LATEST NEWS
WOODLAND PURCHASE UPDATE – GOOD NEWS!
The Scottish Land Fund (SLF) formally announced Friday that they are going to award us 75% of the cost of the woodland valuation. This is FANTASTIC news and means that along other funding awards we are moving closer to the final purchase of BROUGHTONKNOWE as a COMMUNITY WOODLAND.
A message of thanks to the SLF from our chairman, Ian Brooke:
“We are absolutely delighted to be awarded such a large grant towards the purchase of the Broughtonknowe Woodland. The woodland has been used by local people for many years for recreation and wellbeing, and is a haven for wildlife, having been sympathetically managed by the current owner. The local community have come together to support a community buyout and this investment will mean we will have more than three quarters of the cost of the purchase price and we will continue to appeal for the remaining balance. Thank you to the Scottish Land Fund for its confidence in our plans and for recognising that this is a well used special place and with a community purchase, it will be protected for ever more.”
The purchase we are pursuing for a spring 2025 closing is to buy lots 1 and 3 – the main wood and the fire pit/sheds areas. We’re looking at further options for the dark wood north of the track, working with the current owner.
A CROWDFUNDER has been launched for donations to help bridge the remaining 25% gap – please click here to consider contributing.
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND ONGOING SUPPORT – WE’RE ON OUR WAY!
Please check out our post below for media coverage of the community buyout.
We’re in the News – Media Coverage of Buy-out
We’re in the news! Featuring in Peebleshire News, on ITV Borders in BBC Scotland.
MEMBERSHIP:
AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE: Work is gathering pace with our bid to secure funding to buy Broughtonknowe Woodland. We are at a critical point
Grant application goes in for woodland buyout
An article for the Upper Tweed Community News (Sept ’24):
Broughtonknowe Wood – recent media coverage
In the build up to the application for purchase price funding – FoB have attracted considerable media coverage. Click on this link to read more
Feasibility study for woodland management
An exploration of management options for forestry, wildlife and community activities and a consideration of business & financial planning. Click here to read the document: FoB
Peebleshire News report
A front page news report of the proceedings of our Community Meeting was published on Fri 28/7/23 including an interview with Christopher Lambton, the present
For more information, please email us at friendsofbroughtonknowe@gmail.com.
ABOUT
Broughtonknowe Wood
Broughtonknowe Wood is in the Scottish Borders about a mile north of Broughton on the A701. It extends to some 135 acres and was planted in the late 1980s with a mixture of native hardwoods and commercial softwoods. It was the vision of the late Major David Balfour-Scott who conceived the idea of a woodland with commercial potential softened by amenity and the beauty of native species. Once planted the wood immediately won awards for its forward thinking vision. Since 2001 Christopher Lambton and Julie Morrice have owned the wood and hope that walkers will continue to enjoy the woodland for generations to come.
Friends of Broughtonknowe Woodland
Friends of Broughtonknowe Woodland was set up in 2021 to bring together like minded people aiming to improve the woodland amenity and increase its biodiversity, with the encouragement of the owners.
Developments so far have included a nest box trail, a bird spotting trail and an explorer trail as well as a number of new paths. A new pond has been dug and another significantly enlarged. A number of board walks and mini bridges have been constructed over tricky terrain throughout the woodland and new benches have been built along the various routes.
FORESTRY
Allied to the biodiversity work of the ‘Friends’, the forest thinning operation has been ongoing since 2020. Billy works during the week selectively felling spruce, larch and other conifers to create a semi-natural spacing between the remaining trees.
The result is a stunning aesthetic achievement best appreciated by walking one of the middle paths where you can see how this work admits light, life and colour into a previously sterile woodland.
The idea is that these trees are never clear-felled and the forest exists in perpetuity while being subtly restructured from within.
The harvested timber is extracted each month and sold to local biomass markets, with the bigger logs going to the sawmill in Lockerbie.
LOCATION
The car park for the woodland is just off the A701 just over half a mile south from the junction with the A72 to Muirburn and Skirling, a mile north of Broughton.
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