Burgh Beautiful Linlithgow
Kettilstoun Woods including Triangle Wood
A major, long-term Burgh Beautiful tree project is underway at Kettlestoun, west of Linlithgow Leisure Centre and the new cycle track. Planting here started back in December 2019 with the aim of planting 300 to 400 trees annually over a three to four year period. At first, the tree planting was confined to a triangular area at the west end of the site, bounded by the A706 to the north, the Union Canal to the south and an old boundary fence to the east, hence the use of the name, ‘Triangle Wood’. There has always been a good turnout of willing volunteers to help with the tree planting, even in the depths of winter (see photograph on left). We even managed a very welcome, socially distanced session over the Covid period.
By 2023, almost 1,400 trees, all donated by the Woodland Trust, had been planted by Burgh Beautiful with the help of members of the public. A sponsorship scheme, not only raised a considerable sum for further tree planting and associated works such as protection from deer, but gave sponsors a tangible stake in our developing woodland.
Because of the potential hazard to visitors and wild/domesticated animals from the rusty old boundary fence within the site, the Council has indicated agreement to its removal in the near future.
The main tree planting activity recently at Kettilstoun Woods has been the planting of 24 young conifer trees, given to us by the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, as a conservation project, part of the International Conifer Conservation Programme (ICCP). The programme seeks to set up a gene bank of internationally threatened conifers by identifying sites throughout the UK to grow and maintain to maturity selected species deemed to be in danger of extinction in the wild. Our trees will not only act as a ‘reservoir’ for these threatened species but will help safeguard genetic diversity and provide a seed bank for replanting in their native countries.
We have been given examples of four different species of trees: Western Larch (native to British Columbia and the north-western United States), Corsican Pine, Brewer’s Weeping Spruce (Western United States) and Willow-leaf Podocarp (Chile). The two tree types from North America are thought to be at special risk because an expected warmer and drier climate in the Rocky Mountains may lead to increased risk of fire or disease.
The trees here at Linlithgow are now protected from deer damage by recently-erected permanent wooden tree guards, replacing the temporary wire guards which we provided earlier. These wire guards will not go to waste as they will be used to protect other trees in the vicinity.
We have long lamented the lack of a proper plan of the Kettilstoun Woods area, showing the various blocks of tree planting and the exact location of the boundary of the ground being leased out by West Lothian Council for the cycle track – Council officials are currently pursuing this. All we have at present is the rough plan on left which indicates the areas most likely to be favoured for tree planting (bounded or hatched in green) and our aspiration for the development of a path through the developing woodland, connecting the Union Canal with the roundabout at the entrance to Kettilstoun Mains and with a spur towards the wildlife ‘scrape’ which was formed for us, free of charge, by the contractors who built the cycle track.
The procurement of these footpaths will require considerable external funding and, preferably, a new volunteer to act as the manager of the project, concentrating initially on making appropriate funding applications. The direct path route through the area was interrupted by the construction of the cycle track, and much of the diverted (and original) route is very muddy over the winter and therefore a better drained replacement is needed.