As ever the Friends of Calgary Bay have been busy and we have lots of good news stories from over there. Towards the end of March we had a beach clean and work party. Thanks to the regular picking up of rubbish by ‘Friends’ of the bay and dog walkers on a daily basis the amount of litter gather on the day was not as large as it has been in the past. That day we also installed our new donation box craftily created by Matthew Reade and Andrew Mortley and new signage on the gates. The donations have been dropping in nicely which will then free up some funds to do further work in the bay. 

We have also closed the gates of the machair again and the sheep are now on the outside of the fence. This will allow the flowers of the machair to bloom and seed. Gates will opened again in the autumn to allow the grazing sheep back in.

I got confirmation the other day that the Council have agreed for the lease of the bay area (minus the loos) to the community through Mull and Iona Community Trust for a period of £25 years. This allows us to move on projects such as an over flow car park. We have also expressed an interest in buying the loos from the Council.

We had a very successful work party with Scottish Rural Colleges Countryside management students who come to volunteer annually. We put them to transplanting some of the marram into the dune slacks to help try and prevent further erosion.

 

And away from Calgary I had a group from George Watson’s School in Edinburgh helping clear some of the paths to help access to some of the more remote geocaches hidden in Aros Park. This involved the cutting largely of Rhododendron and gorse.

On Sunday past we had a very successful gathering of interested parties to gather a feel for what the community would like to see the walled garden in Aros Park be put to use as. It was purchased back from the previous owner by the Forestry Commission just over a year ago and the Commission would like very much if the community were to take over looking after it.

Just after the Commission bought it, contractors were brought in to remove a lot of the rhododendron and dangerous trees so it is now much more open and its true extent and opportunities can be appreciated.

 

Again up In Tobermory, the newly furbished Lighthouse Path is proving very popular with lots and lots of locals and visitors enjoying this walk. Here too we have a unique donation box created by Andy and Helen Mortley and Tom Reade. Pretty impressive.

 

Our events programme is up and running and on Wednesday , with the companionship of Steve Irvine and 14 visitors and  4 dogs,  we have a lovely walk on Ulva, as you can see the weather was glorious and the colours magnificent. As of the 21st June the island will officially belong to the community of North West Mull and & Ulva, so very interesting times ahead.

So as you can see not much happens on Mull without the support of our wonderful volunteers whom are full of drive and energy. The ranger service very much appreciated the support we get and is what makes my job special.

Jan Dunlop, Ranger Manager