverside land where flax is grown (or processed?)’ • Polmaddie, originally the name of a burn, poll madaidh, ‘hound’s burn’ • Corn Hill • • Knockskellie may be cnoc sgilidh, ‘hill of winnowing’ where the grain and husk of the corn were separated, in Scots a shilling hill, though other explanations are possible. Castlemaddy, also referring to the madaidh or ‘hounds’ • Eldrick (west of the Glenkens in Minigaff parish) is eileirig, ‘deer trap, place to slay deer’ • King’s Holm on the Polharrow Burn may reflect royal control of the forest • High Park and Parkrobbin down in the valley of Glenkens represent parks or enclosed ground where deer could be gathered and constrained. Another significant use of the land was hunting. Deer in particular were hunted – at least by the powerful people of the region. A series of names in the northern part of the Glenkens are survivals of a medieval royal ‘forest’ – not a tree-covered area, but an area designated for hunting – called the Forest of Buchan. This was a swathe of upland territory stretching from Glen Trool in the north of Wigtownshire into Carsphairn and Kells parishes in the upper parts of the Glenkens. It was probably called Forest of Buchan because it had belonged to the Comyns who were also earls of Buchan. The triumph of Robert the Bruce over the Comyns in the early fourteenth century brought an end to their presence here, but the name and 19 Alongside farming and hunting, of course, there was a range of ancillary industries which also left their traces in the landscape: • Kiln Knowe, Kiln Hill, Kil Hill (using the older Scots form of the word) may refer to corn-drying kilns, lime kilns, or other sorts. • Peat Hill, Peat Rig, and at least 34 place-names containing the word moss all refer to peat-mosses, the ground which provided a vital fuel which was regularly cut, dried and burned. Most of the places called Moss are called after the farm whose occupants had extraction rights, such as Smitton Moss, Barend Moss, Culmark Moss, Sunkhead Moss and so on. • In cloth-making the process of fulling, or in Scots waulking, involves soaking and beating wool to thicken and felt it. It appears in Walker Hill and Waukers Linn (‘waterfall of the fuller’). • The art of the blacksmith is well represented: Derrygown is Gaelic, doire gobhainn, (‘blacksmith’s wood’), while Drumgowan is druim gobhainn, (‘blacksmith’s ridge’) and Carsgown is cars gobhainn, (‘blacksmith’s carse’). Pollcardie, the name of a burn, is probably poll ceàrdaich, (‘smithy burn’). In Scots we have Smithy Hill, while Smetoun (now Smittons) is ‘smith’s toun’. • Mollance probably contains Gaelic muileann, (‘mill’), while Scots or English names include Bank Mill, Dubbidale Mill, Grennan Mill, Mill Hill, Milnmark (‘markland of the mill’), Millquarter, Milton, Newmill of Culmark. • Drumtuter is druim an t-sutair - ‘ridge of the shoemaker or cobbler’. • Quarry Hole reflects the extraction of stone for buildings, farm dykes or roads. Drumtuter druim an t-sutair ridge of the shoemaker or cobbler 20 Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter 7 7 A WORLD IN COLOUR A great many place-names reveal to us how people saw their surroundings in terms of colour. We have already seen that there are several dozen places called White Hill in our project area, reflecting perhaps the long pale grasses of winter where land has not been grazed or ploughed. It is possible that Fintloch is simply the Gaelic expression for the same kind of feature, fionn tulach (‘white hillock’, Fyntelauch in 1541 and Fintilloch in 1654). Whiteness is also reflected in names like Craigbane (Gaelic creag bhàn - ‘white cliff or rock’) and Fingland (fionn ghleann - ‘white glen’), though the whiteness of these places is probably not to do with the long wintry grass. As we have seen the Water of Ken may contain Brittonic can (‘white, bright’), and it may be significant that White Burn flows into one of its tributaries. White Cairn in Dalry parish is recorded in the nineteenth century as an ancient burial mound whose stones are covered with ‘a kind of whitish moss’. and it may have been named in deliberate contrast to the ‘white’ or ‘bright’ water of Ken with which it joins. It does indeed flow off very peaty hills and its water can be opaquely black after heavy rain. Likewise we have the Blackwater of Dee, Black Burn (three occurrences), Black Water and Black Strand. Loch Dow is Gaelic loch dubh (‘black loch’), and we also have a Black Loch in Kells parish though it is now called Mossdale Loch, which is significant because Mossdale means ‘peaty division’, suggesting that the dark peat of the moss was the cause of the blackness of the loch. Almost as common as whiteness, blackness or darkness features in perceptions of the landscape as seen through place-names. This can appear as dubh in Gaelic or black in Scots, and the blackness may often reflect the darkness of peaty ground – or in river-names, the blackness of peat which is washed into the water by heavy rain, darkening it dramatically. It may also refer to dark vegetation covering the ground. As we mentioned above, the Water of Deugh is probably dubhach (‘the dark or gloomy one’), Blackmark is a farm-name, a ‘markland’, perhaps with noticeably black soil.5 We may suspect the same of Black Croft Knowe, Black Hags (close to Black Burn), Black Hill, Blacknook, Black Rig, Black Bank, Black Castle, Black Craig of Dee and Black Knowe. Blackpark in Kells stood in the middle of the peaty marshland of Mossdale Flow, so was definitely a peaty place. Not so many farms have Gaelic dubh (‘black’) in their names, but Dullarg does: it is dubh learg (‘black slope’). 21 Clachandow is clachan dubha (‘black stepping stones’) which cross the Black Water at this point. The Black Water may be peaty, and perhaps that darkens the stones. Or perhaps the stepping-stones are composed of a naturally dark rock. Image, Rhins from High Carsphairn If some places are named for the colour of their soil, others might be named for other colour features, such as their vegetation. We have many places described as ‘green’, which is surely testimony to their fertility, but generally these are in Scots or English names: Green Cleuch, Green Gair, Green Hass (hause - ‘defile, narrow place’), Green Knowe, Greentop of Margree (and two other Greentops), Green Dass (dass - ‘ledge on a hillside or cliff’). Oddly we also have Green Strand (strand - ‘stream, burn’) and Green Burn, and we might want to ask whether the burn itself was seen as green or perhaps there was good grass or other vegetation growing on its banks. One Gaelic name may imply greenness: Corseglass may be cars glas (‘green riverside ground’), but glas can also mean ‘grey, pale’ so we may reserve judgement on that one. Places described as yellow may have been covered in yellowish grass, or broom or gorse or some other yellow flowering plant. Knockbuie is Gaelic cnoc buidhe (‘yellow hill’), while Yellow Craig is a cliff or rocky slope, which rather suggests that the rock itself may have been seen as yellow. Knockower is cnoc odhar (‘brown hill’), and we also have Brown Knowes and Brown Rig. Redness appears in Dunjarg, which is Gaelic dùn dearg (‘red hill’), while we also have Red Hill, and Red Cleugh (cleugh - ‘ravine, gorge, steep crag’) which the OS Name Book states ‘is of a red colour’, referring to the colour of the rock itself. 5 A mark is a unit of currency, two thirds of a pound, used as an assessment of land value in the Middle Ages. 22 Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter X Millyea is Gaelic meall liath (‘grey lumpy hill’), while Ben Li (now obsolete but shown on Roy’s map circa 1750) may be beinn liath (‘grey mountain’), and is probably the hill now called Fell Hill. Gaelic has colour-words which refer not only to a particular colour, but also to patterns of colour. Breac for example means ‘speckled, spotted’ (hence its application as the name of the trout, the spottiest of fish). We find it in Benbrack - beinn bhreac (‘speckled mountain’) - where its speckled-ness may refer to patterns of rock interspersed with vegetation, or vice versa. Another colour-pattern word appears in our place-names; riabhach (‘brindled, grizzled, striped’), but also with a plainer colour-meaning of ‘grey, drab, yellow-grey’. In its ‘striped’ guise it may refer to patterns of growth in ground-hugging plants which grow in hollows to shelter from the wind, while the higher ground is blown bare. Here we have Knockreoch and Knockreavie (cnoc riabhach - ‘brindled hill’), Auchreoch (achadh riabhach ‘brindled field’), and Ringreoch (rinn riabhach - ‘brindled point’). Image on left, Rhins of Kells Image on opposite page, Balmaghie Church 23 8 SAINTS IN SPACE Our landscape is also marked by the faith of medieval Christians over many centuries. The old name for Balmaghie Church was Kirkandrews (Kirkanders 1287; Kirkaundres 1346). The first thing to note about this is the dedication to Andrew. Remember that this area came under Northumbrian English overlordship in the seventh century, and that St Andrew was the patron saint of Hexham, whose bishop probably claimed authority over Galloway in the late seventh century before Whithorn was erected as an episcopal See. The bishop of Hexham had relics of St Andrew, and promoted his cult (perhaps promoting him in the church of St Andrews in Pictish Fife at the same time), so the dedication of Balmaghie to St Andrew may well be a result of Northumbria’s interest in this part of Galloway. We could say much the same of Kirkcudbright. That name means ‘the church of (Saint) Cuthbert’, and Cuthbert was also a great Northumbrian saint – the great Northumbrian saint we might even say – and his cult at Kirkcudbright must also reflect Northumbrian dominance in the area from the seventh century. But a little warning is in order here. Though kirk has its origin in Old Norse (kirkja - ‘church’) this is probably not a Norse name, nor for that matter an Old English or Scots name (though both those languages also used kirk of course, under Norse influence). We can tell this because 24 Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter 8 the words are in the wrong order for Norse, Scots or English - the name would have been Andrewskirk (in Norse or Scots) or Andrewschurch (in English). In the case of Kirkcudbright we can see this quite clearly. It is Cuthbrictiskhirkche in an English source around the year 1160, showing the English word-order, but it is Kirkecutbrid around 1190 and Kircudbriht in 1210. That order, kirk followed by the saint’s name, is distinctively Celtic, and almost certainly Gaelic. We can compare it with other place-names using Gaelic cill (‘church’) followed by a saint’s name – Kilbride (Bridget), Kilwinning (Uinniau), Kilmartin (Martin). Kirkcudbright is one of a whole series of names in Gaelic word-order, but using a word of Germanic origin – either directly borrowing Norse kirkja, or borrowing a form of Old English church that had in its turn been re-pronounced as kirk under the influence of Norse kirkja. So we may regard Kirkcudbright and Kirkandrews as interesting examples of Galloway churches with Northumbrian patron saints, named in Gaelic, using a word borrowed from or influenced by Norse. What better evidence could there be of the rich intermingling of cultures that this area has enjoyed over the centuries? For more on this, see Clancy 2022. Other saints whose names mark the Glenkens include the archangel Michael, commemorated at Crossmichael (Gaelic crois Mhìcheil - ‘Michael’s cross’), who was according to medieval tradition the angel God used to defeat the powers of darkness, to cast down Satan and to guide the souls of the recently deceased to heaven. 25 He was a popular saint, and is commemorated in placenames all over Scotland. John the Baptist is commemorated at Dalry – Saint John’s Town of Dalry – where there is also a stone called St John’s Chair. Nineteenth-century commentators thought that the saint involved was John the Gospel-writer (‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’), and even wondered if he had been here to preach the Gospel. A record of 1428, however, refers to ‘John Beton, rector of the church of St John the Baptist of Dalrey’, so clearly the original dedication of the church had been forgotten or suppressed after the Reformation. The idea that either of these two saints from Judea ever came to Galloway is a complete non-starter, however. There is a Saint Ninian’s Well in Chapelbrae Wood near Parton House, commemorating the supposed early preacher of the Gospel in Galloway, ‘St Ninian of Whithorn’. There are considerable doubts over the historicity of Ninian (or at least over his name), and the dedication is probably quite late. The well is shown on the 1852 OS map simply as a ‘spring’ with no name, and the dedication is probably quite modern. We might wonder if it is related to the local memory of one of the most important lairds of Parton, the sixteenth-century Ninian Glendinning (Glendinwin, Glendynwin, etc.) who appears in many charters for the area. At some point the Glendinning family became Catholics, and this may have encouraged interest in the idea of a ‘saint’s well’. Or perhaps the dedication of St Ninian’s Well reflects the modern notion that medieval Parton church was dedicated to that saint – though there is no evidence for this conjecture, and it is rather unlikely. There are a number of early medieval carved crosses in the area surveyed, all of them found in the far north of the territory, in Carsphairn parish. Two have almost certainly been moved from their original positions. One was formerly at Dalshangan, another is now just to the north of Carsphairn village, but two others lie in a remote spot on the south-west side of Braidenoch Hill – probably still in their original positions where they have perhaps been since the ninth century. It is not easy to explain this distribution. It may be that these crosses marked the boundaries of church land or sanctuary, or were perhaps burial markers. But another possibility is that they marked an important routeway from the Glenkens, over the pass at Loch Doon (loch dùin - ‘loch of the castle’) and down into Ayrshire. The two on Braidenoch Hill certainly stand beside the old pack-road, the medieval routeway through the area. And they stand close to the place which is recorded in the eighteenth century as Kiltersin. This might contain Gaelic cill (‘church, chapel, burial ground’), which would fit with the nearby crosses. The second element might be tarsainn (‘crosswise, across’), or perhaps ‘crossing’. Perhaps this ‘crossing’ refers to the pack-road which crosses the mountains here, or perhaps a point nearby where the pack-road going north crosses over another track going east-west. Image, Dalry Kirkyard 26 Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter 9 9 PEOPLE AND STORIES Finally we might look at some of the place-names that commemorate individuals, or their families, and sometimes stories about what they did or what happened to them. The stories are, it must be admitted, not necessarily accurate (consider the story told above about Snake Bank for example). But they are no less interesting for that reason. Even a made-up story tells us something about the person who made it up, and the imaginative world he or she lived in. Several place-names simply assign a particular family to a place, and many of these contain surnames which are common enough in Galloway over the centuries. Cannon (Cannon’s Craig), Chesney (a shortening of MacChesney, at Barchesney) and Gordon (at Gordon’s Knowe and Gordonstoun) are all well-established Galloway names. Balmaclellan is the ‘farm of the sons of Gille Fhaoláin’, baile mac Gille Fhaoláin – and Gille Fhaoláin means ‘servant or devotee of (Saint) Fillan.' Our earliest recorded version of the name is in 1408, but it probably goes much further back than that. 27 In 1466 the lands of Balmaclellane were granted to John MacLellan (M’Lelane), but the place-name shows that the family’s association with those lands pre-dates the grant of 1466. Balmaghie is ‘the farm of the sons of Aodh’, baile mac Aoidh. It is an ancient name in Galloway and in Dumfriesshire. The final -dh is silent in more modern Gaelic, but its older dental sound still appears in some of the early forms, Ballemcgethe in 1348, Balmageth in 1515. We also have members of the McGhie family present in the records of Balmaghie as early as 1426 – though clearly they were there much earlier in order to have given the place its name. Aside from family-names, there are numerous stories about individuals, named or un-named, which are supposed to explain some place-names. There is often a tragedy or distress of some sort embedded in these stories – perhaps there is something about the psychology of local story-telling which is prone to this kind of explanation. The stories which follow are all culled Balmaclellan baile mac Gille Fhaoláin the farm of the sons of Gille Fhaoláin from the Ordnance Survey Name Book – the handwritten records of the surveyors who prepared the first edition of the Ordnance Survey maps (see Williamson 2015). Allan’s Cairn: ‘Mr Wilson says that it is handed down by Tradition that a packman or pedlar called Allan was murdered and interred here’. Dead Man’s Well: ‘It took its name in consequence of a dead man being found in it’. Jean’s Wa’s (wa is a Scots word for ‘ruined building’, literally ‘walls’): ‘It is handed down by Tradition that a woman called Jean Gordon (daughter to one of the Gordons of Shirmers who were relatives to the noble family of Kenmure) who had trusted much to the constancy of one Lyndsay a courtier from Ayrshire, she trusted and was deceived, which almost broke her heart. From thus (sic) the deceived Jean was determined never to trust to man again. At length she decided to build a cottage in some solitary glen, and devote the remainder of her days to devotion. She obtained this spot of ground to her mind from the Gordons then of Holme, her domicile was erected, & she took up her abode in it some time in the beginning of the 17th century’. Bell’s Pool: ‘It is said to have been a favourite pool of a person (while angling) named Bell’. Bargain Strand: ‘It is handed down by tradition that formerly an old woman who had lived convenient to this stream sold herself to the Devil’. Catherine’s Pool: ‘A middling deep pool in the Black Water opposite Backside of Glenshimeroch where many years ago a woman whose christian name was Catherine used to lift water’. 28 Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter 9 Duncan’s Pantry: ‘A small crevice in a rock at the bottom of a precipice and close on the northern side of Garpel Burn. It took its name from a man named Duncan who had rescued himself by hiding in it from Graham of Claverhouse & his dragoons during the period of the Scottish persecution’. Fiddler’s Bog: ‘It is said that the covenanters once held a marriage here which was accompanied by a fiddler’. My Lord’s Cleugh: ‘A small precipitous portion of land on the western side of Garpel Burn overhanging with wood. It is said, whilst Lord Kenmuire was in the act of hunting one very strong and nimble deer or roe which was observed to lie frequently in the small portion of ground called Deer’s Den, the deer some way or other had come in contact with Lord Kenmure & pushed him over this precipice, which from that it has retained the name My Lord’s Cleugh’. Chapman’s Stone: ‘A considerable granite stone on the farm of Lochside, situated on the East side of the road leading from New Galloway to Lowrieston. It is said a chapman (‘merchant or trader’) had been murdered & robbed’. Pattiesthorn: ‘A farm house and out houses in good repair with a farm of land attached, occupied by Ebenezer Shaw, the property of Captain Saunderson of Glenlochar Lodge. It is said that a hawthorn once grew near the house and that a man called Peter had strangled himself on it. Hence the name Paties thorn’. Butterhole: ‘The ruins of a Cot house on the farm of Craigencore where it is traditionally handed down a woman lived who was considered to have been a witch and who used to make Butter wanting a Cow or Cows, and hide it in a hole convenient to the house’. 29 Beggar’s Lake: ‘The origin of its name is from a poor man, which had been found dead convenient to it’. Englishmen’s Dub: ‘A deep pool in Lowran Burn out of which two Englishmen had been got drowned’. Gold Wells: ‘a number of springs, two in particular are known [by] the name of Gold Wells, the water of which is salubrious, these are the wells, (with other streams on this and the adjoining hills) which tradition states that a Mr. Dodd collected a quantity of gold from, but was disturbed by the agent of the government, in his quiet & lucrative retreat’. The Score: ‘A small oval shaped portion of land on the farm of Waterside. It is about 8 ft by 4 marked by a small trench about 12 inches by 6. Tradition says that at one time while a farmer was on his way home from Dalry, he had halted about the church and disturbed the fairies (it is said in those times that the chapel had been a haunt of Fairies) from which they pursued and overtook him at this place. It appears he had a sword with him which he immediately drew and scored this small portion of ground (& remained in till morning) in the name of the almighty and the fairies immediately fled out of his sight.’ The foregoing shows just how rich a source of information and insight our place-names are, helping us to understand the societies and cultures of the past, and the environment in which we live. For fuller discussion of the place-names mentioned in this booklet and of thousands more, the elements they are composed of, their locations in the landscape, and numerous early forms, see the website at, https://kcb-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk/ Image, Green Well, photo © Bratach Dubh 30 Galloway Glens / Glenkens Place-Names / Chapter 10 A BIG “THANK YOU” TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS 10 Thank you to everyone that helped with the project and this publication, including: Thomas Clancy, Simon Taylor and Brian Aitken from the University of Glasgow, local place-name and history experts Alistair Livingston, Ted Cowan, Michael Ansell and and everyone that contributed their thoughts and time. Ted & Alistair were great supporters of the project, as they were of the history of Galloway generally. Alistair passed away in 2018, just after the project started; and Ted passed away in 2022. We are all so grateful for their input. Image, from left to right, Alistair Livingston (local historian), Simon Taylor, Gilbert Márkus, Thomas Clancy – all studying a map in the Galloway Glens Offices 31 11 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND FURTHER READING A final thank you to everyone involved in making the resources listed below publicly available. Ansell, Michael, Ronald Black and E. J. Cowan (eds) (2022), Galloway: The Lost Province of Gaelic Scotland (Aberdeen) Maxwell, Herbert (1930), The Place-Names of Galloway (Glasgow) Clancy, Thomas Owen (2008), ‘The Gall-Ghàidheil and Galloway’, Journal of Scottish Name Studies 2, 19-50 OS Name Books, ‘Ordnance Survey Name Books’, on line at https://scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/digital-volumes/ordnancesurvey-name-books Clancy, Thomas Owen (2022), 'Place-names and Gaelic in Galloway: names in cill and kirk', in Ansell et al. (2022), 1–26 Fellows-Jensen (1990), ‘Scandinavians in Southern Scotland’, Nomina 13, 41-60 HE Bede: The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, ed. Judith McLure and Roger Collins, (Oxford 1994) [translation of Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, other translations are available] Márkus, Gilbert (2012), The Place-Names of Bute (Donington). Márkus, Gilbert (2017), Conceiving a Nation: Scotland to AD 900 (Edinburgh) Owen, Hywel Wyn, and Richard Morgan (2007) Dictionary of the Place-Names of Wales (Llandysul) Place-Names of the Galloway Glens https://kcb-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk/ Taylor, Simon, with Gilbert Márkus (2006-12), The Place-Names of Fife (five volumes, Donington) Watson, W. J. (1926), The Celtic Place-Names of Scotland (Edinburgh) Williamson, Eila (2015), ‘“Hence the name”: Berwickshire parishes along the Anglo-Scottish Border as described in the Ordnance Survey Name Books’, Journal of Scottish Name Studies 9, 83-96 32 BOOK 5 Glenkens Place-Names by Gilbert Márkus A Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership Scheme publication designed by Martha Schofield Design https://marthaschofield.co.uk edited by Sarah Ade, sarah.ade@gmail.com printed by J&B Print Ltd, 32A Albert Street, Newton Stewart ISBN 978-17395875-5-0  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Galloway Glens Booklet 5 - Glenkens Place-names Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GGLP_13 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023 Description An account of the resource A window on our past. GGLP language https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/4/473/GG_Bk_6_Ken_Words_single_page_AW.pdf eb64859abda5b35af0d9bc6eb64b92ee Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Galloway Glens Booklet 6 - Ken Words Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Booklets Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available GGLP Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Ken Words an anthology of writings curated and edited by Jane McBeth Galloway Glens Address 5 St Andrew Street Castle Douglas Dumfries & Galloway DG7 1DE Website https://gallowayglens.org Social Media @gallowayglens ISBN 978-1-7395875-3-6 published April 2023, by Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership printed by J&B Print Ltd, 32A Albert Street, Newton Stewart edited and curated by Jane McBeth text © individual contributors graphics © Martha Schofield Design https://marthaschofield.co.uk The Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership Scheme: 2018 - 2023 2 The Galloway Glens Scheme focused on the Ken/Dee river catchment in South West Scotland, flowing from source in the Galloway Hills to the Solway, including the settlements of Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright. The Galloway Glens Scheme was an initiative of Dumfries & Galloway Council’s Environment Team and ran from 2018 to 2023, aiming to ‘connect people to our heritage’ while boosting the local economy and supporting sustainable communities. Primarily funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the scheme worked with a range of partners and was supported by the Galloway & Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere. One of the projects facilitated through the Galloway Glens Scheme was ‘Ken Words’ – a community-based writing initiative, match-funded by Creative Scotland through Glenkens Community & Arts Trust (GCAT) and by CatStrand. Between 2018 and 2022, the volunteer steering group – Angus Macmillan, Laura Rimmer, and convenor Andrew Mellor – and part-time Project Coordinator, Jane McBeth, evolved the project to offer regular Writers’ Cafés, Word Ceilidhs and Poetry Walks with accompanying writing workshops – settings in which many folk have been able to develop their writing, engage imaginatively with the landscape, and benefit from the hospitality and good company they found in Ken Words’ midst. Their monthly Writers’ Café continues to be held in the CatStrand café and anyone with an interest in writing is welcome. From their Poetry Walks have come four beautiful exhibitions, sharing their work with the wider local community, and now, within this Galloway Glens booklet, an anthology of writings by participants in the project. We hope you enjoy reading their work. Galloway Glens Area Map ii 4 contents Foreword ................................................................................. p.1 Anthology ........................................................................ p.2 – 43 Writers' Cafés .................................................... p.3 – 16 Word Ceilidhs .................................................. p.17 – 22 Poetry Walks / Writing Workshops .......... p.23 – 42 Afterword ............................................................................. p.44 Writing Prompts .......................................................... p.45 – 47 Notes ............................................................................. p.48 – 49 Contributors & Thanks ..................................................... p.50 Photos by John Smith, Andrew Mellor and Jane McBeth Galloway Glens / Ken Words / An Anthology of Writings foreword Like a handful of river pebbles, gleaming wet, the writings collected here are but a small selection from the literally hundreds of pieces of original material that have come through Ken Words Writers’ Cafés and Word Ceilidhs; from the many lines that have come about only because of Poetry Walks, their accompanying writing workshops, and ensuing exhibitions. Many currents have run through the years 2018 – 2022, from which this anthology draws, and some of these are mentioned in poems or the passages written by contributors to accompany their original work. Together, the writings speak from this place and time, of all that our imaginations can meet, and make, of the world when we pay close attention to it and our experience of it. When we let ourselves be here, now – watching the river . . . Jane McBeth Ken Words Project Coordinator, 2018 – 2022 jane.kenwords@gmail.com 1 If you wish to speak to the waters in the river . . . an anthology of writings from Ken Words Writers’ Cafés, Word Ceilidhs and Poetry Walks You can say anything to water. It listens better, Closer to you than you are yourself. A word can begin Its travels on the pool, can carry on to the river from ‘Writing on Water at Hart Fell Spa’ by Valerie Gillies 2 Galloway Glens / Ken Words / An Anthology of Writings / Writers' Cafés January A night when the air tears the corners of the sky. Clouds shred like tissue. February Fat, yellow moon sits, Held in the grasp of a beech Before floating free. March Snowdrops linger, still, among the mossy roots of beech and wild garlic. April Brilliant light sun warm air. Shadows of dykes underline the fields. 3 May Rain. Rain that drips from shining leaves. Rain that blackens branches, earth and sky. September Brambles droop from the hedge. Black pearls of shining damp clustered together. June The warm night air hums with potential mysteries unsolved by dawn light. October Skybright light over green moors. Under beech trees grass littered with leaf-fall. July Swifts surf the rooftops in the early morning. In the eaves, sparrows. August Warm wet sticky mud clings to the footpath as if nowhere else to go. November Raw, icy sharp wind slices the sunlight into shafts of brittle white. December Sparrowhawk sliding through the beech wood; flickers in and out of sunlight. As I was starting to re-invigorate my efforts at writing, I hit upon the idea of writing a haiku/short poem on a daily basis. I knew this would produce some dross but hoped that something useful and satisfactory would come out of the process. Herewith a selection from the 365! You judge. Writers Cafés and Poetry Walks have been an inspirational part of my writing and the interchanges between participants had a seminal effect on the production of my haiku poem sequence and poetry-writing. CatStrand proved to be a venue that allowed me time and space to struggle with the numerous sheets of paper that ended up in the rubbish bin before a satisfactory result came about. The discussions and suggestions that arose from talking to other writers there helped me to persist in seeking the form I was searching for. In this, Jane has been critically important in helping me find and develop that form, and the results I have achieved are largely due to her tolerance of my questions and patient, critical acceptance of my efforts. Ken Words has been such a kick-starter for my writing that it is gratifying to believe one of the results may become a part of a ‘Galloway Glens’ legacy. John Priestley 4 Jar of Jam Opening a tight lid on a new jar of jam there is often a breath, inward or outward I do not know. It is the first breath in which all our breaths are to be found and which we will meet again, when we go. 5 Sometimes an image lodges in your mind apparently from nowhere. What you do with it is up to you. For over thirty-five years I was a member Parish Priest in the Anglican Church. Life and death came together — I remember visiting for the funeral of a child in one house and then later, further along the street, visiting for a baptism. And at any funeral, a child’s cry can unite a whole congregation in a common humanity. Finding a way of putting this understanding into words by focusing with a poem came as a gift. Whether I had just opened a jar I cannot remember but I became aware of the memory of the sound of the rush of air when a new and tightly-lidded jar is opened. Often there has been a struggle and then comes a sense of release as the lid is freed from its mooring. What has contained us all these years of our living? Could it be as simple as a single breath? When we meet ourselves as we truly are, who will be there to greet us? Could it be something as simple and trusting as a breath? Don’t worry about the kind of jam it is; the jam is immaterial. The sound is focal. I hope reading the poem encourages the kind of trust that is about ‘jam today’. Roland Parker 6 Illogical ramblings She keeps writing back do you think she likes me we’re completely out of size 12 I open the book the pages are blank my mind is elsewhere… as an after-thought try the appendices Sanity is all relative Einstein obviously had a problem The sky is always overcast I was going to sell the sunglasses then the moon rose… Sitting here waiting… three thoughts arrive at the same time … did you see, the lines are getting longer k n i c k e r e l a s t i The flow of the river has slowed perhaps I should go down to the doc c On the road to recovery sat-nav is useless I'm going round the bend recovery isn't a real place after all and I thought it was in Michigan I can't stop doing this maybe there's a job at The Mirror 7 This brief collection has the title ‘Illogical Ramblings’ – you might well ask what’s different from normal… Well, our mutual good friend Jane McBeth loaned me a copy of 'Braided Creek' by Ted Kooser and Jim Harrison. It’s a collection of 300 short poems exchanged between the two authors over many years. I loved the humour of the observations and read the book from cover to cover in one afternoon… The title 'Braided Creek' perfectly captures the nature of the contents – up a creek… and follows many strands of thought connected with life and location. Reading it in one go is quite a shock to the system and I found myself rambling illogically afterwards. In response, Angus Macmillan commented, ‘I’m a great fan of illogicality myself, and I think it’s key to having a poetic mind, which takes you away from the mundane both in perception and in the writing of it.’ John Smith 8 The sun may yet shine! A Side Order of Doggerel If, as ever, Robert’s right, Then in this process I, too, may write And that same sun which shone on him May light on me To help me strive to play. for the re-opening of The Writers’ Café at CatStrand 12 August 2021 Note: Just weeks before he died Burns was at the Ruthwell home of the founder of the Trustee Savings Bank, and Mrs Duncan went to draw a curtain so as to keep the sun out of the poet’s eyes and he gently asked her to let the sun shine on him still a little longer. That was the starting point for my thinking about Robert Burns and his place in so many people’s lives and his place across so many years of sunshine. 9 I came to write And share the buzz That feeds all busy bees Like us! I’m just so busy, Just so tired It’s hard to know If I’m inspired Or not? To write What walks into my head — Just tosh and rot! No matter what I’m here Again to say It’s time to write On every day! Our happy band of Café writers and would-be writers first gathered together about five years ago under Jane’s innovative and imaginative leadership. In an introductory Café workshop at CatStrand, the poet Tom Pow gently encouraged us to respond to an exhibition of photographs by Allan Wright by creating our own special places in words. At the subsequent first Writers’ Café, I shared conversations with others about how Robert Burns, on jumping out of the boat that brought him to The Holm by Balmaclellan, had declared ‘This place would make a blockhead into a poet.’ In time, Covid and lockdown and other life events made it necessary to find other ways of meeting and sharing our written words. By various electronic means we managed it somehow and so when the in-person Café started up again in summer 2021, I wrote my side order of doggerel. Why? Because for me writing from the head and heart (and perhaps many other places too) is essentially a form of playing first begun in my childhood especially with rhythmic and essentially ‘delicious’ words. And I am still that child in a world where there is still so much to marvel at. Alison Chapman 10 Gifts The glint of the sun on the water The silvered swans the loch The lap of the waves on the shoreline And willows' whispering sough The dancing of ozone-charged atoms Alive in the thunderous force The clouds of white blossom petals As the waning storm runs its course The desolate cry of the seagulls Far inland from harbour or sea The rippling wind through the grasses And the change of light on the lea The abacus of starlings Like beads on the overhead wires A loud iridescent gathering A chirping and chattering choir The sudden loud hiss of the rain From the umber and purple clouds The air charged with hair-raising tingle And the thunderclap long and loud The glint on the aureate water The lowering sun on the loch The liquid gold on the shoreline And the willows' whispering sough 11 During lockdown, I joined the online ‘home’ version of the Writers’ Café, receiving a very warm welcome there. I then began to write more than I had ever done, carrying a notebook with me on my walks. ‘Gifts’ took form during such walks beside Carlingwark Loch, where I found a renewed appreciation of the restorative power of nature. Writing there brought me closer to the everchanging moods of water, weather, and skies, and I have tried to capture these moods in the poem. It was aired at a Café in March 2021 before being recorded for the CatStrand ArtsCast as a Ken Words ‘Paired Reading’, partnered with a fellow Café attendee. It then found its way into a book called 'The Great Scottish Canvas', instigated by the World Wildlife Fund who asked the Scottish People to respond, through art and poetry, to the current climate and nature emergencies. The book was used to stimulate discussion amongst delegates and attendees at the COP 26 climate negotiations in Glasgow. There was a concurrent exhibition of the contents, which remains online till September 2024. wwf.org.uk/updates/great-scottish-canvas Had I not joined the Writers’ Café, I don’t think I would have written this poem. Nowadays, my notebook still goes with me! Betty Craig 12 Wind harp White-boned, flayed by the long sea a driftwood log lies stranded high on the litter-strewn tide. Two vestigial limbs reach skyward stiff in rigor mortis, a tortured supplication. It doesn’t look much – I’ve passed without a second glance many times. Now some spark – a young guitarist perhaps – has strung the bark-stripped arms like a harp: diagonal strings, top to bottom, rusty-nailed to scourged wood, tuned to the elements. 13 I watch as the green wind hears the call, curious, comes to investigate. Circling left at first, then right, her long fingers unfurl and begin to play, caressing, lingering ripples and rills, seeking the angel touch. The sound to me of her song by the stones and sea: it’s enough to bring God home back home to these stained shores. ‘Wind harp’ is set in the South Machars, at the end of the Whithorn pilgrim way on the shore by St Ninian’s cave. It’s where I live - a beautiful, austere and peaceful place, rich in spiritual history both Christian and Pagan - the green wind in the poem is clearly a nature elemental. I think of ‘Wind harp’ as being set roughly around Easter, or the beginning of Spring. I enjoyed bringing the poem, set as it is on a lonely shore by the Irish sea inhabited by seals, driftwood and peregrines, up into the Galloway hills and the Writer’s Café, a very different environment, for comment. I think it survived the encounter! At the time I was new to Dumfries & Galloway, seeking the stimulation of like-minded poets and quite prepared to take the time to travel long distances to meet them. In the end, I helped develop a poetry circle closer to home in Wigtown. But I’ve still managed to maintain connection with some of those poets I met up at the Writer’s Café - poetry has, and must have, no borders, artistic or geographic. Mark Thomas 14 Vespers Why do we want to hold them close before they sleep? What is this vespers we feel we have to keep? Each night we watch them go into a forest where we cannot follow, each night a dry run for the day they try the wide world on for size, and step down off the pavement, while we stand and cover up our eyes. When they disappear through that dark door we kind of pray, because we kind of know that it's a kind of going away. And all that we can do is weave a love and wrap it round them, hoping it's enough. 15 That love’s the ball of yarn that Ariadne gave to Theseus outside the labyrinth, which brought him back out, blinking, under blinding Cretan skies. She couldn’t follow where he went holding on was all that she could do. And so must you. Hear them laughing down the bannister, lithe otters waking into morning’s cold bright stream, then surfacing and shaking off a silver spray of dreams already fading from the night before, and leaving river mud, in paw prints all along the kitchen floor. Putting my daughters to bed had always felt significant, and this poem attempts to consider why. It originally began with a section describing my own experiences growing up, but at the Writers’ Café, Jane (correctly) suggested that it might work better as two poems. I am aware of my tendency to explain, to make sure the reader gets the clever point I’m making, but advice from Café readers encouraged me to reduce the nervous t-crossing and i-dotting. This, the original second half, has had a further eight-line section ruthlessly excised, but I’m getting over it. OK, kill your darlings - but the otters stay. Word Ceilidhs provided invaluable experience in reading the poems to an audience. Specifically, as a person who stammers, they reinforced my fragile confidence that I could do this at all. The importance to me of such positive experiences cannot be overstated. They also helped me consider how much contextualisation a poem requires. And the answer is, I hope, not much. So, I’ll sit down now - the poem would like a word with you. John McIntosh 16 Galloway Glens / Ken Words / An Anthology of Writings / Word Ceilidhs The Writer The old wooden observatory sits alone at the far end of the garden. Unseen clouds scud overhead. The chill, moonless night means the clouds are only defined by the lack of stars. In a moving skyscape, stars become visible and are again lost behind the patches of impenetrable dark. Suddenly a flash. A shooting star, but all too brief; others would remain unseen. On the lawn beside the observatory waits an old wooden deck chair with stripes; and beside it a small telescope on its tripod. The chill of a winter night dispels any hope of warmth. Terry walks slowly down the garden towards his viewing chair, his carer supporting one arm and his wife the other. They seat him gently in the chair one checking his fingerless gloves and the other his woolly hat. One of them wraps him carefully in a blanket, leaving his arms outside but tucking it up under his white beard, whilst the other places a head torch around his hat and switches it on to a red glow. One of them places a sketch pad in his left hand and a pencil in his right, while the other one places a gentle kiss on his cheek. They leave him to walk back to the house. “Enjoy the meteor shower, Terry.’’ The words drift away on the breeze. No reply is expected from the empty shell where Terry used to be. The great writer, who can no longer write, is now alone; sitting beside his much-loved telescope that he no longer remembers how to use. The two women take turns watching over him from an upstairs darkened window. Time passes. Eventually they return, turn off his torch and remove the blanket. “Time to go in now.” They 17 gently encourage him to stand and his body complies, except for his head which twists to look skyward. No-one sees the marks on the pad. Seven small spots in the shape of a saucepan and several straight lines, pointing to a spot just below it. The pad and pencil fall to the damp grass, unnoticed. They reach the door; Terry’s head lowers, no longer looking upwards. More clouds gather overhead and the stars go out, one by one. I came late to writing fiction. Already past sixty, I woke one morning with a complete story in my head and it continued from there with no active decision by me. My style has developed to write, with empathy, about people with differences and very much using 'show don’t tell'. My chosen style can perhaps best be described as 'pathos' and it has been encouraged by those who attend the Writers' Café. This story was inspired by reading a short article about Terry Pratchett, his love of astronomy and his battles with dementia. This story is not about him, but is the result of me thinking, 'I wonder...' Previously, if I was to read a piece aloud, I would practise enough times to be able to get through it without the emotion of the tale getting to me. However, when I was to read this piece at a Word Ceilidh (amongst friends), I practised it only a couple of times so that my own emotions would still show when I read it. I choked a little and the audience generally agreed that this added to the drama of the piece. Paul Goodwin 18 The Lime Tree last night I dreamt the plants in your house had died and the lime tree you keep inside the porch had curled in on itself like the hand of a corpse this morning I woke to the scent of lime sweetening the air the leaves green and glossy the fruit plump and sticky but when I turned to tell you there were dust motes in your place suspended in the sunlight as your papery hand briefly cupped my face 19 I was actually keeping a lime tree in my own porch when I wrote this, and was amazed at how well it thrived here. The ‘papery hand’ of the poem belongs to my mum, who died some years ago but whose presence I still sometimes feel. When I read the poem at one of our first Word Ceilidhs, I had next to no experience of reading my work aloud to a group and I found the prospect daunting and very nearly didn't turn up. But I’m glad I did. The feedback I received on the night helped me rid the poem of a redundant word here and an awkward line there; but moreover the warm response to my reading gave me the confidence to be able to do it again - without my knees shaking or feeling as much stomach-churning apprehension as that first time. I have gone on to share my work at other public readings and I remember on the drive home from the Southlight magazine launch event at BigLit (Gatehouse of Fleet), the elation I felt at having been able to achieve this. I revisited this poem recently and brought it along to a Writers’ Café, with a few ideas as to how it might be improved. I was (pleasantly) surprised when all of my suggested revisions were tactfully dismissed. I had overthought it. At the same time, another Cafégoer made a suggestion (a rearrangement of words within a sentence) which, years on from its first airing, improved the poem no end. Laura Rimmer 20 Three Winters a story a back-end sun beech leaves making way for distance I the crow moves along its branch to the end with less rain— who keeps an eye on who all through the winter II this winter last winter’s same two crows more familiar— who knows, these dark days, how we are, my dear 21 III always, the two crows keep an eye on each other, and the magpie will be seen off the branch, again not to keep sorrow from my door, but it is winter, and in the cold hope is made simple, primal winter morning an unseen song that sounds like spring Making a story by sequencing poems was prompted by a Ken Words ‘Story Ceilidh’ session, although our stories – the crows’ and mine – had been mingling for some time, since I first really noticed them as a presiding pair in the vicinity of the house. Over the years, the pair became familiar to regular Writers’ Café-goers as each happenstance poem was brought, winter by winter, for discussion. And it was encouraging, when I read the threaded piece aloud to a ceilidh audience at the Ken Bridge Hotel, that people commented on different story layers resonating for them, even in so relatively few words. I like the long, thin, arrangement of the piece on the page, topped and tailed as it became, with haiku – my ‘home’ poetic form and one I love for its far reach in simple, direct language. For the way it can expand the frame of a story beyond, and hold open a space for reflection. the crow you know when a voice is unmistakable Jane McBeth 22 Galloway Glens / Ken Words / An Anthology of Writings / Poetry Walks and Writing Workshops December Gloombusters Grey, misty wet with smurr Shelfie, feltie, cushie doo Blackie, goldie, jaickie too Barking jackdaws about the lums Not long now Spring is edging near Silver, glinting lark song links — tumbling down to me 23 I have a local patch that I walk several days every week, especially in the darker months when everything outdoors is compressed and often home-based. Gentle exercise is the main objective, but I also love to watch bird behaviour in the context of the season’s progress. Since childhood I have enjoyed reading poems occasionally and often wonder at the poet’s skill in conjuring an image or a memory. In joining Ken Words poetry walks along the same route, I marvelled at others’ observations and impressions of landscape and nature along the way. Rewardingly, I also really enjoyed the poetry workshops following these walks and beyond. I was fascinated by the various ‘birdscapes’ and other creations that told of our individual and shared impressions, and of our collaboration in collective pieces. In ‘December Gloombusters’ I was keen to capture the conditions, bird encounters and rhythm of stepping out on a dreich day, but also the colour and shared experience in looking forward to spring. The haiku form, to which I was introduced at the Ken Words spring workshop, develops this theme and allowed me to borrow someone else’s likening skylark song to a silver chain. Chris Rollie 24 Springtime in Late March 2022 Poetry Walk, Dalry Dumfries & Galloway Bucha, Western Ukraine with Igor’s mother, Nadya Savran ‘Every drop of dew on every blade of grass – as far as the eye can see.’ Every drop of blood on every blade of grass… into infinity a formation of buzzards, warm in the sun… the ridge still flecked with snow crows rise, fussing; the chatter of sand martins above riverside burrows a single Scarab cruises in the cold brittle air, an urgent screaming alarm… Igor, you must go the rattle of gunfire, … go hide in the hollows spooked flight of collared dove, hustle of wind – rushing, a stumble on uneven ground trees bare-knuckled … gazing into the blue 25 the kindling of accommodation: glass underfoot… try not to make a sound … in the last springtime of his life In memory of all those who gave up their lives on 20th March while we were walking on Holm & Hill. Every drop of dew, from ‘The washing never gets done’, by Jaan Kaplinski. A Scarab is a Russian Cruise Missile. Poetry-walking in a time of war When I joined the poetry walk on 20 March 2022, I came to it reflecting on the newscasts… conscious of how differently the Springtime in Ukraine was unfolding. Then… literally out of the blue… a WW2 Spitfire droned overhead… Powerful conjunctions: the reality of the Glenkens in Spring… an aircraft from another war… and hearing the name of a soldier’s mother in those newscasts. Parallel universes that gave me both the material and the structure of this poem. The context of our lives is ever present and poetry walks have been way-markers where the here-and-now finds a place within that longer journey. The temptation is to be infatuated by pretty descriptive words, rhyming couplets and pastoral soliloquies, but, to be true to our human condition, I need to be more than a camera and a carefully composed picture; more even than a reflection. I need to be fully engaged — me and who I am, in this particular time and place, and as a part of the continuum of life with all its memories, loves and fears. For me, going on poetry walks has been an essential part of the revelations of life’s journey, revealed in the here-and-now. John Smith 26 Flight Waiting to fly, sitting in a departure lounge. Flyers stock up, a three-hour flight south awaits. Eleven a.m. breakfasts, beers, bottles of water and juice. In-flight refuelling will be available and taken. Early this morning, I watched sand martins. 27 ‘Flight’ brings together my experience of two very different days which were also strangely close – one waiting for a morning flight in a busy departure lounge at Prestwick airport, the other, a few days earlier, on a Ken Words poetry walk in Dalry. After I read the poem at the ‘Over Holm and Hill’ exhibition launch at The Smiddy, I was surprised when someone in the audience came up to me and told me how much they had enjoyed it and the way I read it. Both of these things are difficult for me to believe. Reading and spelling have been a struggle for me since childhood, on top of which, my West of Scotland dialect and accent can be difficult for some people to understand. Folk who have got to know me at the Writers’ Café and Word Ceilidhs have been very encouraging about improvements in my writing and in their company my self-confidence has grown a bit and I can now stand up and read without relying only on a good sense of humour to get me through. I honestly appreciate that. Faith de Sancha 28 unbidden While reading a poem about birds at the launch event for our Over Holm and Hill exhibition at The Smiddy, I became aware of birdsong flooding through the open door that balmy evening – the door having been left open to allow just that. This was around the time that a friend had remarked on the number of birds that appear in my poems. And so, this poem somehow felt inevitable… they come to my poems, unbidden, birds of elusive meaning, winging by, or perched briefly on a line, hesitant, not knowing whether to stay or go sometimes they flare colour into my dullness, but at times they albatross my similes while I seek and scour for the true flight of metaphor feather-fine, unflinching, sharp as the eagle’s committed eye Angus Macmillan 29 30 Galloway Glens / Ken Words / An Anthology of Writings seann sgìtheach a’ sheasamh gu sìochad am meadhan na deanntagan an aghaidh na craobhan chònach eilthireach old hawthorn standing alone in the midst of the nettles in defiance of the foreign conifers 31 I guess the beauty of a poetry walk is that it engages other parts of the consciousness that are not frequently exercised. Normally, I’m firmly in ‘prosaic mode’ but I was glad to be reminded of the following musings that accompanied my poem-lines, written after walking onto Waterside Hill from Dalry. — At the beginning, the King’s Meadow, smooth fat fields full of white sheep across the river. A river with black-dark and deep pools where eels conceal themselves amongst hidden rocks. Then we walked beside the river past dead ash trees and alder with phytopthera disease and an old oak full of yellow acorns. We climbed under the sun, past Craiggubble, the rock of the mares, then through a small hidden glen. Suddenly we arrived at an old hawthorn tree, it didn’t do anything but stand, waiting for the surrounding of alien trees. — This old tree had seen decades come and go, sheltering new born lambs as it quietly gazed over the glen towards The Mulloch. But unbeknown to it, financial decisions had been taken elsewhere which would change its situation irrevocably. Lucrative commercial afforestation grants had been approved for Waterside Hill. I imagined the hawthorn steeling itself against the impending surrounding Sitka. Michael Ansell 32 Wintering, Poll Madaidh In these short days of frost and ice life has stilled, and we can only dream of sun and spring rain and greening. We are running out of seasons. Once, there was a time of sun, four seasons, the rhythms of growing and harvest, the hills always there, secure in their own name: Crois-Rinne, Maol Donn, Maol Liath. There are few of us left now – too old to work the fields where the women no longer sing, the songs gone from their hearts. Once, this was where what mattered happened: all our living and dying was here. The river will carry on flowing but it flows only the one way. The new road has passed us by with its straight lines into the future. Our village paths are grassed over in need of living feet. My grandfather talked of wolves lurking, watching – now, I hear the howl of the wind, animal, as if the wolves were back, there, on the hill. There are fewer footsteps on the pack road, and the inn has gone quiet: sorrow is now our meeting place. I throw more peat on the fire. 33 I had the pleasure of leading three poetry walks and workshops based on the abandoned village of Polmaddy. On each walk, I encouraged participants to bring all their senses to bear on the experience of being there, trying to create a sense of presence from which they would be encouraged to write. However, it was also necessary to draw attention to the inescapable feelings of absence in this setting, given the history of the village, from which, equally, people could be free to write. In doing this, by imagining what life might have been like for villagers, through pleasures and hardships, we create a kind of mythic space, reaching and extrapolating beyond what physically remains, to conjure a sense of life in this alluring place. I have written several poems about Polmaddy – the one I offer here imagines a time when it was becoming hard to cope with changes in village life and its abandonment felt increasingly imminent. Angus Macmillan 34 Snow shower upon snow shower piling in from the Rhinns The keen north-west wind brought them, turning the Rhinns ridge blue-black Then white as the showers passed, soon they descend on Baile nan Sac Turning the golden ground white also, coating the sides of the old Ash trees with crusts of white Suddenly they pass over, away towards Glenshimmeroch Sunlight flooded back again, briefly but boldly, with strength Melting the new snow cover, until the next storm cloud approached All that were left now were drifts of snow in the lee of tussocks Suddenly all was quiet, still, the lull before the impending storm The fox that had been sheltering on Knockbuie, reappeared inquisitively, sensing Wondering whether to restart his hunt, before slinking down behind the dyke As the blue-black clouds come again 35 Growing up in the Glenkens, Na Rinnean (The Rhinns of Kells) were an ever-present feature in life – sometimes brooding, sometimes fierce; green with early summer grass, brown after a desiccating drought; sometimes be-ribbonned with cascading water spouts and above all, white with snow for what seemed like most of the winter. I remember one year the last snow patch on A’ Chroisrinn (Corserine) didn’t melt until after the school shut for summer holidays. Co-dhiù, eventually I experienced the thrill of walking these mountains, finding the sheltered lochans of Achadh na bPùt, the almost vertical fissure of Geàrr Inbhir and the great corries of Meall Liath, Loch Daingean and A’ Chroisrinn from where mini-glaciers had advanced. This poem was conceived on a poetry walk at the deserted late medieval clachan now called Polmaddy. I imagined its former name was ‘village of the sacks’ reflecting the output form the meal mill on site. The clachan is wide open to the north-west wind sweeping over the Rhinns of Kells. These polar maritime winds bear sudden intense showers, interspersed by warm bright spring sunshine. It was such a day at Polmaddy, Michael Ansell 36 Poll Madaidh Rowans red with berries, bracken turning fox-brown, forest's green sentinel line above old deserted stones. Dry bones of a village, grey marks laid down where people once worked, lived, raised voices in greeting. Now a new group, strangers discover, walk old paths where ghosts lightly laugh at near-miss guesses of how things were. 37 ‘Poll Madaidh’ was written on a beautiful September day of warm sunlight and mild breezes. A day that is among my most treasured memories. From my seat on the hillside opposite the abandoned 'ferm toon' I looked over its ruins and let my imagination wander. This is the result. Of course, the poem would never have been written had it not been for the special assistance of the bus driver who took us to the site, and everyone else who made it possible for me to experience being there that day. I have mobility problems, so it was an even greater pleasure to find such kindness from all concerned. Anne Micklethwaite 38 The Matter The past isn't dead, it isn't even past. William Faulkner the what that is this at your shoulder always is here is the heft of hills remembered and that weight of question the clouds gaff-rigged imagine their scudding rafts of shadow so somewhere yonder still slipping from the hand the way that's lost and found the well that's plumbed the dark of woods and silence with the voice that whispers all the names that scrape the riven surface of a past that may be yours and its thanks ungiven 39 What matters? The poem is written about a walk I didn't take. I had booked to go on the final Polmaddy Ken Words poetry walk but the date changed due to atrocious weather. I couldn't make it and I walked alone in London instead. But I was haunted by the landscape I was missing and by the sense of all landscapes being internal, geographies of the imagination, tracked by spectres. The Polmaddy walks were my introduction to Ken Words and opened the door to the Café and Ceilidhs and to a poetic home in a Galloway that I had just re-arrived in. I couldn't not pay my respects to this concluding outing. I like to think that the sense of doubleness is present in the layout of the poem and the way the two sections tail off. Certainly, the feeling of displacement and inconclusiveness is around whenever I revisit these words: is this quite finished, I wonder. No, of course not. Robin Leiper 40 The Last Landlord What did you see as you closed the door that final time on your crumbling howf with its fading echoes of villagers and voyagers sharing idle gossip, music and rhyme? What I see here and now is golden sun and autumn fullness painting patterns on a place that only short millennia ago was an ice-scraped canvas waiting for returning life 41 And I see the stones of an old clachan adding texture to the land and telling of a futile struggle against Galloway dreichness And I see a blackcap flitting through the rowans in a place that just now seems perfect in its warmth, its peace and the fullness of life What we see is what we are – but I cannot know if your eyes were filled with tears or fixed upon a hopeful star There is a sign by the side of the dusty road that leads from Granada to the sea that reads, Puerto del Suspiro del Moro. Here in 1492, Boabdil, the last Moorish King of Granada, paused, looked back on the city and its beautiful palace from which he had been driven - and sighed long and loud. Hearing this, his mother is reported to have berated him, “Weep, weep like a woman for that which you have not been able to defend as a man,’’ heaping scorn onto the misery of loss. This fragment of history came to mind as, during a pause on one of our Poetry Walks, I sat by the Polmaddy Burn looking at the crumbling walls of the Inn, the last building in that little place to be abandoned. Polmaddy was no Alhambra. The remains of the kilns that were needed to dry out rain-sodden harvests are testament to the hard life of the villagers. But, taking part in Ken Words writing activities, I have learned how to accept as a gift the mix of emotions such places can evoke. With the skilled guidance of a lead poet, the writing techniques offered in workshops and input from fellow participants, the human stories hidden in a pile of stones start to be revealed. Andrew Mellor 42 Galloway Glens / Ken Words / An Anthology of Writings 43 afterword As Andrew Mellor’s poem evokes with such poignancy, change comes, and with it, the inevitable backward glance. To coordinate Ken Words and curate 'If you wish to speak to the waters in the river. . . ' has been a privilege and, for me, this booklet is a project made manifest: a brief summation not only of written material to be valued in itself, but four years, and more, of process. Years of, one way or another, holding open the Ken Words Writers’ Café door every month; of seasonal Word Ceilidhs, Poetry Walks, writing workshops, exhibitions and readings – all of which have nurtured local people, their writing and their confidence to share, perform, and publish their work in the world. Work that carries forward. The river may flow only one way, but see – the river keeps coming. what remains. . . the gable-end stones warm to my touch Jane McBeth 44 Galloway Glens / Ken Words / Writing Prompts writing prompts Letting the words speak There are many ways in which the Café helps my writing through sharp editing with someone else’s eye. This may involve cutting out or reducing phrasing that is prosy and baggy, or eliminating word-repetitions, like ‘and’ and ‘the.’ All of that helps with smoothing the whole piece. It’s easy to develop blind spots, even for poems which have been around in one form or another, for some time. We can also become overly-attached and cling to particular words or phrasings – sometimes whole verses – which turn out not to be crucial at all. All that helps develop focus and tightness in writing. As a member of another writers’ group some years ago, we developed a motto of A poem shared is a poem halved. A good credo to have… being at the Café enables, afterwards, in between sessions, in addition to the process within the Café itself. I have often paused mid-session at a Café and listened to the hum of voices talking – not about the weather, politics or the day’s news – but about writing, the how and the why of it, its frustrations and elusiveness at times, and the pleasures it can bring when it flows. A glimpse of the Café’s quiet and understated alchemy. The following poem was pared down through a Café session – it reflects how a particular word (or phrase) can spark off writing from a place of stuckness / lack of creativity, as the words bring their companions with them, and they begin to jostle and push each other In a wider sense, the Café has helped in a quite different around. And if a fight breaks out, fine – I’m no longer way, often at times when I’ve not brought any of my own looking at a blank page. writing. By becoming immersed in someone else’s work, it helps, amongst other things, to clarify and articulate, for example, what is ‘poetic’ and what isn’t, what works and what doesn’t. I’ve found that doing that opens up a vein of thinking – going sideways, aslant – or a particular mental space that pushes me to engage or re-engage with writing of my own afterwards. So it's about what Angus Macmillan 45 Key-words I trust the pencil sometimes a word unpicks the lock of the blank space each one a cue for the next and the next and the page that slammed shut in your face slowly opens To bring a group of poets or writers together is maybe asking for trouble. Anything sharp needs to be left outside the door. This is with the exception of pencils, not that these will be used as weapons but more as a pin for releasing the sap. Angus Macmillan Roland Parker Each month for several years I have been attending a monthly Writers’ Café – we have spent time apart so there is opportunity for something fresh to happen when we meet. There is always a gentle unintrusive formula for our time together. People can gently bid for time to explain and explore their piece of writing. Meeting in small groups gives each person time to explore various roles, writer, critic, audience. The focus is on the activity of writing itself. No one is outside the ring standing in judgement. We all share that confidence in writing is a rare commodity. As the culture of groups grow, you never swim in the same group twice, so the admiration grows both for people’s writing and their underlying life experience. A sense of trust and mutual endeavour supports you even when you are not at the meeting and alone with your pencil. 46 Wild writing Wild, or flow, writing is when you just write and don’t stop to pause or think just keep writing even if you only have three minutes at the back door before work and it doesn’t make sense and you can hardly read your own scrawl but it doesn’t matter as long as words are still coming and your mind is loosening because this is how other words might come through and something else might become of it or not and it doesn’t matter as long as you’re still writing and noticing how breath responds to weather writing and noticing the way a female blackbird jabs at the pile of old leaves, hunts Jane McBeth 47 notes 48 Flow If you wish to speak to the waters in the river, do it now: they’re not coming back Angus Macmillan 49 contributors & thanks What Ken Words has been able to make happen has involved the imaginative input, time, care, resources and energy of many people, and thanks are due to them all, including: The poet Valerie Gillies, for her inspiration to start a Writers’ Café. Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership for their generous four-year funding which made Ken Words’ envisioning a reality, and individual members of the Galloway Glens team – McNabb Laurie, Helen Keron, Jan Hogarth, Jude Crooks, Anna Harvey and Debbie Marshall – for their behind-the-scenes practical support and encouragement throughout, and beyond, the four years. GCAT for equally generous match-funding through Creative Scotland, and for giving the project an ongoing home at CatStrand. Also staff – especially Aidan Nicol, Helen Keron, Peter Renwick, Gill Warnock, Brian Edgar, and CatStrand volunteer Rhoda Rugg – for their assistance in many, many ways, large and small. The support and friendship of Ken Words steering group members Angus Macmillan, Laura Rimmer, and convenor Andrew Mellor. Contributors, as named in the booklet, for their writings and reflections. Participant-photographers John Smith and Andrew Mellor, for always being there and catching so much on camera. Also, all other participants in Ken Words sessions – every one of them has brought something of their own that has been of value. Chris Rollie, bird expert and educator, for sharing his knowledge and love of birds with such generosity of spirit in a series of four walks Over Holm and Hill on the Donald Watson Bird Walk. Michael Ansell, place-name researcher, for bringing his wealth of local knowledge and passionate curiosity about Gaelic and Scots etymology, to bear upon our sense of place. Angus Macmillan, poet, for teasing out so thoughtfully the deeper layers of poetry-walking Polmaddy, the old Pack Road, and – always at our shoulder – Na Rinnean. Also, for facilitating the accompanying writing workshops and subsequently giving his time and aesthetic eye to co-curating Ken Words exhibitions. Graphic design and artwork by Martha Schofield www.marthaschofield.co.uk who has brought elegance and colour, as well as patience and persistence, to making this booklet the lovely thing it is to behold. John Burns Print, for making it something you can hold in your hand and enjoy reading. Jane McBeth, with gratitude May, 2023 50 BOOK 6 Ken Words curated and edited by Jane McBeth A Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership Scheme publication designed by Martha Schofield Design https://marthaschofield.co.uk printed by J&B Print Ltd, 32A Albert Street, Newton Stewart ISBN 978-1-7395875-3-6  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Galloway Glens Booklet 6 - Ken Words Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GGLP_14 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023 Description An account of the resource An anthology of writings. GGLP written word https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/5/474/Accommodation-Providers-a-Galloway-Glens-resource-pack-1.pdf dda09548b678e43f48f95e45276faf32 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Business Academy – Accommodation Providers: a Galloway Glens resource pack Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Business Academy Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Galloway Glens and Business Gateway Dumfries & Galloway ‘Business Academy’ Resource Pack: Maximising the Income from your Accommodation Business. Based on presentations given in Dalry on the 31st January 2019. The Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership Scheme • 35 projects across the Galloway Glens area over the next 4 years. • The GGLP area covers the Glenkens, Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright. • ‘From Source to Sea’ – follows the route of the Ken and Dee rivers. • Funded by the Heritage Lottery and other partners, including Dumfries & Galloway Council. • All GGLP projects are aimed at connecting people with their heritage and supporting sustainable rural communities. • Two of the six key themes for GGLP are: • Encouraging more people to visit the area. • Improving access to the outdoors, for residents and visitors. Projects of possible interest to your visitors • Galloway Glens Biosphere Experience: A pilot project to put together experiential tourism packages capitalising on our unique natural assets. • Laura Davidson is looking to network with providers who would be interested in being part of these packages. See Laura afterwards if you’d like more information. • Loch Ken Alive: Improving laybys, signage and access to the Loch. Planning festivals around the Loch to draw visitors. Marketing and promotion of the Loch as the beautiful asset it is. • Dee Treasures: A cycling or driving app that will give information about routes of interest and the history associated with them. • Kirkcudbright Dark Skies Visitor Centre: Starting development; when completed, will help the entire area capitalise on being Scotland’s first Dark Sky Park. • Glenkens Way: A walking trail that will link Polmaddy to New Galloway. • Canoe Trail: A long-distance canoe trail down Loch Ken. Second in Scotland. • Heritage Hubs: New interpretation centres in Dalry, Crossmichael, Balmaclellan and Kirkcudbright. • Red squirrel hide: Barhill woods, Kirkcudbright. Galloway and South Ayrshire Biosphere • This area is so special, UNESCO designated it as a Biosphere in 2012. (1 of only 2 Biospheres in Scotland.) • All tourism businesses, and especially accommodation providers, should be using this in their marketing. • UNESCO Biosphere • Dark Sky Park • Galloway Forest Park • Loch Ken • Solway Estuary • All of these will draw in visitors, but only if they know they are there! Presentation 1: Case Study from Brookford B&B. Ronnie Bradford, proprietor. Guiding Principles • Be aware that you are part of a fledgling tourism sector, the future of which you have a direct responsibility to help flourish and grow. • In practice this means that at every stage of the visit, you have the opportunity to not only meet but surpass the expectations. • Do your research • Get to know your surroundings so you can advise your visitors. • Local and built heritage • Towns and villages • Biosphere • Dark Sky Park • Galloway Forest Park • Get to know your fellow accommodation providers. • Our competitors are in the Lake District and the Highlands, not here! • of your guests. Guiding Principles • Know the difference between price and value for money – your customers will. • Attention to detail is critical for a memorable visitor experience. • Don’t ‘Make Do and Mend’ – Innovate and Spend. • Re-decorate regularly • Renew linen and towels • Keep up with technology – wifi and TVs • Consider your ‘green’ credentials • Work on your digital advertising • Take advice if you need it. • of your guests. Do: • Make sure you are aware of the specific rules regarding running accommodation in D&G, particularly fire regs. • Check to make sure your insurance isn’t more or less than you need. • Remember TV Licence. • Remember you need a licence to play recorded music in a public place. • Keep on good terms with your neighbours! • Consider getting food hygiene training if offering food. • Carefully consider your Ts&Cs to make sure they work for you. • Enjoy the experience – if you don’t, it will show! • of your guests. Don’t: • Don’t put barriers in the way of people booking to stay with you. • Make booking easy and seamless. • Consider not taking deposits. • Make sure you get valid card details you can charge if things go wrong. • Don’t insist on guests having to contact you by phone to confirm the booking. • Don’t have restrictive rules around check in / check out times and/or curfews. • Don’t be over attentive or intrusive. Thank you and good luck! Presentation 2: What your Social Media and Website should be doing for you Dane Smyth, Let’s Go D&G. https://www.letsgodg.co.uk/ Visually attractive accommodation features on Let’s Go D&G • Choose a modern and bright photo of your accommodation. • Include plenty of detailed shots of the interior. • Focus on what makes it different or what stands out – remember the Instagram effect! • Remember to save your images as key-words – Search Engines don’t see images, just text. • Change your images and see what works with bookings / likes. Google functions. • Register on Google Maps (for free), so your accommodation comes up automatically when people are near. • Use Google Console – this will give blog-type information next to the check-in mark on Google Maps. • Use Google Analytics to see how your web-page is performing. • Organic reach is what you’re after – people searching for and using your website. Google Analytics Social Media tips From our client and partner statistics Facebook is still by • Facebook: far the most powerful social tool for Accommodation • Make sure you are commenting and liking other posts and pages as your page. (Look for the drop down option above the Comment line to use your business page not your Comment and like as your page / Share great content / Giveaways and Competitions personal one) • Always post a picture with a Facebook post. • Competitions still work well – give away a room for a night in return for a ‘Like, Share & Tag a friend’. Make sure you choose the winner fairly! • Instagram – check the analytics to see how many click-throughs an image receives. • Twitter – not great for accommodation providers (better for business to business) but posting links can help with Search Engine Optimisation. • Good pages to follow and share to show off the region: • D&G Through a Lens • We love D&G Presentation 3: Do you need an online booking system? Jo Blaylock, SuperControl https://www.supercontrol.co.uk/ 01556 506701 Do you need an online booking system? In 2018, 81% of people booked a holiday online. 15% of people booked over the phone or in person. People over the age of 65 are the most likely to book on the phone – but it’s still just a quarter of this age group that do so. And there’s nothing stopping you from continuing to take bookings over the phone anyway. Providing guests with the option to book and pay online just gives them the choice – and removes any barriers to those who want to book there and then. When people search online for their holidays, what are the first results they see? There are a few big companies that dominate the market: Booking.com, Airbnb, Expedia etc. Our advice is to make the most of this massive opportunity – list your properties on as many of the big websites as possible. It will increase visibility. 45% of the bookings that come through these big channels are from international guests (who typically spend more money). You would struggle to reach that audience on your own. Use the big channels to get initial bookings, then you can really look after your guests when they arrive, and encourage them to book direct when they return. That’s where your online booking system comes in. You don’t have to worry about double bookings. Choose a booking system that has a builtin channel manager. This means it act likes a hub – so you can take bookings on your own website, on Booking.com and VisitScotland (AS WELL AS continuing to take them over the phone or in person) – but your booking system will synch with all these booking channels, so availability will always be current and up-to-date. A good property management system also helps keep things simple – auto emails, payment reminders, directions and important information, review requests etc. From your guests’ point of view, giving them the option to book online makes it really easy for them to check availability and prices. It’s all about convenience – most of us live life in such a hurry we want to get things we want or need at a time that suits us. An example of a booking system embedded into the top right of an accommodation website. Most bookings are made in the evening – do you want to be available on the phone then? In 2018, 17% of the bookings our clients received came in between 8pm-10pm and 40% between 6pm and midnight. Similarly, most bookings are made on a Sunday. Summary of benefits of an online booking system: 1. It will save you time. One of our clients told us they spent 80% less time processing each booking. This frees your time to concentrate on other areas of your business. 2. It will make you money because it removes a massive booking barrier – 81% of holidays were booked online last year. Making that process as simple as possible gets your guests’ journey off to the very best start. 3. You stay in control. You set your own prices, start days, length of stay, and you can be flexible. e.g. you might choose to only enable short stays or certain start days during the quieter months, or if you have a cancellation or late availability. And your clients will benefit too: Increased booking efficiency means timely messages are sent to guests, which improves the service you provide and makes them feel valued. Guest management tools in the booking system allow you to provide the very best guest experience from when they search for availability, through to getting feedback after they leave, then staying in touch. So they are more likely to return – remember, direct repeat bookings are the most cost effective. There are also great upselling opportunities – helping you to maximise the value of every single booking (e.g. hampers, chef service, spa treatments, flowers and champagne …) Next steps. • Do your research: look for specialist booking systems in e.g. self-catering, B&Bs, hotels, glampsites. • How much does it cost? Check what the price includes, make sure there are no hidden costs. SuperControl does not charge commission, there is a one-off set-up fee of £200 then an annual licence fee - £370 for up to 3 properties. • What payment providers and booking channels do they integrate with? • How do they synchronise with booking channels? The best systems update prices, availability and property details two-way and instantly. You want a full API integration. • (A basic iCal basically just blocks the dates and there can be a time delay, so more risk of double booking. This is one-way integration) • Try it – you shouldn’t be under any obligation to buy, and you will get to see what is in an account, how it works and get a feel for the help provided. Presentation 4: Business and Financial Planning John King, Business Gateway Dumfries & Galloway https://www.bgateway.com/local-offices/dumfries-and-galloway john.king@dumgal.gov.uk Business & Financial Planning Business Gateway • • • • Free impartial advice 1:1 Advice on starting and growing your business Workshops Social Media • • www.bgateway.com www.facebook.com/businessgatewaydumfries Business & Financial Planning • Making Tax Digital • Accountancy Software • Card Machines • Business Plans • Loans Making Tax Digital • Making Tax Digital is a key part of the government’s plans to make it easier for individuals and businesses to get their tax right and keep on top of their affairs. • more effective • more efficient • easier for taxpayers to get their tax right • VAT-registered businesses with a taxable turnover above the VAT threshold are required to use the Making Tax Digital service to keep records digitally and use software to submit their VAT returns from 1 April 2019. • Making Tax Digital will not be mandated for taxes other than VAT until at least April 2020. Making Tax Digital • VAT tax returns will now be submitted using HMRC approved software • 133 providers available now with more in the pipeline Making Tax Digital What do I need to do next? • If you use an accountant or bookkeeper, check they have compatible software. • If you use accounting software, check that it is compatible. • If you do your own VAT but don’t use accounting software, then you will need to buy some compatible software. • https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-taxdigital/overview-of-making-tax-digital Accounting Software Get control of your finances • Web based and free mobile App • Connect to bank account • Bookkeeping / Payroll • Tax / VAT online returns • National Insurance • Create quotes, invoices and receipts • Snap (photograph) and sort receipts • Mileage tracking • No need for an accountant? • £15-30 per month Card Machines New Generation • • • • • • Connects to a smartphone Reader £20 Chip and pin and contactless No monthly fee Approx. 1.75% fee Print or text a receipt The Business Plan What does it do? • • • • • • Clarify your business idea Spot potential problems Set out your goals Identify your market Measure your progress Present your idea for financing The Business Plan What or Who is it for? • To organise your thoughts • To help secure funding • Banks • Grants • Lenders • Investors • Customers Business Planning Process Loans Generally banks offer the best rates • Credit check and business plan check • Sector by sector approach • Lending restrictions • Packages combining public and private finance Public Funded Loans DSL Business Finance Ltd - https://www.dsl-businessfinance.co.uk/ • Loans up to £50,000 available to enterprises based in Scotland • Face to face pre- and post-loan support provided • Low cost microfinance options with a competitive interest rate • Tailor made solutions for individual businesses Business Loan Scotland for larger loans https://www.bls.scot/ • Funding up to a maximum of £100k to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) where public sector funding would not exceed 50% of the total funding package. For more information Contact John King on john.king@dumgal.gov.uk • Arrange a drop-in appointment at the Galloway Glens office in Castle Douglas on a Wednesday morning. • Discuss your business plans by phone. • Support offered to all businesses, no matter how large or small! • For more details, see www.gallowayglens.org • Contact Helen Keron, Education and Community Engagement Officer, Galloway Glens. • Helen.keron@dumgal.gov.uk • 07827 306 866 All information correct at February 2019.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Business Academy – Accommodation Providers: a Galloway Glens resource pack Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GGLP_15 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019 Description An account of the resource One of a series of free events for businesses in 2019, run by the Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership, in partnership with Business Gateway and funded by the Heritage Lottery. business GGLP https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/5/475/Creative-Businesses-new-routes-to-market-BIG.pdf d8b966eee021fdce7fb248168694a25d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Business Academy – Creative Businesses: new routes to market Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Business Academy Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Galloway Glens and Business Gateway Dumfries & Galloway ‘Business Academy’ Resource Pack: New Routes to Market for Small and Micro Creative Businesses. Based on presentations given in Kirkcudbright on the 28th February 2019. The Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership Scheme • 35 projects across the Galloway Glens area over the next 4 years. • The GGLP area covers the Glenkens, Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright. • ‘From Source to Sea’ – follows the route of the Ken and Dee rivers. • Funded by the Heritage Lottery and other partners, including Dumfries & Galloway Council. • All GGLP projects are aimed at connecting people with their heritage and supporting sustainable rural communities. Galloway and South Ayrshire Biosphere • This area is so special, UNESCO designated it as a Biosphere in 2012. (1 of only 2 Biospheres in Scotland.) • You can use this in your marketing, depending on your product. • UNESCO Biosphere • Dark Sky Park • Galloway Forest Park • Loch Ken • Solway Estuary • All of these will attract different niches of customers and can provide you with inspiration. Presentation 1: Selling through an Artist’s Co-operative Morag MacPherson, PA Pop-Up About PA Pop-Up • PA Pop Up is an artists and maker’s co-operative established in 2015. • From it’s origins as a pop-up shop in Kirkcudbright, PA Pop up now has its own permanent premises in Kirkcudbright and Castle Douglas, as well as space at the Mill on the Fleet, Gatehouse. • It is both a Co-operative and a Company Limited by Guarantee. • It currently has 45 members, both make and female, aged from 20 – 80 years old. • It is for professional artists from across Dumfries and Galloway. • Work is sold commission-free, in return for a monthly fee of between £25 - £35 and a co-operative time and effort contribution to the running of the shops. • The ethos is very much that of a co-operative. Co-operative responsibilities • Work must be provided priced for sale and attractively presented. • Every member should commit to a voluntary role • Shop representative • Maintenance • Key holder • Utilities • Advertising • Rotas, etc • Everyone mans the shop in rotation – a big selling point is that customers can meet the artist. 1 or 2 days / month on average. • 2 meetings / year / shop • 1 whole group meeting / year Benefits of being part of an Artists and Makers Co-Operative • The individual skill sets of members are used to best advantage in the voluntary roles. • Known monthly cash outgoing – allows for budgeting. • Physical presence on the High Street for a fraction of the cost of your own shop. • Opportunities for project collaboration with other artists. • Opportunities to meet customers (and hence generate commissions!) • Zero commission How to join PA Pop-Up • Join the waiting list for any (or all) of the three shops. • The New Joiners committee will decide on who is accepted, when, and for how long. • Make sure you have an appealing web presence with lots of photos so that the New Joiners committee have plenty to base their decision on. • Be patient – the waiting lists are growing! Top Tips • • • • • • Be realistic about your expectations for selling in the first instance. Commit to at least 3 months to let the sales bed in. Prints / illustrations of representational images tend to sell well. Products (all media) at the £10-£20 price range sell well. Greeting cards sell well. You will wait longer to sell bigger items – try and make sure your range covers all price points. What’s Next for PA Pop Up? They would like to: • Grow the community engagement aspect of all of their shops. • Create genuine pop-ups in towns and cities. • Attend local fairs • Encourage other people to do the same thing. So if you’d like to be involved, get in touch! Pop into any shop to talk to an artist, or contact Morag directly on info@moragmacpherson.com. Presentation 2: Selling your crafts online Helen Keron, Galloway Glens With thanks to everyone who supported my research! Considering Selling Online? Do your research! • • • • • • Etsy – specifically for hand-made and vintage goods. Folksy – British hand-made crafts and gifts. Depop – a social-media inspired, personal brand re-selling site. Not On The High Street – high end, personalised items. eBay – the original! Amazon Handmade – new platform Things to check: • • • • • Is their target audience your target audience? Fee structure! Mobile apps / ease of management How much support do they offer for getting you set-up? How easy is it for you to find items like yours on the site (too many, too few?) • Do they have seller support teams (Etsy, Folksy) – very useful resources to sign up to and talk business to business. Shop Listing fee Transaction fee Payment processing fee Comments Etsy 15p 5% 4% + 20p £7.50/month ‘Plus’ feature available Folksy 15p 6% 3.4% + 20p (Paypal fees) £5 / month ‘Plus’ feature available Depop Free 10% 3.4% + 20p (Paypal fees) Not On The High Street £199 joining fee 25% 3.4% + 20p (Paypal fees) Application process eBay 20/month free, then 35p 10% 3.4% + 20p (PayPal fees) Many (paid) options to promote posts Amazon Handmade Free in 2019 £25/month from 2020 12% in 2019 15% from 2020 Included Use your own website? Yes – you can get plug-in eCommerce widgets that will allow people to buy directly through your website. But – you will have to pay for advertising to drive people to your website. So consider using one of the main channels initially and then moving to your own when you have built up a base of repeat customers. Using Social Media Use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to drive people to your online shop. Again – do your research – they are all better for different things. • Facebook is great for advertising local events (pop-up shops) to local people. • A business Instagram account will drive sales, as you can click through directly to your shop. • Twitter is good for business to business and support. Hashtags – find some good ones for similar products and use them. Don’t over-use them! Using Social Media cont… • Your Instagram and Facebook feeds should be a combination of posts that boost your business brand and direct links to your shop / products. • Try and build a relationship, don’t just sell all the time. Admin • Get a PayPal account so that you can receive payments securely. • Consider iZettle or equivalent if selling face to face. • Always generate an invoice through PayPal or iZettle, for your records. • Check the Ts&Cs that the platform is putting on for you – use their core ones and then tailor to your preferences • Returns • Shipping – consider using ‘signed for’ or ‘tracked’ services. • Payment • Don’t try and make money on shipping, but do account for the cost of packaging and the platform commission. Selling successfully. • It is critical to inspire confidence in your buyers. • Put as much information in About You as possible • Sell your story • Give local information for credibility • Use Keywords • Check your spelling and grammar! • Get some good photos that really reflect your brand. Photography • Critical! • Light backgrounds often work best, unless you have a dramatic item. • Try light boxes for jewellery. • Try and use actual models not mannikins for clothes. • Consider the lighting. • Take shots from multiple angles. • Use phone apps to improve shots. • Ask a friend for honest feedback before you post. • Research similar items on the platforms. Good Good Less Good Customer Service • Also critical! • Remember you’re trying to build a relationship to ensure repeat purchases. • If you have to take a hit to avoid a bad review, that may be the best option. Put it down to experience, learn from it and move on. • Keep conversations within the platform so that you are protected in the event of a dispute. • Respond promptly, even if only with an automated message. Lastly • Don’t underestimate the time commitment it will require to be successful. • Or – adjust your expectations to your available time! • Give it a year – don’t get disheartened! • Good luck!! Presentation 3: Pricing and Business Tips John King, Business Gateway Business Gateway • Free impartial advice • 1:1 Advice on starting and growing your business • Workshops • Social Media • www.bgateway.com • www.facebook.com/businessgatewaydumfries Business Gateway Pricing • • • • • • • Cost plus Competitive pricing Positioning - economy vs premium Discounts Bundling Promotions Ability to pay Business Gateway Business Gateway Business Gateway How much should you charge? • • • • Materials £1 Overhead £1 Marketing/distribution £7 Creation 45 minutes How much does the bud vase sell for? Business Gateway Hourly rate of £22.50 Business Gateway What don’t you get paid for? • • • • • Sales meetings Social media and queries Post and packing and stock ordering Meetings and training Bookkeeping You may only spend 50% of your time creating. £20 / hour is a reasonable starting point for costing your work. Hourly rate of £22.50 Business Gateway Will my customers buy it? Business Gateway How do you sell to retailers? 1. Find your prospects 2. Get an appointment 3. Find out what the customer needs 4. Explain your product 5. Close the sale 6. Keep your promises even when its costly Business Gateway Process • • • • • How easy are you to deal with? What happens when you are not available? Customer queries Feedback Returns Work hard to make it easy for your customers Business Gateway Top 10 tips for getting started 1. Get a separate business bank account 2. Use accounting software if you need to analyse 3. Keep originals/copies of ALL receipts 4. Keep originals/copies of ALL invoices 5. Record ALL business miles 6. Get a system, get organised 7. Keep 15% in sweeping account for HMRC Tax & NI 8. Do your bookkeeping regularly and often 9. Consider hiring a Bookkeeper or Accountant 10. Keep in contact with your Business Gateway Advisor – book a free appointment with John, John.king@dumgal.gov.uk • For more details, see www.gallowayglens.org • Or contact Helen Keron, Education and Community Engagement Officer, Galloway Glens. • Helen.keron@dumgal.gov.uk All information correct at February 2019.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Business Academy – Creative Businesses: new routes to market Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GGLP_16 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019 Description An account of the resource One of a series of free events for businesses in 2019, run by the Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership, in partnership with Business Gateway and funded by the Heritage Lottery. business GGLP https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/5/476/Eco-options-for-accommodation.pdf 6e90ebf2b2e15bea3c7d1ffc2f2574c0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Business Academy – Eco-options for accommodation Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Business Academy Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document OFFICIAL Galloway Glens and Business Gateway Dumfries & Galloway ‘Business Academy’ Resource Pack: Boosting your Accommodation Business through Green Credentials Threave Estate, 5th September 2019. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL The Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership Scheme • 35 projects across the Galloway Glens area over the next 4 years. • The GGLP area covers the Glenkens, Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright. • ‘From Source to Sea’ – follows the route of the Ken and Dee rivers. • Funded by the Heritage Lottery and other partners, including Dumfries & Galloway Council. • All GGLP projects are aimed at connecting people with their heritage and supporting sustainable rural communities. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Galloway and South Ayrshire Biosphere • This area is so special, UNESCO designated it as a Biosphere in 2012. (1 of only 2 Biospheres in Scotland.) • You can use this in your marketing to attract customers. • • • • • UNESCO Biosphere Dark Sky Park Galloway Forest Park Loch Ken Solway Estuary • All of these will attract different niches of customers and can provide you with inspiration. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Presentation 1: How to use green principles in your Accommodation Business. Melanie Allen, Nithbank Country Estate OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL LOCATION “S E C L U D E DOFFICIAL L U X U R Y” OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL How do we reduce the impact of our footprint without diminishing the luxury that our guests expect? OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Nithbank Country Estate was started as a B&B in 2018 when Melanie and her husband moved up from Derbyshire. Melanie knew from the beginning that she wanted the business to embody and reflect the environmental principles that she already held and that the local landscape deserved. The business currently has • 5 Star Visit Scotland rating • Biosphere certification • A Gold award from Green Tourism. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Melanie found that the two environmental awards required a very similar attitude and actions. The Biosphere Certification asks you to consider • Local culture • Sense of place • Environment The Green Tourism award asks you to consider • People • Place • Planet OFFICIAL OFFICIAL • People • Supporting local Culture & Heritage • Places • Sense of Place • Planet • Environment, Sustainability, Conservation Marketing & Communication…. What’s your story? OFFICIAL OFFICIAL The question then became: ‘How do we reduce the impact of our footprint without diminishing the luxury that our guests expect?’ Using the Green Tourism award: ‘Green check’ was 20 minutes on the phone. In this case, they were awarded Silver directly, and given an action plan to get them to Gold. Using Biosphere Certification: This was more of a collaborative process to produce a business plan that worked towards sustainability on a number of fronts. It was an excellent opportunity to take time out to review the business – a good lowseason activity?! OFFICIAL OFFICIAL When the awards were successfully gained, it was then time to think about how to promote them and use them to increase occupancy. Melanie opted to go with a ‘Green Story’ on their website, rather than a drier ‘Green Policy’ or ‘Environmental Statement’. She wanted to properly connect her guests with the local culture and the natural environment – so much more than just the easy environmental switches (although they’re important too!) OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL • LED light bulbs • Renewable electricity supplier • Biomass boiler OFFICIAL OFFICIAL • Ethicalsuperstore.com • Biggreensmile.com Expensive but worth it for the marketing opportunities! These and others are worth a look for your supplies. “First Choice: Buy Local / Support Local” OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Be strategic in your Instagram followers and #: Nithbank chose RSPB and Big Butterfly Count as very photogenic threads that they could contribute to and reinforce their image. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Link your SM to your local providers’ for crosspromotion and authenticity. Link your availability to big events happening near you – make it easy for people to book you! OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL All of this can sounds expensive, but a rule of thumb is that your Marketing Budget should be 8 – 10% of your income. If you consider your Green Changes and the promotion of those as part of your story and therefore your marketing, it’s easier to see the benefits. Also, any small changes are better than none, and be sure to tell people all about them! Nithbank has a Journal on the website, updated as often as possible with all the steps along their journey to sustainability. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Making a difference & telling the story…. Any small change is better than no change & working within financial limitations and time constraints to make small changes where possible, you can lead by example and support local & tell the story… OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Responsible Visitor Charter – Inspire your visitors to get involved • Shop local & support local businesses • Give the car a rest • Reduce, reuse and recycle • Conserve energy • Conserve water • Nurture your environment • Encourage wildlife conservation This goes down very well with visitors, because by the time they arrive, they are fully bought into the sustainability plans through the website and Social Media channels. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL The Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere Nithbank is considering a Visitor Payback Scheme, with donations going towards further support of the Biosphere and the environment. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Marketing & Communication…. What’s your story? “At Nithbank Country Estate we have an authentic story to tell…it all begins with connecting Nithbank to superb local, ethical suppliers and produce. It ends with relaxed, refreshed and recharged guests who are inspired by the wonders of the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere, for a future visit.” OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Thank You! Please Keep in Touch Melanie@nithbank.co.uk www.nithbank.co.uk Useful Links: Do check out their website for an example of excellent marketing and communication. And remember that even if your Accommodation Business is not on the scale of Nithbank, it’s not about being the biggest, its about being the best that you can be for your own business. Green Tourism: www.green-tourism.com Resource Efficient Scotland: www.resourceefficientscotland.com Zero Waste Scotland: www.zerowastescotland.org.uk Energy Saving Trust Scotland: www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Presentation 2: Living in the Biosphere – what benefits could it bring your business? Marie McNulty, GSA Biosphere OFFICIAL Maximising opportunities for business Marie McNulty Business Development Officer OFFICIAL Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere • Designated 2012 • 5268 Sq. km • Layers a new geography on the area by uniting 3 local authorities • www.gsabiosphere.org.uk • www.gsabiosphere.org.uk/ business-in-the-biosphere/ OFFICIAL OFFICIAL What is the Biosphere? • Biospheres are the only internationally recognised ‘badge’ for demonstrating excellence in sustainable development. • The Biosphere brings us an opportunity to brand and market the businesses and communities of SW Scotland under the international banner of being a UNESCO Biosphere OFFICIAL OFFICIAL • Creates opportunities for businesses to align with the values of the Biosphere People, Environment, Culture. • Build on the special qualities of the Biosphere Tell customers and visitors your business is in it and what’s special about it. What does that mean credentials can give you the for Business • Sustainability edge over other businesses with a similar price and location. It’s all about being noticed and giving a bit more. OFFICIAL Do you tell your guests the egg on their breakfast plate is from the next-door farm and that the sausages are from an awardwinning butcher? If not, why not?! OFFICIAL Building business by using the Biosphere in your marketing. • Champion it! • Become a Biosphere Proud Supporter • Then move to gaining the Certification Mark for Sustainability • Biosphere Business Resources on the website. • Copyright-free images of the area • ‘Sense of Place’ toolkit www.gsabiosphere.org.uk/businessin-the-biosphere/business-resources OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Business in the Biosphere – Business Benefits OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Business in the Biosphere - Business Resources OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Biosphere Certification • Certification is quite a step up from Proud Supporter status, because it’s a certified Quality mark. • But as you can see from Nithbank’s case study, it can really pay off. • Again, it’s not just about big estates – no matter how small your accommodation business is, you can have bird feeders in the garden, pollinator supporting plants – it all counts. • Do have a browse on the ‘Business in the Biosphere’ section of our website, there are loads of tools and ideas for you to use and get inspired. • We have a great story to tell in this region, and the Biosphere is a great vehicle to tell that story. OFFICIAL The UNESCO Biosphere designation is recognition of the fantastic array of landscapes, wildlife, cultural heritage and learning opportunities that SW Scotland offers for communities, businesses and visitors to experience and celebrate in a sustainable way OFFICIAL Presentation 3: Changes you can make Jason Harvey, Alliance Scotland OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Who are we? We are a leading non-food distributor in the UK. Service excellence is at the heart of our business and over 20,000 customers within the hospitality industry choose us. ◼ We have over 21 years experience of servicing the UK’s hospitality industry – offering value, great service and expertise to our customers ◼ Our UK-wide distribution infrastructure efficiently services our national and regional customers ◼ With 13 branches throughout the UK we provide local customers with an expert, friendly and personal service ◼ We have an extensive portfolio of over 25,000 leading products from over 150 trusted supplier partners. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Environmental Public Policy in Scotland REDUCE Reduce the amount of single-use packaging in all areas of our day-to-day lives - REUSE Reuse or reprocess as much as you possibly can - RECYCLE It is possible to separate and recycle 90% of the products and materials we use everyday - SIMPLIFY Simplify the range of materials we use in every day life so that they can be easily recycled. PET / PP / PAPER / METAL / FOOD / HDPE / LDPE OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Changes Coming in 2020 - 2035 • Zero Waste Scotland – Trying to create a unified policy across Scotland • Recycling vs Composting – Insufficient Industrial Composting Plants across Britain mean that public policy is swinging away from compostables. • Single Use Plastics Directive 2025 – Top 10 single-use product ban in 2020 • Taxation on Single Use Packaging is coming – e.g. disposable cutlery, earbuds. • Also taxation on Mixed Material Packaging is coming. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL What Materials to Avoid OFFICIAL OFFICIAL A different way to clean - Innuscience Introduction to Innuscience Cleaning Products Biotechnology Cleaning Systems OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Innuscience • The Innuscience range of cleaning sprays (Biotechnology Cleaning Systems) have no caustic chemicals or antibacterial components. • Instead they ‘seed’ your surfaces with good bacteria, which outcompete the bad bacteria. • No PPE required (masks, gloves) • Currently used by 12 regional councils within Scotland in their schools and offices. • They are NOT EN-rated and therefore not suitable for food production facilities requiring sign-off by DGC Environmental Health team at present. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Eco Washroom Products Introduction to ADA International ECO Washroom Products- Eco by Green Culture IN HARMONY WITH NATURE Eco by Green Culture is eco-friendly both inside and out. The collection combines ingredients based on renewable, plant-based raw materials with 100% recyclable packaging. Certified with the EU Ecolabel and the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, Eco by Green Culture is the perfect guest cosmetics line for hotels, Guest Houses & B&B’s with a strong focus on sustainability. CERTIFIED – BIODEGRADABLE – SUSTAINABLE FRIENDLY TO THE ENVIRONMENT – GENTLE TO YOUR GUESTS • Use of renewable, plant-based raw materials in formulations; • Use of recycled packaging materials; • Reduction of materials used in packaging; • Implementation of resource-preserving production methods OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Reusables Introduction to Catering Reusables “Recycling is great but re-use is better. If you really want to drive performance and sustainability, if you really want to drive value in your supply chain, look to reusable products first. In the circular economy, recycling is seen as the last resort. In re-use, you’re preventing waste; in recycling, you’re managing waste.” – Tim Debus, Reusable Packaging Association Re-use reduces the strain on valuable resources, such as fuel, forests and water supplies, and helps safeguard wildlife habitats. Re-use creates less air and water pollution than making a new item or recycling. Re-use results in less hazardous waste. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Modern melamine Jason then introduced us to Alliance’s range of Melamine crockery, which surprised everyone by the range of styles and finishes. Melamine is virtually indestructible, and therefore doesn’t have to be thrown away because it’s chipped like normal crockery. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL What will it cost? It won’t cost the earth !! EXAMPLES Single use plate (1 Use) Reusable Plate (2000 Uses) Ready to Use Sanitiser (750ml) Innuscience Dosing Nu-Multi (Conc) Cost per piece Cost Per Piece £0.04p-£0.07p £4.00 - £7.00 Cost per 750ml bottle Cost per 750ml bottle ADA International ECO Hair & Body Wash ADA International Perfumers Garden Hair & Body Wash OFFICIAL 4p-7p per use 0.002p-0.0035p per use £0.75 - £1.00 £0.10p 30x300ml 30x300ml £75.00 / £2.50 £85.00 / £2.84 OFFICIAL Questions ? Any Questions ? Local Contact Anne-Marie Reilly 07384 216 506 annemariereilly@alliancelocal.co.uk National Contact Anne-Marie Reilly 07384 216 506 jasonharvie@alliancelocal.co.uk OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Presentation 4: Marketing Options & Accountancy Software John King, Business Gateway OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Accommodation Finances OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Business Gateway • • • • • Free impartial advice 1:1 Advice on starting and growing your business Workshops Networking Opportunities Social Media • • • www.bgateway.com www.facebook.com/businessgatewaydumfries www.planningtostart.com OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Channels to market • Direct • No commission • Requires investment in website and online booking system • Also requires very active Facebook site and email marketing • Air BnB • 3% commission • Offers some security through reviews of visitors • Requires an active Facebook site • Check the Ts&Cs carefully. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Channels to market • National websites or Booking Agents (TripAdvisor, Booking.com etc) • Guaranteed occupancy and revenue • Minimal self-marketing • Commission • Up to 25% with restricted dates • UP to 22% with no direct bookings allowed. • Check the Ts&Cs carefully. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL How do you move towards lower commission models? • Facebook is the ~1 most powerful thing you can do for your accommodation business. You have to be able to communicate what you do. • If you don’t like Facebook, then create a business persona to create your Business page from. You don’t need to have any photos or friends with that persona. • If you don’t know how to work Facebook, then join one of our courses! OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Accounting Software • Look for one that is Web (cloud) based and has a free mobile App. • They should be able to: • • • • • • • • Connect to your bank account and allow you to separate business and personal expenses Do Bookkeeping / Payroll Create and submit Tax / VAT online returns Monitor National Insurance for employees Create quotes, invoices and receipts Photograph, machine read and then sort receipts – no paper filing Track your Business mileage Estimate tax bill and complete self-assessment • You may be able to eliminate the need for an accountant OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Accounting Software – examples • Freeagent - free with RBS business bank account • Quickbooks - £8 per month • Xero - £10 per month OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Card Machines • You can get ones with no monthly fee now. • • • • • Connect to a smartphone Chip and pin and contactless Print or text a receipt Reader £20 Approx. 1.75% fee OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Loans • • • • Credit check and business plan check Sector by sector approach Lending restrictions Packages combining public and private finance are available • We can help you with all of this. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Loans • DSL Business Finance Ltd - www.dsl-businessfinance.co.uk • • • • Loans up to £50,000 available to enterprises based in Scotland Face to face pre and post loan support provided Low cost microfinance options with a competitive interest rate Tailor made solutions for individual businesses • Business Loan Scotland for larger loans - www.bls.scot • Funding up to a maximum of £100k for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) where public sector funding would not exceed 50% of the total funding package. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL • All information correct at the time of publication (Sept 2019) • The Galloway Glens does not endorse any of the companies featured in this resource and has not explicitly checked their facts. • The Galloway Glens is proud to be part of the GSA Biosphere. • With thanks to all our speakers, and to Councillor Pauline Drysdale who initiated the event. • For more information, see www.gallowayglens.org or contact Helen Keron, Education and Community Engagement Officer, on helen.keron@dumgal.gov.uk. • We do hope this was useful to you! OFFICIAL  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Business Academy – Eco-options for accommodation Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GGLP_17 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019 Description An account of the resource One of a series of free events for businesses in 2019, run by the Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership, in partnership with Business Gateway and funded by the Heritage Lottery. business GGLP https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/5/477/Food-Producers.pdf 508914db7b6bd853ab01699ed261d46e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Business Academy – Food Producers Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Business Academy Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Galloway Glens and Business Gateway Dumfries & Galloway ‘Business Academy’ Resource Pack: Starting or growing a small Food Producing business Based on presentations given in Castle Douglas on the 29th April 2019. The Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership Scheme • 35 projects across the Galloway Glens area over the next 4 years. • The GGLP area covers the Glenkens, Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright. • ‘From Source to Sea’ – follows the route of the Ken and Dee rivers. • Funded by the Heritage Lottery and other partners, including Dumfries & Galloway Council. • All GGLP projects are aimed at connecting people with their heritage and supporting sustainable rural communities. Galloway and South Ayrshire Biosphere • This area is so special, UNESCO designated it as a Biosphere in 2012. (1 of only 2 Biospheres in Scotland.) • You can use this in your marketing, depending on your product. • UNESCO Biosphere • Dark Sky Park • Galloway Forest Park • Loch Ken • Solway Estuary • All of these will attract different niches of customers and can provide you with inspiration. Presentation 1: Starting a Food or Drink Business – Regulatory Compliance Helen Keron, Galloway Glens Things to consider when starting your micro Food or Drink business: • Food Standards • Environmental Health sign-off • Labelling – allergens Before Opening (at least 28 days): • Register your new business for free with DGC Environmental Standards dept: https://dumgal.gov.uk/article/15644/Registeryour-food-business • Fill in the form: • Q5: If you’re making food in your home: Food manufacturing and processing • Q6: If it’s just you: Sole Trader • Q7: ONLY if you are a limited company. HACCP / Cook Safe • Become familiar with the principles of HACCP – Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points. • Mostly formalised common sense, but it is important. • Following Cook-Safe will mean you are following a HACCP system. • Keep all required records diligently • Take an on-line training course in Food Safety – Food Hygiene Course Level 2, also known as Basic Food Hygiene. • Level 1 not acceptable for people who actually handle food. • £12 - £20 – have a Google Before Opening: • Familiarise yourself with the online resource Cook Safe manual • https://www.foodstandards.gov.scot/publications-andresearch/publications/cooksafe-manual • Create your House Rules – required contents and templates can be found at the above link. • Pest control • Training • Waste control • Personal Hygiene • Maintenance • Cleaning Schedule • Stock control • Temperature Control • Cross Contamination Prevention • Allergen Management • Acrylamide Management DON’T PANIC!! Labelling • Pre-packed items MUST have: • The name of the food • Their ingredients listed in proportional order • The proportion of named ingredients given (‘Quidding’) • Any of the 14 EU Allergens highlighted within that list, either by font, style or background colour. • Instructions for use, if required. • Quantity (g / ml) • Use-By date • Name and address of the manufacturer. • All the above information must be given in a minimum font size of 1.2mm. Labelling • https://safefood.eu/SafeFood/media/SafeFoodLibrary/Documents/ Education/Whats%20on%20a%20label/GCSE-Food-LabellingRequirements-Classroom-Slides.pdf Brother Label printer: £40 Dymo Label printer: £190 Thermal printer = no ink to run out Some labels Showing QUIDing of named ingredients, but not highlighting the allergens, and no address. Showing allergens in bold, but no QUIDing QUIDing, allergens, usage instructions, Best Before date, quantity, Address inc. postcode. Lastly: • Register as a self-employed Sole Trader with HMRC • https://www.gov.uk/working-for-yourself • https://www.gov.uk/set-up-sole-trader • Clean your kitchen and get ready for an inspection by Environmental Health! They are very supportive, but will want to check that all of the above points are in place before you start selling your products. Presentation 2: Selling at a Farmer’s Market Helen Keron, Galloway Glens With thanks to all the stall holders who have advised me. Things to consider: • • • • • What Farmer's Markets are out there Effective presentation of goods Financial considerations Food safety Top tips for manning your stall Our Farmers’ Markets The Galloway Glens region is well supported by Farmers’ and Producers’ Markets. Glenkens Community Market Dalry Town Hall, St Johns Town of Dalry Time: 10am-12.30pm Dates: 2nd Saturday of each month Castle Douglas Producers’ Market Castle Douglas, Church Street Time: 11am-3pm Dates: 3nd Sunday of each month Kirkcudbright Farmers' & Producers Market Town Hall or Soaperie Gardens, Kirkcudbright Time: 11am-3pm Dates: 4th Sunday of each month (Mar-Dec) DG Markets is an umbrella organisation that co-ordinates and promotes Markets in the region – you can contact them here for more details: http://www.dgmarkets.org/contact Our Farmers’ Markets Glenkens Community Market Small, friendly market currently looking for a diversity of stall holders. £10 / table, £5 / half-table. Half-price rates if you can mobilise at 2-days’ notice. Contact Jean Lockerbie on 01644 430454 for enquiries. Castle Douglas Producers’ Market New market that is beginning to get well established. £20 / table, £5 for electricity in addition. Contact Gillian Warden on cdcoordinator@gmail.com for enquiries Contact Kirkcudbright Farmers' & Producers’ Market A larger and very well established market. £25 / table Contact Niomi Brough on kirkcudbrightmarkets@gmail.com for enquiries. Effective Presentation • • • • • • • • • • • Height Groups of three Multiple groupings Containers Tell your story Clear pricing Free samples (remember hygiene!) Consider props if you have a boring product (!) Table cloth Poster / banners Business cards / flyers Telling the story – aprons, gingham, flour Height, multiples, use of colour Telling the story, containers Multiples, containers Multiples, height Eye-catching advertising Financial Considerations • Consider: • What the cost of the stall is • Total time to transport, set-up, man and dismantle x living wage (£8.75/hr) • Cost of free samples and other consumables • What your gross profit per item is • How many items you can fit on the stall / bring with you • How many you think you’ll sell • If the base costs as above are lower than your likely gross income, then this is not a good basis for a business! Compliance issues • Labelling • Be prepared for a spot check by Environmental Health / Trading standards • They will check your labels for the required information, and take a sample of your product away for analysis off the ingredients. • The Market organiser will need to see evidence of: • Occasional alcohol licence if selling alcohol drinks • Product insurance • Public liability insurance • Food safety training course Food Safety It is critical to assure that your food is still safe to eat at the point of sale. • Chilled? Keep on ice? Plug-in fridge? • Frozen? Plug-in freezer. Regular temperature checks! • • • • Use-by dates Quality undamaged containers / packing materials Clean table-cloths Single-use food samples Top Tips • Give yourself plenty of time to set-up! • Iron your tablecloth, make sure it’s clean! • Always bring business cards / flyers with you - you never know who’s looking. • Sampling works, but don’t put loads out. • Don’t pack up your stall until the end, as a courtesy to the shoppers and other stall-holders. • Bring a seat but try not to use it; certainly stand up to talk to people. • Be prepared and happy to talk about the story of your business, people like to feel involved. • Don’t keep people chatting if they’re clearly just browsing. • Similarly, if people are happy to chat, make sure you’re not losing other sales while you chat. • Look approachable; don’t look desperate! Presentation 3: Selling in a retail outlet Louise Matheson, The Dumfries Larder • Limited business established June 2017 • Business premises located October 2017 • Lease signed March 2018 • Shop Doors Opened Friday 25 May 2018 High-quality delicatessen, specialising in cheeses We also sell: coffees, teas, gin, beers, ciders, wines, chocolates, spices, curry kits, culinary gifts … We’re still establishing ourselves and still learning Dumfries & Galloway brands we currently stock include: • • • • • • • • • • • • • Galloway Lodge Preserves Nith Valley Bees honey The Ethical Dairy cheeses Kedar Mozzarella Cows & Co, Loch Arthur & Cairnsmore cheeses Saucy Desserts Co Co Co Chocolates The Nithsdale Smokehouse Smoky Barrel Jerky Nith Valley Eggs Hills & Harbour Gin Five Kingdoms Brewery Sulwath Brewery Steilhead Cider Margin • Let’s assume an annual turnover of £100k Cost of Products to sell 60% Loan repayments 40% Profit?! £60,000 £40,000 • So a product bought for £6 really needs to sell for £10 to cover the overheads. • This margin can be dropped a bit for lines that will bring people in or sell in high volumes – but not by much! A word about … VAT • Most retailers have to be VAT registered. • Even if you are small enough not to have to charge VAT, they do (on standard-rated goods). • Also if you supply zero-rated ingredients that are made-up into standardrated products, it will have to be factored in then too. • Let’s say you sell a bar of chocolate at a Farmers’ Market for £5, and don’t have to charge VAT on it because you are too small. • If you sell it to a retailer for £4, and suggest they sell it at £5 too, 83p of that £5 goes straight to HMRC. • Leaving 17p or 4% margin for the retailer to cover their 40% overheads. For the sake of argument, let’s talk more about chocolate … You make a beautiful, handmade, luxury, chocolate bar, right here in Dumfries & Galloway and it tastes out of this world. You are really passionate about chocolate; it completely consumes you and you can wax lyrically about it to anyone! That’s nice, but… …here’s (some!) of what you’re up against: So now what? Do: - Have a Unique Selling Point – being local isn’t necessarily enough! - Understand what you’re up against – market research - Know what you want, where you want to go and how you will get there - Research the business you’re selling to Don’t: Over promise sales targets that the shop will reach. Be disappointed if it’s a “no” Offer prices to the retailer that render your business model unworkable. What’s important to a retail food business? - - - Margin! Quality of the product; not just the taste, or that it is “local”, but provenance, packaging, process - Not going to be able to offer samples of everything, so the packaging has to sell itself. Shelf life – the longer the better. Needs to be a good fit with everything else we sell - Do your research before applying How you market and sell the product / brand - Can you provide flyers, business cards, Point of Sale information etc All the regulatory boxes must be ticked: Food Standards, Environmental Health, Trading Standards etc What else really helps? - - Treat the retail buyer like any customer – tell the story, be passionate and respectful. Give free samples with the first few orders; meet-the-maker events might follow… Provide Point of Sale material. Offer a product turn around (take away items approaching Use By to sell at Farmers Markets, swap for new) or a trial period. Be clear about payment terms – cash on delivery is fine, but be sure to agree in advance. Small quantities work best to begin with Be genuinely open to feedback and constructive criticism Presentation 4: Pricing and Business Tips John King, Business Gateway Foodies Starting and Growing your Business Business Gateway • Free impartial advice • 1:1 Advice on starting and growing your business • Workshops • Social Media • www.bgateway.com • www.facebook.com/businessgatewaydumfries What will your business look like in 3 years time? If everything went to plan. Your routes to market? Volume 1.Farmers markets 2.Direct 3.Local Retailers 4.Wholesalers 5.Supermarkets Margin Your routes to market? 1. Farmers markets – low cost, simple, great feedback, high prices, limited 2. Direct – ecommerce website, digital strategy, harder than it looks 3. Local Retailers – limited, delivery 4. Wholesalers – has to sell itself, volume, restaurants 5. Supermarkets – difficult customer, low margins, ultimate volumes Pricing • • • • • • Cost plus – minimum margin Competitive pricing Positioning - economy vs premium Discounts Bundling Promotions What margin do you need to give to your channel? Business Gateway Business Gateway Pricing What don’t you get paid for? • Sales meetings • Social media and queries • Post and packing and stock ordering • Meetings and training • Bookkeeping What does it cost you to make each product? How do you sell to retailers? 1. Find your prospects 2. Get an appointment 3. Find out what the customer needs 4. Explain your product 5. Close the sale 6. Keep your promises even when its costly What is your Business Model? Design Build Deliver Sale Service Where can you add value? Which steps do other businesses do better than you? Process • How easy are you to deal with? • What happens when you are not available? • Customer queries • Feedback • Returns Work hard to make it easy for your customers Top 10 tips for getting started 1. Get a separate business bank account 2. Use accounting software if you need to analyse 3. Keep originals/copies of ALL receipts 4. Keep originals/copies of ALL invoices 5. Record ALL business miles 6. Get a system, get organised 7. Keep 15% in sweeping account for HMRC Tax & NI 8. Do your bookkeeping regularly and often 9. Consider hiring a Bookkeeper or Accountant 10.Keep in contact with your Business Gateway Advisor Thank you! • For more details, see www.gallowayglens.org • Or contact Helen Keron, Education and Community Engagement Officer, Galloway Glens. • Helen.keron@dumgal.gov.uk All information correct at April 2019.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Business Academy – Food Producers Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GGLP_18 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019 Description An account of the resource One of a series of free events for businesses in 2019, run by the Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership, in partnership with Business Gateway and funded by the Heritage Lottery. business food GGLP https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/5/478/Social-Media-for-retail-businesses.pdf eb24be54e35bcf8cf996a31a2931c383 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Business Academy – Social Media for retail businesses Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Business Academy Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document OFFICIAL Galloway Glens and Business Gateway Dumfries & Galloway ‘Business Academy’: Driving Footfall to your Retail Business through Social Media. Based on an event held at The Market Inn, 10th October 2019. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL The Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership Scheme • 35 projects across the Galloway Glens area over the next 4 years. • The GGLP area covers the Glenkens, Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright. • ‘From Source to Sea’ – follows the route of the Ken and Dee rivers. • Funded by the Heritage Lottery and other partners, including Dumfries & Galloway Council. • All GGLP projects are aimed at connecting people with their heritage and supporting sustainable rural communities. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Galloway and South Ayrshire Biosphere • This area is so special, UNESCO designated it as a Biosphere in 2012. (1 of only 2 Biospheres in Scotland.) • You can use this in your marketing, depending on your product. • UNESCO Biosphere • Dark Sky Park • Galloway Forest Park • Loch Ken • Solway Estuary • All of these will attract different niches of customers and can provide you with inspiration. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Presentation 1: Social Media for your High Street Business Katy Coltart, KC Creative - Graphic Design & Creative Marketing OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Presentation 2: Living in the Biosphere – what benefits could it bring your business? With thanks to Marie McNulty, GSA Biosphere OFFICIAL Maximising opportunities for business OFFICIAL What is the Biosphere? • Biospheres are the only internationally recognised ‘badge’ for demonstrating excellence in sustainable development. • The Biosphere brings us an opportunity to brand and market the businesses and communities of SW Scotland under the international banner of being a UNESCO Biosphere OFFICIAL OFFICIAL What does that mean for Business • Creates opportunities for businesses to align with the values of the Biosphere • Build on the special qualities of the Biosphere Tell customers and visitors your business is in it – what’s special • Sustainability credentials can give you the edge over other businesses with a similar price and location, - It’s all about being noticed and giving a bit more. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Building business through our UNESCO Biosphere – Tools in the Box • Champion it! • Biosphere Proud Supporter • Certification Mark for Sustainability • Biosphere Business Resources www.gsabiosphere.org.uk OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Business in the Biosphere - Business Resources OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Copyright-free Photos! OFFICIAL The UNESCO Biosphere designation is recognition of the fantastic array of landscapes, wildlife, cultural heritage and learning opportunities that SW Scotland offers for communities, businesses and visitors to experience and celebrate in a sustainable way OFFICIAL Hashtags and Links • Hashtags(#) and Links (@) are a great way of boosting the profile of your SM channels and getting new audiences. • On Facebook, use 2 hashtags maximum, and think of them as another way for people to find your posts by searching. Consider using both branded (#GallowayGlens) and popular social community (#ShopLocal) tags. • On Twitter and Instagram, people tend to use shorter captions and more hashtags – go for it! • Some useful Hashtags: #myhighstreet #shoplocal #SWC300 (@VisitSWScotland) #ScotBiosphere #VisitDG #SWScotland OFFICIAL @MeetTheStreet @CastleDouglasDF OFFICIAL Presentation 3: Marketing Options & Accountancy Software John King, Business Gateway OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Driving Footfall to your Retail Outlet OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Business Gateway • • • • • Free impartial advice 1:1 Advice on starting and growing your business Workshops Networking Opportunities Social Media • • • • www.bgateway.com www.facebook.com/businessgatewaydumfries www.facebook.com/inspiringentrepreneur www.planningtostart.com OFFICIAL OFFICIAL What kind of person buys these cars? OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Profiling • Who is your customer? • Age, race, sex, education, work, location • Life stage, relationships • Income and spending power • Social media, TV, newspapers, radio, you tube • Hobbies, interests • Brands and websites they like • Challenges they face • What problem do they need to be solved? OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Unique Selling Point • What is your Unique Selling Proposition? • Why would I buy from you? • What is different from your competition bricks and mortar and online? • How easy is it to copy your USP? • Who is your customer? OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Price • Target margin • Competitive pricing • Positioning - economy vs premium • Promotions • Price • Bundling • Added value OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Promotion on Facebook • Make sure all your business details are included • Set up messenger and respond quickly • Plan and post regularly • Like and share competitions • Post engaging content not just sales content – 80/20 • Add a like button to your page • Facebook advertising • Cross promote from Instagram and Twitter OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Content For Facebook • 80% - Educational or Entertaining • 20% - Call To Action Educational / Entertaining • • • • • • • • • Call To Action Quality 3rd party content Your blog Industry news Case studies Video / Facebook Live People in the organisation How to guides/Hints & Tips Behind the scenes Community News OFFICIAL • • • • • Buy now Visit us Watch the video Contact us Book now OFFICIAL Planning Strategy • Are there events through the year that can affect sales • New Year / Valentines / Easter / Mothers Day / Fathers Day • May Day / St Andrews Day / Christmas / Birthdays • Highland Games / Big Burns Supper • Charities – Movember, Macmillan Coffee morning, blood bikes • Sales times – January, end of season. OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Planning Strategy • Write a story about each event • In your Blog publish the story in its entirety • In your Facebook publish selected paragraphs • So from one document you can fill your social media OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL Public Relations (PR) • How do you get a free mention in the Press or TV • Comment on the news • Sponsor an event • Speak at an event • Become the go-to expert • Nurture and manage your contacts • Use Facebook, Instagram, to get noticed OFFICIAL OFFICIAL PIMS (Profit Impact of Marketing Strategy) • Posh way of saying ‘did you get value for money?’ • If you have a newspaper advert, did it increase sales? • Sponsorship of the pet show, did sales increase? • Always ask “where did you hear about us?” • If you get no tangible return, don’t do it again OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL OFFICIAL • All information correct at the time of publication (Oct 2019) • The Galloway Glens and Business Gateway D&G do not endorse any of the companies featured in this resource and have not explicitly checked their facts. • The Galloway Glens is proud to be part of the GSA Biosphere. • With many thanks to all our speakers. • For more information, see www.gallowayglens.org or contact Helen Keron, Education and Community Engagement Officer, on helen.keron@dumgal.gov.uk. • We do hope this was useful to you! OFFICIAL  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Business Academy – Social Media for retail businesses Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GGLP_19 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019 Description An account of the resource One of a series of free events for businesses in 2019, run by the Galloway Glens Landscape Partnership, in partnership with Business Gateway and funded by the Heritage Lottery. business GGLP https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/6/479/Intro_Final3.pdf 999fc24a2d4ef9b6c6e58e7d65970168 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Threave Landscape Restoration Project – Introduction Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Threave Landscape Restoration Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document NATIONAL TRUST FOR SCOTLAND’S THREAVE LANDSCAPE RESTORATION PROJECT BALANCE IN NATURE Contents Intro Intro Outdoor Learning Science / Maths Science Expressive Arts /IDL / Literacy IDL - Social Studies / Health / Technology Grasslands Intro Outdoor Learning Water Intro Balance in Nature Outdoor Learning Science / Maths Outdoor Learning Expressive Arts / Technology Literacy / Social Studies / Expressive Arts Biodiversity Trees Intro Outdoor Learning Science / Maths Literacy / Social Studies / Expressive Arts People BALANCE IN NATURE • INTRO 2 Learning at Threave Nature Reserve An Introduction The National Trust for Scotland’s Threave Nature Reserve is on the outskirts of Castle Douglas, in Dumfries and Galloway, SW Scotland. A former small dairy farm, it borders the River Dee and is home to Threave Castle. In 2019, NTS began the Threave Landscape Restoration Project, an innovative and ambitious 100-year project designed to enable the land to recover from years of traditional agricultural management, restore key habitats and protect biodiversity on this special site. The project takes a sensitive and holistic approach to caring for the land, using new technology alongside developing a deeper, more responsive understanding of the ecology of the land and how it responds and adapts to the changing climate. The five films by eco filmmaker John Wallace were created over the course of a year, beautifully documenting some of the work done in the early stages of the project and the wildlife on the reserve. They explore each of the three key habitats – water, grassland and woodland, people’s relation to and impact on the landscape, and finally the importance of biodiversity. 3 BALANCE IN NATURE • INTRO The Learning Resources create five interdisciplinary packages of learning materials linked to and inspired by the five films that explore the innovative approach to landscape restoration at Threave. These are : • Trees • Grasslands • Water • People • Biodiversity The learning materials are designed to be delivered in schools across Scotland and are linked to the national curriculum. They can be delivered in the class as an IDL project or within the various curriculum areas as stand-alone lessons. They offer the opportunity to deliver Outdoor Learning and Learning for Sustainability which is connected to a “real life” landscape restoration project. THREAVE NATURE RESERVE is free and open all year. NTS Rangers are available to deliver outdoor and rural skills education opportunities to schools and community groups at the Reserve, and to talk about all aspects of the Landscape Restoration Project. They can be contacted at ThreaveNature@nts.org. uk. Threave Landscape Restoration Project is funded by National Trust for Scotland, Galloway Glens Scheme and HSBC UK with Connicks as lead consultants and project managers. A HUGE THANKS Thanks to filmmaker, John Wallace, for creating the 5 beautiful films which are part of the ‘Balance in Nature’ Learning package. Jan Hogarth, Galloway Glens Education Officer, Mary Smith, Threave National Nature Reserve’s Engagement Ranger and Carys Mainprize, Education Officer with the Crichton Carbon Centre. The development of the films and the learning package was supported by Threave Nature Reserves Head Ranger, David Thompson with ranger, Phil Downey helping with Outdoor Learning ideas. The National Lottery Heritage Fund has contributed funding and time to the project through Galloway Glens Scheme, an initiative of Dumfries & Galloway Council’s Environment Team. The Balance in Nature Education Package forms part of the National Trust for Scotland’s Threave Landscape Restoration Project. For any queries, contact the Threave Nature Reserve Team.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Threave Landscape Restoration Project – Introduction Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GGLP_20 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023 Description An account of the resource Learning materials for the Threave Landscape Restoration Project biodiversity GGLP wetlands https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/6/480/Trees_Final3.pdf b01e301d60794b6ef8b8606fb83b10e8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Threave Landscape Restoration Project – 1 – Trees Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Threave Landscape Restoration Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document TREES All lessons are linked to the film Trees To view Subtitled Learning for trees Overarching Learning Intentions The aim of this package of lessons linked to Trees is to help young people understand how trees work and how much they do for our natural environment. The lessons will give young people an empathy and wonder about the magic and beauty of trees and also their role in supporting biodiversity, combatting climate change and contributing to their health and wellbeing. INTRODUCTION ‘Trees’ shows how the Threave Landscape Restoration Project is supporting the recovery of native woodland habitats on Threave Nature Reserve. This is achieved through planting a variety of native trees and removing densely planted commercial forestry, to allow a variety of trees and plants to regenerate. Mixed mainly native woodland is vital to biodiversity and reducing climate change and its effects. There is just a tiny fraction of native woodland remaining in Scotland compared to several hundred years ago. Native woodland has been depleted by felling for wood and clearing land for livestock farming and commercial forestry – woodland regeneration is hampered by grazing, particularly by sheep and deer. Planting and supporting the natural regeneration of varied, mainly native woodland is important because these woodland ecosystems have evolved T2 BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES in Scotland over thousands of years. Large areas of single species or limited species woodland, such as conifers like Sitka spruce, cannot support a healthy ecosystem and are ‘dead’ in comparison to diverse woodlands. The planting at Threave is reconnecting smaller areas of woodland, ensuring connectivity. Healthy woodlands include a variety of native trees, a good range of ages of trees and the ability for new trees to self-seed and mature. Dead and decaying wood is also necessary to feed the woodland floor and provide a home for other plants and animals. Even one tree can support hundreds of other life forms, and together they form a community that supports thousands more, including humans. NB Commercial forestry is an important part of the Scottish economy – the practice of commercial forestry planting is changing to encompass requirements to include areas of native, mixed woodland. Finding the right balance is still a work in progress. POINTERS FOR TEACHERS This series of interdisciplinary lessons/learning activities cover 2nd and 3rd level curriculum areas of Science, Outdoor Learning and The Expressive Arts. They are best presented to the learners after they have watched the ‘Trees’ film (link above) and participated and researched the science of trees. The lessons are suggestions and should be interpretated by teachers creatively and in relation to their learners’ knowledge and needs. The lessons can be taught as part of a Learning for Sustainability/ IDL topic or independently by subject. CURRICULUM LINKS SCIENCE SOCIAL STUDIES/RME LITERACY SCN 2/3-01a - I can identify and classify examples of living things, past and present, to help me appreciate their diversity. I can relate physical and behavioural characteristics to their survival or extinction. SOC2-08a - I can discuss the environmental impact of human activity and suggest ways to be more responsible. LIT 2-04a - As I listen or watch, I can identify and discuss the purpose, main ideas and supporting detail contained within the text, and use this information for different purposes. EXPRESSIVE ARTS/HWB EXA 2-03a - I can create and present work that shows developing skill in using the visual elements and concepts. I can sample and identify living things from different habitats to compare their biodiversity and can suggest reasons for their distribution. SCN2-02a - I can use my knowledge of the interactions and energy flow between plants and animals in ecosystems, food chains and webs. I have contributed to the design or conservation of a wildlife area. T3 LIT 2-05a - As I listen or watch I can organise these notes under suitable headings and use them to understand ideas and information and create new texts, using my own words as appropriate. SCN 2-02b - Through carrying out practical activities and investigations, I can show how plants have benefited society. RME 2-04c - I can show understanding of the beliefs of world religions and explore the similarities and differences between these and my developing beliefs. LIT 2-06a - I can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in an appropriate way for my purpose and use suitable vocabulary for my audience. EXA 2-05a - Inspired by a range of stimuli, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through activities within art and design. SOC 2-08b - I can consider the advantages and disadvantages of a proposed land use development and discuss the impact this may have on the community. RME 2-04c - I can show understanding of the beliefs of world religions and explore the similarities and differences between these and my developing beliefs. RME 2-04c - I can show understanding of the beliefs of world religions and explore the similarities and differences between these and my developing beliefs. LIT 2-07a - I can show my understanding of what I listen to or watch by responding to literal, inferential, evaluative and other types of questions, and by asking different kinds of questions of my own. EXE 2-06a - I can develop and communicate my ideas, demonstrating imagination and presenting at least one possible solution to a design problem. BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES CURRICULUM LINKS (CONTINUED) SCIENCE SCN 3-01a - I can sample and identify living things from different habitats to compare their biodiversity and can suggest reasons for their distribution. SCN 2-14a - By investigating the lifecycles of plants and animals, I can recognise the different stages of their development. SOCIAL STUDIES/RME RME 2-09d - I am developing my understanding of how my own and other people’s beliefs and values affect their actions (in relation to nature/climate). LITERACY LIT 2-24a - I consider the impact that layout and presentation will have and can combine lettering, graphics and other features to engage my reader. EXA 2-07a - I can respond to the work of artists and designers by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others’ work. LIT 2-26a - By considering the type of text I am creating, I can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in an appropriate way for my purpose and use suitable vocabulary for my audience. HWB 2-26a - I am experiencing enjoyment and achievement on a daily basis by taking part in different kinds of energetic physical activities of my choosing, including sport and opportunities for outdoor learning, available at my place of learning and in the wider community. LIT 2-28a - I can convey information, describe events, explain processes or combine ideas in different ways. T4 BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES EXPRESSIVE ARTS/HWB WATCH TREES Outdoor Learning All lessons are linked to the Trees Film LEARNING INTENTION Young people gain an experiential first hand understanding of how woodlands work through observation, exploration and investigation. They develop their connection with trees and woodlands and can identify actions which might support or improve woodland habitats. LINKS Safety Overview Time of year Risk Benefit Assessment The Outdoor Learning activities for ‘Trees’ are designed to give teachers and outdoor educators a starting point for successful learning in the outdoor environment. They can be adapted to suit the site you have available and the time of year, and also list useful equipment and resources to aid preparation. There is a link to a risk benefit assessment that covers the outdoor learning sessions which can be adapted if required. We hope all of these will be useful either directly or as inspiration and support for taking learners outdoors. Any time - in winter, trees can be identified by twigs and bark, though this is a little more challenging. Visiting the same tree throughout the year is a great way to learn. Warm-up activitysettling into the outdoor environment Relevant Topic / IDL links include Woods, Trees, Living Things, Habitats, Minibeasts, Life Cycles, Ecosystems T5 BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES Site An area of woodland, or if this is unavailable an area where there are some trees, or even a single tree. Even if access to trees is limited, focusing on one tree or a few trees, for example in the school grounds, and returning to visit over time can help learners to really get to know the tree, and to discover the kind of life it supports. Remember to get the landowner’s permission and check any environmental or wildlife conservation restrictions first (see Risk Benefit Assessment, side panel). Journey stick Warm-up activity sheet OUTDOOR LEARNING LEARNING ACTIVITY 1 INVESTIGATING WOODLAND HEALTH : MAPPING THE WOODLAND COMMUNITY Info Trees and woodlands are ecosystems that support a huge variety of life. They also lock carbon dioxide into the soil, and clean and cool the air. Being among trees is great for our wellbeing - encourage learners to rest and relax among trees, as well as investigate and explore. Aim To get to know a tree or wider woodland and build up a picture of how healthy it is and the life it supports through making observations, recording findings and drawing conclusions. Activity Place the learners into groups. lf you are in a woodland or have several trees, give each group a tree to focus on – alternatively, if you have limited trees, you can give each group a different task. Task 1: ldentify the tree or trees – use tree lD sheets to identify the type of tree – look closely at the bark, leaf shape and/or twigs and buds Task 2: Estimate the approximate age of the tree or trees (see resources) different trees grow at different rates, so it’s not just about size but also how gnarled and twisted a tree is Task 3: Estimate how healthy the tree is – you can score this on a scale of one to five, with five being very healthy. Look for dead branches, wounds in the trunk, epicormic growth (where young shoots grow from the base of the tree, a sign of stress), spindly growth – is it getting enough light, or is it shaded by other trees? BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES T6 OUTDOOR LEARNING Task 4: look around the tee – what is on the ground, for example leaf litter, grass, pavement – how far do its roots go, do you think? The class can record the observations on a large piece of paper as a rough map of your woodland area, with the names, health score and other observations. Alternatively, learners could make a ‘fact file’ for their tree, including drawing leaf shapes, taking bark rubbings, etc. Questions to ask • What do you think would improve the health of this tree/woodland? • What would you change? Resources: Woodland Trust Tree Tools for Schools – includes ID sheets https://www. treetoolsforschools.org.uk/ menu/ How to Estimate the Age of an Oak PDF – Woodland Trust Measuring Trees (height and age) PDF – Newport.gov.uk • How do you think this tree/woodland came to be here (planted by people, grown naturally bit of both) and why? Plenary Write a note of thanks or a wish for the tree with string made of natural materials you have been focusing on – this can be done on (ideally) recycled card and tied to the branches of the tree. Or just ask each participant to verbally thank their tree or find a word to describe their tree. Extension Tree planting at school or in the community there are lots of local tree-planting initiatives across the country, and you may also find help to purchase trees through the Woodland Trust. You can research the best types and placements of trees using some of the knowledge the class have gained from investigating trees and woodlands. The best time of year for tree planting is October – March. Tree seeds such as acorns and ash keys can also be gathered and planted in pots in Autumn / Winter. Track a tree through the seasons. follow through the seasons, for example by drawing, photographing or filming the tree.’ The ‘Tree Tools for Schools’ website (see resources) has lots of tree related films and activities. T7 BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES Equipment • magnifying glasses • ID sheets (see resources) • Tape measure and/ or string and metre stick OUTDOOR LEARNING LEARNING ACTIVITY 2 DEADWOOD SURVEY - MICRO HABITS AND LIFE CYCLES Info The TCV Deadwood survey is a comprehensive survey you can use in full, or you can adapt it to suit your class, woodland area and timetable. Deadwood – dead standing trees, fallen branches, logs and stumps – is an important part of the woodland environment. Deadwood is a micro habitat for invertebrates (minibeasts), mammals, birds and fungi, plays a key part in healthy rivers, streams and ponds. Deadwood provides nutrients for the soil, stores carbon and helps prevent erosion. A healthy woodland area has deadwood at different ages and stages of decay. This activity needs a patch of woodland. Aim To investigate and record the deadwood in a woodland area, getting a deeper understanding of tree life cycles and woodland ecosystems. Activity Place the learners into groups or pairs and look at your area of woodland or nature area for deadwood. Ask the learners to explore deadwood through the following tasks: Task 1: ldentify the types of deadwood Task 2: lnvestigate the surface of the deadwood – what is growing on the outside? What invertebrates or other animals can you see? Task 3: lnvestigate inside the deadwood – how soft is it? How far can you push a pencil into it? What is living inside the deadwood? BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES T8 OUTDOOR LEARNING Questions to ask • When a living thing dies, is it still part of the life cycle? Resources: • Why might it be important to let deadwood stay on the ground? CV Dead Good Deadwood survey resources – includes tree ID sheet https://www.tcv.org. uk/scotland/dead-gooddeadwood-survey/ • What do you think happens to the deadwood eventually – what does it become? • What kind of habitat do the woodland invertebrates need (e.g. cool, damp, dark)? • How have the invertebrates adapted to suit this habitat (e.g. brown/black for camouflage, feelers to find their way in the dark)? Woodland Trust Tree Tools for Schools – includes ID sheets https://www. treetoolsforschools.org.uk/ menu/ Plenary Compare findings and discuss. lt can be fun to act out the characteristics of invertebrates that live in deadwood, for example to walk like a centipede or curl up like a millipede. Take a minute together to look up at the trees and listen to the woodland – stretch your arms up high to the tree-tops and imagine your ‘roots’ going deep into the ground, connecting with all the other people and the trees in the wood. T9 OPAL invertebrate ID guide PDF Equipment Extension • Creating a deadwood habitat at school, for example by making a pile of branches or small logs in a suitable corner of the school grounds. Use wood from close by - don’t bring wood in from elsewhere to avoid spreading diseases. TCV Deadwood survey sheets, if using (see resources) • tree and Invertebrate ID sheets (see resources) • Pencils, clipboards • Magnifying glasses BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES WATCH TREES Science All lessons are linked to the Trees Film LEARNING INTENTION To give young people a good scientific understanding of how trees function and how important they are to the climate and biodiversity. This includes investigative science skills such as different ways to explore and identify different species and conservation. Overview Within the Science section of our Learning for Trees Learning Materials there are three Learning Activities. These activities take learners on a journey of appreciating the biodiversity found in a single tree or group of trees, what that means for nature and our forests’ resilience, and also why it is important to have commercial forestry. Learning Activity 1 asks learners to investigate a single tree and create a thorough list of species that live on, around, or in the tree. This is an opportunity for learners to expand their knowledge of local wildlife by using identification guides at a level appropriate for them. T10 BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES Learning Activity 2 is a short activity demonstrating the importance of biodiversity and its impact on resilience. Learners will use groups of items such as coloured pencils to visualise how native and commercial woodlands can be affected by disease or climate change. This can be an opportunity to start increasing the biodiversity of the school grounds. Learning Activity 3 asks learners to consider what benefits native and commercial forestry give to us, nature, and the country. This is a subjective task and is suited to group discussions where learners can appreciate both forest types, with an understanding that commercial forestry must not be created at the expense of our native forests. POINTERS FOR TEACHERS: We use both the terms ‘woodland’ and ‘forestry’ here. A forest has a higher density of trees and less natural light, whereas a woodland is more spacious. You may wish to share these definitions with your pupils, but explain that both terms are talking about areas with lots of trees. SCIENCE LEARNING ACTIVITY 1 TREES AND LIFE: SPRING TO LATE AUTUMN Info One tree can support a huge number of living things including invertebrates (including pollinating insects), birds, plants, lichens and fungi. Although we will only see a small fraction of these at any one time, we still want to give our learners an understanding of how important our trees are in terms of biodiversity. Activity The learners will count and note how many living things they can find around a tree. three groups are best for this activity they should have at least 10 minutes for each activity and to report back. You can count and identify species at the level appropriate to the group - this activity can be done with younger and older learners. See lD resources to support identification. At the end, explain what biodiversity is and relate it to what they have found. Task 1: ln the Tree - Look into any holes the tree may have, and also give tree beating a go: https://www.rspb.org.uk/fun-and-learning/for-families/family-wildchallenge/activities/shake-a-tree/. Task 2: Around the Tree - How many different living things can the learners count/ identify around the tree, both on the ground (anything within arm’s reach of the tree will count), within leaf litter or under stones, or even any minibeasts which are flying around the tree? Task 3: On the Tree - How many living things, touching the tree, can the learners count/identify? This will include moss, lichens, climbing plants (ivy or honeysuckle), birds, and minibeasts. Extensions: Repeat the activity around a man-made object (lamppost or fence), or a non-native conifer tree. BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES T11 SCIENCE LEARNING ACTIVITY RESILIENCE AND BIODIVERSITY 2 Info A woodland which is more biodiverse will be able to withstand disease, changing climates and invasive species better than woodlands which are less biodiverse. Typically, our native woodlands have a large mix of species, whereas commercial forestry (conifer plantations) have very few species. This has implications for the resilience of those forests, and subsequently also the plants and animals which live there. Materials Multiples of the same item in different colours or shapes – for example: lego or coloured pencils. You should have at least five or six different colours/shapes, with three to five in each colour/shape. Task 1: Explain what biodiversity is by using the definition above and pointing out how your resource is diverse (“Can you see how we have lots of different colours of pencils, with many of each colour? This is a diverse collection of pencils. lmagine that each one is a tree in a woodland, where each blue pencil is one type of tree, and each red pencil is another type, and so on.”) The learners may want to count and note how many individuals (e.g. pencils), and groups (e.g. colours) they have. BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES T12 SCIENCE ➜ Step 1 Tell your learners that a disease like ash dieback has removed all of one group of your resource (e.g. all blue pencils). They must collect them and put them aside. How many individuals are left, and how many are gone? ➜ Step 2 Tell your learners that warmer weather means some of your species are struggling. They have to remove half of their two endangered species (the two groups, e.g. colours, which have the fewest numbers), rounding up. They may want to count how many numbers, and colours, they have left. ➜ Step 3 Explain how this could be the same as a woodland which is suffering from disease and a changing climate, but that because we had good biodiversity, the woodland as a whole (i.e. all of your resources as a group) will survive and still provide homes and food to other living things – you can remind the learners of the plants and animals they found in the previous activity. POINTERS FOR TEACHERS: You may wish to mention how there will be more threats to our wildlife as climate change progresses, emphasising that a more biodiverse ecosystem will be more able to survive this. You can use this to encourage learners to increase the biodiversity in the school grounds, their gardens, or green spaces in their communities by giving nature space to thrive (bird boxes, bug hotels, native wildflowers, garden ponds, tree planting, etc). Task 2: Now explain that you will play this game again, except that they can only have three different colours or shapes. You can explain that this is more like commercial forestry, which is often a monoculture (a single species in an area). Go through the two steps again, counting how many your group start with and finish with and compare the two results. You may find that you lost more individuals from the first round, but there will be more species left overall. You can ask the learners what might happen if another disease or threat were to affect the commercial forestry – would it have many trees left? Native Mixed woodland STAGE 1 STAGE 2 STAGE 3 T13 BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES Commercial forestry SCIENCE LEARNING ACTIVITY 3 WHAT DID COMMERCIAL FORESTRY EVER DO FOR US? Info Although the previous activity demonstrates how vulnerable our commercial forestry is, it is good for learners to understand why Scotland has so much of it and the impact it has on our rural economy. However, the importance of commercial forestry being planted in the right place, and that it should not replace mixed, native woodland or other key natural habitats, should be highlighted. Task: As a class or in groups learners can list things that commercial forests and mixed native forests provides us in two columns. Before the groups get stuck-in, show pictures of a plantation forestry and a mixed broadleaf forest, and identifying local examples if possible. To help, ask the learners: • Do you visit nearby woodlands? What do you do there? • How do you feel when you go to the woods? • Does anyone know an adult who works with trees? What sort of trees do they work with? • Will the trees be cut down? What might the trees be made into or used for once cut down? • What do trees give us while alive? BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES T14 SCIENCE Some answers you may receive include: COMMERCIAL FOREST MIXED NATIVE FOREST Healthy living: Walking, biking, running, playing, den-building, etc. Healthy living: Walking, biking, running, playing, den-building, etc. Wellbeing: Feeling happy, peaceful, playful. Wellbeing: Feeling happy, peaceful, playful. Economy: Jobs. Oxygen, clean air. Building material or fuel (for fires or biomass boilers). A lot of nature (these forests are often more established and native). Oxygen, clean air. Clean water, flooding prevention. Extension: Get involved with a tree-planting scheme, take a class trip to a local forest, or ask someone who manages or is involved with a local woodland to speak to your class. T15 BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES POINTERS FOR TEACHERS: You may have other suggestions from the learners. What is important to emphasise is that there is more nature found in mixed, native forests, but that the ommercial forests are planted to be harvested, so provide jobs and therefore contribute to the economy. There is space for both in Scotland, but commercial forestry covers far more of Scotland than mixed, native forests, which have declined significantly over Scotland’s history, and this presents a problem for our natural habitats. WATCH TREES IDL - Literacy/RME All lessons are linked to the Trees Film LEARNING INTENTION To give young people an understanding of and to fire their curiosity about how trees have been important over time for different cultures and across the world and throughout history, as well today, and their role in the future. To share this research and new knowledge through various methods linked to the literacy skills. Overview Info The following Interdisciplinary Learning (IDL) Activities are research-based, where learners are encouraged to reflect on their learning so far on trees. Trees are truly remarkable, aren’t they? Following this, learners are asked to work in teams to carry out further research about how trees are viewed in different cultures, including spiritual beliefs, across the world, emphasising the Tree of Life. There is information that can be shared with learners within the IDL Learning for Trees section. Learners are then asked to present their research in the form of either a poster about trees, a news report style roleplay, or a Powerpoint presentation. The learning materials are designed to be delivered directly to learners with advice for teachers in the section Pointers for Teachers. T16 BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES In many cultures across the world trees were worshipped and respected as life-giving for centuries before science discovered the way in which they relate to our environment. We now know that they are, indeed, life-giving through their ability to absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen, and we know they do this through the process of photosynthesising the sun's rays through their leaves and drawing up the earth's water through their roots. People knew that trees were special and they prayed to them, worshipped them, thanked them and meditated under them. People knew trees were good for wellbeing, they knew they were life givers, not just to humans, but to thousands of insects, birds and animals throughout the trees' lifetime, which for native trees can be over a thousand years. Even after they die, they fall back into the earth and continue to provide habitats, representing the cycles of life, death, regeneration and life again. POINTERS FOR TEACHERS: Through these activities it will become clear how much information and knowledge about trees the learners have gleaned from the science lessons. The activities aims to be fun and accessible to all learners and their learning styles. However, skills may need to be scaffolded in order to achieve these outcomes for instance how to create a powerpoint, empowering the learners to have the confidence to perform in front of an audience, project their voice and work collaboratively. In ancient times and even today in some cultures, trees have been given different meanings. These meanings relate to the nature of the tree; what it looks like, how it grows, the biodiversity it supports and its special characteristics. See below for some of the meanings: Ash Tree – Known in Norse mythology as Yggdrasil, or 'Tree of the World', as their mythology held that a giant ash tree linked and sheltered all the worlds. Today we understand through science about the different habitats created by these trees, with many varieties of insects, birds and animals supported by the ash tree; it is indeed the Tree of the World or Tree of Life. Silver Birch – As the glaciers of the last ice age receded it was the birch tree that was first to reestablish itself. This is why ecologists refer to birch trees as a pioneer species. In Celtic mythology the birch with its silver bark, is seen as a tree of purification and new beginnings. It was also celebrated at the Celtic festival of Samhain. Aspen Tree - In Celtic mythology, the visual effect of an aspen trembling in the wind was said to be the tree communicating between this world and the next. Rowan Tree – The rowan tree is also talked about as The Tree of Life, and was often planted outside houses as it was believed to protect places and people from evil spirits. Oak Tree - Oak trees are important in many cultures and spiritual practices. In Scotland, Ireland, areas of England and France, the druids (wise T17 BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES man and women of Celtic society in times gone by) believed that oak trees were sacred and came directly from heaven. They performed religious rituals under them, climbed them to collect their leaves and fruits for medicines, and believed these trees had healing powers. In England the oak tree is associated with the Green Man stories. IDL-LITERACY/RME THE TREE OF LIFE In Baltic and Slavic mythology it was believed that some of the gods they worshipped lived in oak trees and they had holy places in oak Forests. For them oak Trees symbolised the living world, while the root system symbolised the underworld. The Banyan Tree - Another tree known as the Tree of Life, the banyan tree is highly revered in Hinduism. In this religion trees are viewed as living beings which experience emotions such as happiness and sorrow. As Scientists undertake research into how trees communicate they are catching up with some of these old belief systems discovering that in fact this is actually true. Hindus also believe each tree has a tree deity (god or goddess) who is worshipped and people would bring offerings to. Nearly every culture has some folklore or mythology about the 'Tree of Life'. The stories may vary slightly, but the meaning is the same; trees should be appreciated, looked after and we should be grateful to them. Most trees given the cultural label of 'Tree of Life' are trees native to that country as they are most at home and flourish in the soil and climate. Therefore the 'Tree of Life' is always a native tree. Celtic Tree of Life Norse Yggdrasil depiction from 1847 16th century Tree of Life, South India Buddhist depiction of the Tree of Life IDL-LITERACY/RME LEARNING ACTIVITY 3 RESEARCH MORE ABOUT TREES IN DIFFERENT CULTURES ACROSS THE WORLD Activity Research more about the different trees mentioned in the film and share your research with the class through one of the following methods/outcomes: Task 1: A poster all about trees – use drawing and your very best handwriting to share with others what you have found out about all the different trees you have been researching. Task 1: Role play - working as a team create a performance or short live news report about trees this could be about the tree's personality or the science behind trees and how they work. You could have some of your group being trees or each person reporting on different tree types. Task 3: Powerpoint presentation – working in teams, present your research to the class with film clips, images, diagrams, sound and facts remember to include the tree stories and the science behind how trees work. You might have different members of your group researching different trees. (Scaffolding skills: How to create a Powerpoint, how to present information in images and words.) BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES T18 WATCH TREES IDL - Expressive Arts All lessons are linked to the Trees Film LEARNING INTENTIONS To use drawing and the expressive arts to share what young people are learning about trees and how they work. The idea is that learners use their imagination to celebrate the beauty, functionality and power of trees. Overview Within the Expressive Arts section of our Learning for Trees Learning Materials there are three Learning Activities. The activities relate to previous learning about trees in Outdoor Learning, Science and IDL – RME/Literacy. The learning materials are written to speak directly to learners with 'Pointers for Teachers' section to offer advice to teachers. The 1st Learning Activity is to design a tree (including the root structure). After learners have designed their tree, they can use annotated notes to show how much they have already learned about the science of trees and how trees function. T19 BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES The 2nd Learning Activity explores how other artists have been inspired by trees and shows examples of famous paintings of trees. Then the learners are asked to create an expressive, imaginative painting of their own of the 'Tree of Life'. The 3rd Learning Activity is to research the ephemeral (temporary) artworks made from autumn leaves by artist Andy Goldsworthy. Then learners are asked to create their own leaf artworks in an outdoor learning area or community woodland. POINTERS FOR TEACHERS You may want to show the 'Trees' film at the beginning of the Design a Tree Challenge or show images of how the 'Tree of Life' is portrayed in different cultures, etc. To get the best results, encourage learners to embed their learning about trees into their design but also encourage them to be imaginative. If the tree is a rainbow-coloured tree then that’s fine, or if it talks or sings that’s also fine. It should be playful and fun but also embed the learning so far. Ideally, everyone’s trees will be different, just like each learner is unique and different from each other. No tree is the same (I sometimes say this at the end of the lesson). IDL- EXPRESSIVE ARTS LEARNING ACTIVITY 1 DESIGN A TREE FOR THE FUTURE Info Remember all the amazing things you have already learned about trees? Now you know about trees combatting climate change and creating a healthy environment for all life on earth. You know the things trees need in order to help support many different lifeforms, as well as each other. Your teacher will show you some images of how trees and particularly the 'Tree of Life” are important in different cultures and spiritual beliefs around the world and how they appear in those cultures. Task 1: Working individually or as part of a team, on an A3 sheet and using pencils and coloured pencils or felt tips, create a 'tree for the future'. First discuss all the amazing things trees do and then work on A2/A1 paperwork together to design a 'tree for the future'. Task 2: When designing the tree try to include all the incredible things trees do such as taking in carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen into the environment. Fill the paper with your tree and remember to include the trees root system so your drawing shows how the whole of the tree works. What life/biodiversity will your tree support? You can show this in your drawing? Also, you or your group might use notes to describe how your tree works and how it connects to the environment through sunlight and water. Task 3: Does your tree have a personality and feelings? Can you communicate this through the way you draw it, the type of lines and colours you use? Be as imaginative as you can - there are no rules in art!! BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES T20 IDL- EXPRESSIVE ARTS Extension: Design a forest/woodland area. What kind of trees will there be in your woodland? Are they native or non-native trees? Or coniferous trees? Your forest/woodland may be for a real place near your school or even in your school grounds. Did you know that through the ground and the inter-connected web of roots, trees are said to communicate with each other? In fact, there is emerging research that there is a 'mother' tree that sends messages to the trees around it, distributing water and nutrients to younger trees. ; Examples of tree drawings in various styles, showing root systems and foliage: T21 BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES IDL- EXPRESSIVE ARTS LEARNING ACTIVITY 1 VIEWING AND DISCUSSING PAINTINGS AND CREATING YOUR OWN VERSIONS Info How do artists depict and respond to trees in their artwork? Artists through time have been inspired by the character, energy and visual qualities of trees. Vincent Van Gogh used oil paints, water colour and line drawing to create artworks depicting the French landscape. The vibrant, surreal colours express emotion, bringing the landscape to life; the olive trees in this painting look like they are moving across the land towards us. Van Gogh led this style of artwork called “Expressionism”. Olive Grove by Vincent Van Gogh, 1889 Gustav Klimt created a decorative style of 'Tree of life' using oil paint in gold hues. Inspired by the 'Tree of Life', it has two female figures on either side of the painting. If you look carefully you can also see a blackbird and mushrooms within the tree’s design. Klimt was a key artist in the 'art nouveau' movement. The Tree of Life by Gustav Klimt, 1905 BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES T22 IDL- EXPRESSIVE ARTS Your teacher will show images of tree-inspired paintings on a large screen and will have class discussions about the scale of the paintings, the materials used, the scale of the paintings, when they were created, what art movement the paintings are linked to and what the artist was trying to convey through their work. Task 1: Research Gustav Klimt’s 'Tree of Life' (1905) and Vincent Van Gogh’s 'Olive Grove' (1889) and discuss the scale…. Task 2: Now you know more about these tree-inspired art works, choose your favourite and experiment and explore the painting techniques the artist used to create the artworks. Find a tree that inspires you and do some pencil sketches of the tree. You can create a small sketch book for this experimental work. Task 3: ln a second session create a painting using similar painting techniques to your favourite of these artists' work using poster paint or acrylics on white card (A3) Extension: To experiment with paint to create your own painting style and your own Tree of Life inspired artwork. The paintings we have researched were created over 120 years ago, before people knew about the science of trees and how they work, and well before we were aware of the 'climate crisis'. Often trees were depicted on the land but we didn’t see their roots or the life they support. Let the knowledge you now have about trees inspire your artworks and create an imaginative 'Tree of Life' artwork relevant for 2023. T23 BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES POINTERS FOR TEACHERS Take one of the learners’s sketches of their favourite tree from the first session then do a demonstration for Van Gogh and for Klimt’s painting technique for your learners. Encourage the learners to be brave and that nothing is ever wrong in art! Emphasise and encourage individual responses to the artworks so everyone’s painting is unique and different. We suggest the learners work on card as paper would buckle with experimental painting. IDL- EXPRESSIVE ARTS LEARNING ACTIVITY 1 NATURE ART - BEST CARRIED OUT IN AUTUMN Nature Artist Andy Goldsworthy uses nature as a medium to his art. He creates artwork in the environment, playing with colour, line, texture, contrast, light and shade to create beautiful ephemeral (temporary) artworks that make us look at nature more closely and notice its beauty. Many people see Andy’s work through photographs he takes of these temporary artworks. Much of his temporary work is created near his home in Dumfries and Galloway. Andy works all over the world in cities like Hong Kong, London, Berlin and New York, bringing nature into galleries through his photographs. 'Green to Yellow Leaves' by Andy Goldsworthya 'Sycamore Tree', Andy Goldsworthy, 2013. BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES T24 IDL- EXPRESSIVE ARTS Your teacher will share with you some images of Andy Goldsworthy’s ephemeral abstract artworks created using autumn leaves. Task 1: You can have a whole class discussion about the materials used and how Andy uses colour, composition and line in his artworks. Task 2: Go into an area of woodland, or the playground if you have a nature area, and create your own leaf-inspired artworks. Either work alone or in groups; working in groups will enable you to create larger artworks. Task 3: Once you have completed your work, borrow the school camera or ipad and take some photographs of the nature artwork. Does it look better as an images than it does in real life? Task 4: Have a walk around the woodland area looking at everyone’s artworks and reflect on how they make you feel. Do they use contrast and colour? Are you really painting with leaves? T25 BALANCE IN NATURE • TREES POINTERS FOR TEACHERS Encourage learners to work in the abstract like Andy Goldsworthy as this will be better for their learning and allow them to really observe nature while creating the artwork rather then creating a 'thing'. A fun activity at the end of the lesson is to ask the learners how they felt while making the artworks (usually they will say happy or relaxed, as they are in nature). You might want to emphasise that they can make nature art anytime or just go into nature to relax and feel rejuvinated.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Threave Landscape Restoration Project – 1 – Trees Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GGLP_21 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023 Description An account of the resource Learning materials for the Threave Landscape Restoration Project biodiversity GGLP wetlands https://glenkensarchive.scot/glenkens_archive/files/original/6/481/Grasslands_Final3.pdf a9e972af853e7f6facbc93ccd249ce0a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Threave Landscape Restoration Project – 2 – Grasslands Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Threave Landscape Restoration Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document GRASSLANDS All lessons are linked to the film Grasslands To view Subtitled Learning for Grasslands Overarching Learning Intentions The aim of this package of lessons linked to the film ‘Grasslands’ is to help young people understand how grasslands work and how much they do for our natural environment. The lessons aim to give young people an empathy and wonder about the magic and beauty of grassland and also its role in supporting biodiversity, combatting climate change and contributing to their health and wellbeing. INTRODUCTION ‘Grasslands’ shows how the Threave landscape restoration project is allowing the recovery of key grassland habitats such as wildflower meadows, encouraging a diversity of insects, birds, and wildlife. Healthy grassland is vital to biodiversity, as well as carbon and water storage, and maintains soil health. Grassland that is depleted by overgrazing and over-fertilisation leads to poorer land and animal health long-term, and increased water runoff that can contribute to flooding. To help restore the grassland, the project is using ‘holistic planned grazing’, which moves cattle and sheep across the land in a way that allows the grass G2 BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS and soil time to recover between grazing and is sympathetic to the time of year and the way the land and wildlife is responding. The project is using cutting-edge technology in the form of GPS collars for the livestock (https://www. nofence.no/en-gb/). The invisible boundaries are programmed in using an app. When the livestock comes near this ‘fence’ they hear a noise – if they keep going they get a small electric pulse, teaching them where they can and can’t graze. The farmer can change where the boundaries are as needed. This has also allowed the project to take down 8000m of the old fencing on the reserve, opening up the landscape and allowing wildlife to move freely. POINTERS FOR TEACHERS This series of interdisciplinary lessons/learning activities cover 2nd and 3rd level curriculum areas of Science, Outdoor Learning and IDL/ Expressive Arts. They are best presented to young people after watching the ‘Grasslands’ film as it gives an introduction to grassland/ meadows and pollinators. The lessons are suggestions and to be interpretated by teachers creatively and in relation to learners’ knowledge and needs. The lessons can be taught as part of a Learning for Sustainability/ IDL topic or independently by subject. CURRICULUM LINKS SCIENCE G3 EXPRESSIVE ARTS/ SOCIAL STUDIES TECH/HWB LITERACY SCN 2-01a - I can identify and classify examples of living things, past and present, to help me appreciate their diversity. I can relate physical and behavioural characteristics to their survival or extinction. TCH 2-05a - I can investigate how product design and development have been influenced by changing lifestyles. LIT 2-04a - As I listen or watch, I can identify and discuss the purpose, main ideas and supporting detail contained within the text, and use this information for different purposes. EXA 2-03a - I can create and present work that shows developing skill in using the visual elements and concepts. SCN 2-02a - I can use my knowledge of the interactions and energy flow between plants and animals in ecosystems, food chains and webs. I have contributed to the design or conservation of a wildlife area. TCH 2-07a – I can make suggestions as to how individuals and organisations may use technologies to support sustainability and reduce the impact on our environment. LIT 2-05a - As I listen or watch, I can make notes, organise these under suitable headings and use these to understand ideas and information and create new texts, using my own words as appropriate. EXA 2-05a - Inspired by a range of stimuli, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts, and feelings through activities within art and design. SCN 2-02b - Through carrying out practical activities and investigations, I can show how plants have benefited society. HWB 2-26a - I am experiencing enjoyment and achievement on a daily basis by taking part in different kinds of energetic physical activities of my choosing, including sport and opportunities for outdoor learning, available at my place of learning and in the wider community. LIT 2-06a - I can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in an appropriate way for my purpose and use suitable vocabulary for my audience. EXA 2-07a - I can respond to the work of artists and designers by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others’ work. SCN 2-03/3-03a - I have collaborated in the design of an investigation into the effects of fertilisers on the growth of plants. I can express an informed view of the risks and benefits of their use. MNU 1-03a - I can use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division when solving problems, making best use of the mental strategies and written skills I have developed. LIT 2-07a - I can show my understanding of what I listen to or watch by responding to literal, inferential, evaluative and other types of questions, and by asking different kinds of questions of my own. SOC2-08a/3-08a - I can discuss the environmental impact of human activity and suggest ways to be more responsible. BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS I can identify the possible consequences of an environmental issue and make informal suggestions about ways to manage the impact. CURRICULUM LINKS (CONTINUED)TECH/HWB SCIENCE SCN 2-17a - Having explored the substances that make up Earth’s surface, I can compare some of their characteristics and uses. LITERACY EXPRESSIVE ARTS/HWB LIT 2-25a - I can use my notes and other types of writing to help me understand information and ideas, explore problems, make decisions, generate and develop ideas or create new text. SOC 3-08b – I can consider the advantages and disadvantages of a proposed land use development and discuss the impact this may have on the community. I recognise the need to acknowledge my sources and can do this appropriately. SCN 3-01a - I can sample and identify living things from different habitats to compare their biodiversity and can suggest reasons for their distribution. LIT 2-26a - By considering the type of text I am creating, I can select ideas and relevant information, organise these in an appropriate way for my purpose and use suitable vocabulary for my audience. SCN 3-05b - I can explain some of the processes which contribute to climate change and discuss the possible impact of atmospheric change on the survival of living things. SOC 3-I0a - I can investigate the climate, physical features and living things of a natural environment different from my own and explain their relationship. SOC 2-13a/3-13a - I can explain how the physical environment influences the ways in which people use land by comparing my local area with a contrasting area. By comparing settlement and economic activity in two contrasting landscapes, I can reach conclusions about how landscapes influence human activity. I can explain my findings clearly to others. SCN 4-01a - I understand how animal and plant species depend on each other and how living things are adapted for survival. I can predict the impact of population growth and natural hazards on biodiversity. SCN 4-12b - Through investigation, I can explain how changes in learned behaviour due to internal an external stimuli are of benefit to the survival of species. G4 BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS LIT 2-28a - I can convey information, describe events, explain processes or combine ideas in different ways. WATCH GRASSLANDS Outdoor Learning All lessons are linked to the ‘Grasslands’ film LEARNING INTENTION Young people gain an experiential first hand understanding of grassland habitats through observation, exploration and investigation. They develop their connection with local grassland areas, and can identify actions that could support and improve grassland habitats. LINKS Safety Risk Benefit Assessment Overview Time of year The Outdoor Learning activities for ‘Grassland’ are designed to give teachers and outdoor educators a starting point for successful learning in the outdoor environment. They can be adapted to suit the site you have available and the time of year, and also list equipment and resources to aid preparation. There is a link to a risk benefit assessment that covers the outdoor learning sessions, which you can adapt if required. We hope all of these will be useful either directly or as inspiration and support for taking learners outdoors. Spring/summer - term four and term one Warm-up activity settling into the outdoor environment Site Sound map - see Warm-up activity sheet Relevant Topic / IDL links Minibeasts, Living Things, Habitats, Environment, Ecosystems, In the Garden. G5 BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS Any area of grass! Ideally, the potential to compare two or more grassland areas that have different uses and management, for example a playing field, a grass verge or less frequently mown area, and/or grassland in a nature reserve or relatively untouched area. To focus on invertebrates, a larger area of summer grassland will give more interest and variety. Areas can either be close to each other to enable comparisons to be made on the same day, or if further apart they can be visited on different different days and then the observations compared. Remember to get landowners’ permission and check any environmental or wildlife conservation restrictions first (see Risk Benefit Asessment in the panel to the right). OUTDOOR LEARNING LEARNING ACTIVITY 1 INVESTIGATING GRASSLAND HABITATS – GRASSLAND HEALTH INDICATORS (SOIL AND PLANTS) Info Healthy grassland has a wide variety of plants with healthy leaves and strong roots that lock carbon into the soil and help the soil absorb water. lt supports a wide variety of invertebrates, including pollinators, as well as larger animals and birds. Like all habitats, grassland’s health is dependent on soil health. lt takes hundreds or thousands of years to create healthy soil, but over-grazing, over-use of fertilisers, lack of plant diversity and compaction by machines and animals all degrade soil quality very quickly. The ‘Grasslands’ film shows how efforts are being made to improve soil health by changing how often and when cattle graze the land. To assess how well this is working, regular monitoring of soil and grassland health is carried out. Aim To assess the health of an area of grassland, looking at soil and plant health and diversity. To compare the health of different areas of grassland. Activity Split the class into smaller groups. Each group is given a quadrat (see Resources in sidebar on the next page), to place in a different area of grassland. lf possible, find a site with a variety of different types of grassy areas, for example a playing field or mown area next to a verge or unmown area – or spend some time in one then move to a different location. BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS G6 OUTDOOR LEARNING Demonstrate first – place the quadrat on the ground, looking closely at the area within the quadrat. Use the Grassland Health Scoring Sheet (see resources sidebar on the right) to help assess the health of your area. Give your area of grassland a health score. Compare with other areas – what do you think influences the health of your patch? Plenary Gather round and compare scores. Ask the learners to try to predict the scores of different areas first, if applicable. Resources The World Beneath our Feet – connecting soils and the curriculum PDF – Smarter Scotland Meadow ID Guide PDF – Save our Magnificent Meadows Grassland Health Scoring Sheet ln turn, share what you have observed and something you have discovered from the activity. Equipment G7 BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS • Quadrats - something to mark out an area 1m2 or another consistent size, for example metre sticks, string and pegs, hula hoops • Trowels or small garden forks • Bottles of water, cup to measure 100ml • Rulers • Grassland Health Scoring Sheets • Pencils/pens/clipboards OUTDOOR LEARNING LEARNING ACTIVITY 2 INVESTIGATING GRASSLAND HABITATS – GRASSLAND BIODIVERSITY (MINI-SAFARI) Info Grassland and meadows support a huge variety of invertebrates, mammals, birds and micro-organisms, which are all essential parts of our ecosystem, and food webs. Some creatures, for example some species of butterflies and bees, are indicator species – these help tell us a lot about how healthy our wider environment is. When monitoring our grassland, we do surveys of pollinators, butterflies, dragonflies and invertebrates every year. Aim To investigate the different life an area of grassland supports, particularly invertebrates. To enjoy spending time in grassland. Activity Place learners into groups, or work as individuals. Their task is to hunt for invertebrates (minibeasts) in the grassland area. Encourage them to look very carefully and get right down among the grass. lf they find something, they can gently tip or move it into a collection pot using a soft paintbrush, for a closer look. Task 1: Sweep-nets - demonstrate how to sweep the nets gently through long grass, then carefully investigate the contents, tipping or brushing gently into collection pots. You might expect to catch leaf-hoppers, true bugs, beetles, shield bugs, grasshoppers, day-flying moths. BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS G8 OUTDOOR LEARNING Task 2: Pitfall traps - see ‘How to Make a Pitfall Trap’ in resources – these are easy to make and can be made in the morning and checked in the afternoon, or made in the evening and checked in the morning. When checking the trap, carefully lift it out of the hole and gently tip the contents into a lightcoloured tray or large tub. Gently investigate what has been caught – you might expect to catch grubs or larvae, beetles and spiders. Equipment • Sweep nets if available (large fine gauge nets with short handles) for long grass Task 3: Recording - ask the learners to draw what they have found, either on individual pieces of paper or one big sheet. This is a great way to encourage them to look carefully. Ask them to make notes around the drawing – where they found it, the colour, any other observations. They can use the lD sheet to find out what it might be. • Trowels or small forks • Magnifying glasses • Small paintbrushes for moving invertebrates • Small tubs for looking at invertebrates • ID sheets (see Resources section on the next page) Let the invertebrates go where you found them, being careful not to keep them in tubs too long, especially on a warm day. * Do not put slugs or snails into a pot with other creatures – they can get stuck in the slime! Questions to ask • What do you notice about it? What else..? • Why might it be that colour? • What part of the grassland does it live in? • What challenges do you think it might face? • What might eat it? • What might it eat? G9 BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS OUTDOOR LEARNING Plenary Gather round the drawings that have been made. ln turn, ask learners to point to a drawing they like or are curious about. Ask them why they like it or find it interesting. Ask learners questions like “What was the most interesting thing you found today? Why?” Extension These drawings can be taken back into the classroom to form part of a grassland wall display. Resources: Meadow ID Guide PDF – Save our Magnificent Meadows Invertebrate ID Guide PDF – OPAL Scottish Butterfly ID chart PDF – Butterfly Conservation How to make pitfall trap https://www.bnhs.co.uk/ youngnats/to-do/build-apitfall-trap/ There are many more invertebrate ID resources online to suit different ages and stages G10 BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS WATCH GRASSLANDS Science/Maths All lessons are linked to the Grasslands Film LEARNING INTENTION These learning experiences focus on the importance of grazing levels to our grasslands. There is a ‘right amount’ of grazing which brings the most benefits to biodiversity, soil health, and land management, depending on the climate and location. We will use art, maths, and games to understand how we can change our grazing practices across the world for the better. Overview Within the Science section of our Learning for Grassland Materials there are three Learning Activities. These activities consider how important grassland diversity is, and how effective low intensity grazing can be used to benefit this important habitat. Learning Activity 1 asks learners to map and categorise a natural outdoor space using descriptive words and colours. Does their map look like a mosaic of micro-habitats, or big blocks of colour – and what might that mean for biodiversity? G11 BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS In Learning Activity 2, learners will use maths to understand how farmers can manage cattle to benefit the grassland biodiversity. With the right number of cattle, for the right length of time, farmers can increase the health of the habitat. Learning Activity 3 will help learners to understand how cows can be managed without fences, using technology, as described in the film. They will alter playground games to see how their behaviour can be learned and changed, just like it was for the cows. POINTERS FOR TEACHERS Since these lessons talk about grazing and cattle, there may be some questions from pupils or even parents, especially in rural areas with a big farming economy. The evidence linking intensive grazing to loss of soil is readily available, but you can also get in touch or point them to a regenerative farming network to find out more. There is one for Southwest Scotland, and a quick internet search will find them.. SCIENCE/MATHS LEARNING ACTIVITY 1 GRASSLAND DIVERSITY Info Pupils will use graph paper to block a map of a local grassland (the school grounds may work), developing a key of descriptive words. Task 1: Pupils explore the site that they will map and categorise areas depending on physical characteristics. Encourage them to use descriptive words like yellow, lush, or short. Each word will be part of their key and will relate to a colour. Task 2: Explain to pupils that they will use graph paper to create the map, using the key developed. Each square should be one colour, depending on the most prominent characteristic of the area it corresponds to. You may need to help pupils decide a scale (one stride could be one square, and make sure pupils can orientate their map by assigning a corner of the graph paper to a corner of the site). This can be done collectively, all with the same key, and put together to create a giant map – or individually. You can discuss at the end what they found, if they observed more of nature and diversity than usual, and how they think their map might look if they did it in, for example, a car park or a nature reserve. What might those differences mean for the biodiversity of those areas? POINTERS FOR TEACHERS Older pupils can identify the most popular species in each square and use that for their key instead. You could also measure each square of the graph paper using quadrats (2 1m sticks can measure this out if you have no quadrats). If doing it this way, pupils shouldn’t colour in squares that are mostly manmade structures – e.g. pavements. See how much area is blank at the end. BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS G12 SCIENCE/MATHS LEARNING ACTIVITY 2 GRAZING CAPACITY Info Each unit of grassland has a maximum number of cows it can support, as the Grasslands video showed. This depends on how long the cattle will be grazing in the area, but also how productive and diverse the area is. If you overgraze an area, you can damage the soil underneath – but if you graze an area the right amount, you can build soil, which is important for our future. Task 1: Remind the pupils about the film. Explain to them that a healthier and more biodiverse grassland will build the amount of soil in the grassland over time. Ask them if they know what soil is made of (organic matter plus inorganic matter – basically, dead plants and animals or poo, and broken-down rocks or shells). Soil can take hundreds of years to form even as much as 1cm. Unfortunately, it only takes one or two years to damage or lose it - and the way that humans now farm often removes rather than builds our soil. We need to manage our land right to make sure we have soil for the future. Ask the pupils to work through the Grazing Capacity Maths sheet and answer the questions as best they can. You can change the numbers and create your own version to suit the level of the pupils – just make sure to replace all of the same numbers and make sure the best field for grazing is the wildflower meadow in the sun (field 3). The pupils should find that grazing on wildflower meadows with the right number of cows gives us the best results. But if we keep our cows on any land in our examples for too long, they will overgraze and damage the soil! BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS G13 SCIENCE/MATHS LEARNING ACTIVITY 3 LEARNED BEHAVIOURS Info Animals can respond to new things in their environment, which keeps them safe or benefits them. Pupils can also demonstrate learned behaviour – as we will find out! Task 1: Ask the pupils why we might want to remove fences in our farmland and countryside. lf they’re not sure, remind them of the film. lf they had fences on the edge of that paper, could wildlife easily move through their fields? Unfortunately not! But we must still be able to stop our cattle from overgrazing land or we will lose our soil, so we have to come up with a new way of keeping our cows in one place. Does anyone remember the neck collars from the video and how they worked? lf not, explain that the collar warns the animal with a noise and then a small shock follows if the cow goes beyond the boundaries that are created via an app that the farmer can use. The cows learn to associate the noise with the shock, and so move away from the invisible boundaries to avoid the shock – they have learnt to alter their behaviour. Let’s play a game in the school grounds to show pupils how that happens. Task 2: Go outside and tell the pupils to stand behind a line or landmark. Then choose a child to be ‘it’ (or ‘the monster’), and all the other children have to move towards the person who is ‘it’ (the person stands about 15 metres away, facing the opposite direction, and freezing whenever that pupil turns around. lf they are still moving, the pupil names them and they go back to the start. it is important in the first couple of goes that there is no clue when the pupil turns around – they can do it at any time! The first pupil to reach the ‘monster’ becomes the monster for the next round. BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS G14 SCIENCE Task 3: Once the pupils have completed a few rounds, tell them that from now on the monster must roar before turning around. You may need to practice to make sure the monster knows they can only turn AFTER they roar! Play this for a few rounds. Task 4: Ask the pupils how they changed their behaviour once the monster roared – hopefully they will say that they knew to stop when the roar happened. Explain that they have developed ‘learned behaviour’. They learnt that a roar meant they had to freeze, even if the monster hadn’t turned around quite yet. They responded to a change in their environment by changing their behaviour – and that kept them (hopefully) safer! Now apply this to the cows. The cows have learnt that the sound from their collars meant that they would soon get a shock, so they backed away even if they couldn’t see a fence. Extension Activity Ask the pupils to change another playground game to make the class learn a new behaviour, or even to make one up! G15 BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS Expressive Arts / IDL / Literacy WATCH GRASSLANDS All lessons are linked to the Grasslands Film LEARNING INTENTION To build up an understanding about biodiversity in grasslands and how this has changed through time. Through a series of creative activities and looking at how artists have depicted grasslands in the past, we will build up an understanding and empathy for the natural world. Overview The Threave Landscape Restoration project aims to re-stablish a variety of species in their grasslands. The following series of lessons are interdisciplinary with a creative focus on the tasks to evoke understanding and empathy. Learning Activity 1 encourages learners to look at paintings from the 19th century by the French artist, Claude Monet. Then learners are asked to compare the biodiversity and variety of wild flowers and grasses to modern day grasslands through a series of creative tasks. Learning Activity 2 focuses on how animals use the grasslands and explores, through a series of playful tasks, grasslands from an animal’s perspective. G16 BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS Learning Activity 3 is linked to the new “no fence” technology used at the Threave Nature Reserve for its herd of native Galloway cows. It encourages problem-solving and improvement of the existing technology and the use of “cow collars”. POINTERS FOR TEACHERS In the film, Hew talks about the feeling of running through a wild meadow. Depending on where your young people live and how the fields are farmed, many young people may not have experienced running through a meadow. So, it might be worth taking them to a meadow near the school (there will be considerations such as nesting birds and landowner’s permission – see Outdoor Learning section) or showing them a clip from a film of young people running through a flower meadow. You can also show your young people paintings of wild flower meadows from the past. The 19th century artist Claude Monet painted the landscape as it was in 1870s. This illustrates how much biodiversity there used to be in our grasslands. EXPRESSIVE ARTS/IDL/LITERACY LEARNING ACTIVITY 1 EXPRESSIVE ARTS/ HEALTH Activity To find out a little more about grasslands in the past let’s do some research into the landscapes painted by Claude Monet. First, do an image search on the internet for Monet and have a really close look at the meadows in his paintings. Can you see lots of different flowers and grasses? Find out when and where the paintings were painted. How many years ago were they painted? Do the fields around where you live look like these paintings or have they changed from the past? Task 1: Make a powerpoint and share your discoveries about meadows in the past with the class. lf you have fields close to your school, you could compare a grazed field which has lots of cattle in it with a meadow. lf you don’t have access to fields you can compare the fields of now with the fields from the past using images in your powerpoint. Now re-watch the ‘Grasslands’ film - what do the fields look like in the film? So, if the fields around where your school is don’t look like the Monet paintings of meadows have a think, share, and discuss within your group why most of our fields don’t look like that anymore. BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS G17 EXPRESSIVE ARTS/ IDL/LITERACY Task 2: Monet was a very famous artist and was part of a painting movement called the Impressionists. He used a technique of painting that helped communicate the changing light and colour within a landscape which used dots or sweeping marks of different coloured paint to describe the interaction of light and colour. Using watercolour paints on thick A2/A3 paper, create a wildflower meadow like the one seen in the film or Monet’s paintings. Through different marks made on the paper describe the variety of flowers and grasses. Try to create in your painting the very best meadow in Scotland or even the world!! You could also collaborate with your research group on the creation of a bigger painting; perhaps compete with other groups to see who can create the biggest and the best. Task 3: Discussion - think about cows grazing on a field that is mostly green grass, then think about what it must be like to be a cow grazing on a meadow full of different types of grasses, flowers and herbs. Think about your diet if you ate just one type of food how would that make you feel? Would you feel as healthy as you would by eating a varied diet of lots of different vegetables, salads, fish, bread and meat? How does a varied diet make you feel? G18 BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS POINTERS FOR TEACHERS Try to make sure your young people constantly change the water they are using for their watercolour paintings, so it doesn’t get muddy. If possible, encourage them to use soft brushes. It is suggested that you could have a little bit of experimental paper to try techniques with water and paint marks. For instance, they can also use sponges and wet the paper a little before putting the marks and colour onto the page. EXPRESSIVE ARTS/IDL/LITERACY LEARNING ACTIVITY 2 IDL/SCIENCE/LITERACY Info Watch the ‘Grasslands’ film. Did you notice all the amazing insects, birds and wildlife in the film? What animals did you notice who lived in the meadows or who depended on the rich variety of grasses, flowers, and soil for habitat and for food? Did you hear all the insects in the film? Let us try to imagine what it is like to be one of those animals or insects. Task 1: Close your eyes and imagine you are a bumble bee flying through a diverse grassland full of lots of lovely flowers and herbs. What does the grassland look like from your perspective (viewpoint)? what does it smell like? What does it sound like? What is your job as a bee? Do you have any predators you need to be looking out for? Then imagine yourself a different type of animal - a hare perhaps, or a cow. Or a bird who uses grasses to build their nest. Close your eyes and imagine being all these animals. What are they thinking? Feeling? Experiencing? Task 2: Blog/Diary Writing - now you have imagined what it might be like to be one of these animals, insects, birds and flowers who live within the grasslands. Let’s help other people imagine with you, can you help them be that animal too? You can do this through the following creative learning activities. Choose an animal/bird/insect and write about your day as if you were telling the story. BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS G19 EXPRESSIVE ARTS/ IDL/LITERACY For instance, if you were a cow, what is it like wearing the collar and what is the funny beeping sound you hear before you get a strange tingle from the invisible fence? ln your blog remember to set the scene by saying who you are, where you are, and describe what is around you. Then tell us about your day. What do you eat? Who are your friends are? How are you feeling? What is it like when you interact with other animals, Insects or humans? To help you imagine, you might want to draw a picture first and then write your blog or you might want to write the blog first and then draw an illustration to go with it. Suggested Format - typed as a digital file or handwritten like a diary page. Task 3: Cartoon strip - your teacher will show you what a cartoon strip looks like. There are boxes for drawings that sit next to each other to tell a story. Sometimes the drawings have speech bubbles coming out of the character’s mouths. Now have a go and create a cartoon strip of a day in the life of a cow, bee or ground-nesting bird. POINTERS FOR TEACHERS (TASK 1) This is an exercise that helps your young people get into the “creative zone” and fosters empathy for the animals and how they live and survive. It also helps encourage imaginative thought in terms of different perspectives on an environment or inter-species. Suggested Format - A3 pencil and paper, you can use coloured pencil if you want. POINTERS FOR TEACHERS (TASK 2) Task 4: News Report - you will need to work as part of a pair. lmagine you are a news reporter for the BBC News who is visiting this grasslands restoration project. Ask the other person to choose an animal e.g. a cow. Now imagine you are a news reporter interviewing that animal. lmagine that animal can communicate with humans. What would they say? How would they answer the questions you ask? What questions would you ask? You can make it funny or serious, it is up to you. Now either record the news interview and play it back to the class or perform the news report in front of the class. You may need to write a script or practice it a little first. The drawings don’t need to be perfect it is really an exercise for young people who prefer drawing to be able to imagine what it is like to be one of the animals, insects or birds. You can question them as they are drawing so they expand their thinking as they are creating the cartoon strip. When other people read your blog, diary page, cartoon or news report, they will be able to see the world as a cow too or other animal too. G20 BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS EXPRESSIVE ARTS/IDL/LITERACY LEARNING ACTIVITY TECHNOLOGY 3 Info Watch the ‘Grasslands’ film again and listen very carefully to how the cow’s collars work. This is cutting-edge technology that is just in its early stages of being tested. Have a group or class discussion about the use of the collars and the technology behind them. Think about how the collars work. How do the cows know how to keep their distance from the fences? lf you were a cow what would you think of the collar? Why are the collars good for the restoration of grasslands? How do they help the environment and help wildlife thrive? Task 1: Make a diagram or poster explaining how the collars work and how they are good for encouraging meadows to grow and supporting other wildlife and plants. Suggested Format - A4/A3 paper and coloured pencils. Extension Activity POINTERS FOR TEACHERS Can you design a better collar for the cows to wear? How would it work? Can you improve on the existing design to make its technology and design even better for the environment and the cow? Create an instruction sheet with drawings and notes to describe how your collar would work. It would be great to lead a class discussion on how the technology of the cow’s collar works and its impact on the restoration of grasslands. The activities are a suggestion but might help young people better understand the technology behind the collars. Learners may have never seen an instruction sheet before so it might be an idea to bring some sheets in for them to look at as well as show them some images from the work of product designers or inventors. BALANCE IN NATURE • GRASSLANDS G21  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Threave Landscape Restoration Project – 2 – Grasslands Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GGLP_22 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource GGLP Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource GCAT Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023 Description An account of the resource Learning materials for the Threave Landscape Restoration Project biodiversity GGLP wetlands