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Scotland’s National Nature Reserves For further information about the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve please contact: Scottish Natural Heritage, 30 Hope Street, Lanark, ML11 7NE Tel. 01555 665928 Fax. 01555 661966 Email: [email protected] The Story of the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve The Story of the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve Foreword The Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve (NNR) is a real gem located on the very edge of Scotland’s Central Belt. The Reserve is made up of six discrete woodlands, and stretches almost 12 kilometres (km) along the meandering Clyde Valley from Hamilton to New Lanark. These woodlands occupy dramatic river gorges whose steep rugged sides are clothed in trees and mosses, a real escape from their agricultural setting. The Reserve has outstanding examples of the ancient, semi-natural, deciduous woodland which would once have covered great swathes of lowland central Scotland. In spring the woodlands come alive with colour and are carpeted with bluebells, wild garlic, wood anemone and wood sorrel. These woodlands and the ravine habitats are also home to a fascinating and unusual array of invertebrates. Beetles and hoverflies thrive amongst the deadwood whilst in the summer a rare species of caddis fly emerges from its larva. Visitors to the Reserve also have the rare opportunity to see badgers at close quarters and to watch peregrine falcons during the breeding season. The Clyde Valley Woodlands is one of 55 (2010) NNRs in Scotland. Scotland’s NNRs are special places for nature where some of the best examples of Scotland’s wildlife are managed. Whilst nature comes first on NNRs they also offer special opportunities for visitors to enjoy and find out about the richness of our natural heritage. Until 2007 the Clyde Valley Woodlands NNR included only the woodlands of Cartland Craigs and Cleghorn Glen. The addition of 4 new areas of woodland, Chatelherault (Hamilton High Parks), Mauldslie Woods, Nethan Gorge and the Falls of Clyde marked a major turning point for the Reserve, which now offers a comprehensive array of visitor opportunities and facilities. What’s more, is that the Reserve is perhaps unique amongst Scotland’s suite of NNRs in that it provides easy access to and enjoyment of internationally important woodlands for approximately two million people living in largely urban central Scotland. This unusual proximity of wildlife to people offers enormous opportunities to re-engage communities with nature. The Story of the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve The woodlands at Chatelherault and Mauldslie are owned and managed by South Lanarkshire Council (SLC) and those at Nethan Gorge and the Falls of Clyde, by the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT). Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) is working in partnership with the Council and the SWT to develop the wider NNR. The Story of the Clyde Valley Woodlands contains background information about the Reserve prior to 2007, when it was just the woodlands of Cartland Craigs and Cleghorn Glen, describing the wildlife interest, its land use history and management since it became a Reserve. How we intend to manage the Reserve in future years is outlined in a separate document, the Reserve Proposals. Your comments will be invited on the Proposals and this feedback will inform the production of the final Reserve Plan which will be the blueprint for the management of our part of the Reserve for the next few years (Cartland Craigs and Cleghorn Glen). For further information about Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve, please contact: Scottish Natural Heritage, 30 Hope Street, Lanark, ML11 7NE Telephone: 01555 665928 Fax: 01555 661966 E-mail: [email protected] ii The Story of the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve Contents Foreword.......................................................................................................................................i Maps of Clyde Valley Woodlands NNR...........................................................................iv 1 Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 1 2 The Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Clyde Valley Woodlands NNR ....... 5 3 Management of the Clyde Valley Woodlands before they became a NNR... 9 4 Management of the Clyde Valley Woodlands NNR........................................... 12 5 Document properties...................................................................................................... 19 Appendix 1 – National Nature Reserves (NNR) .......................................................... 21 Appendix 2 – Special Area of Conservation (SAC)..................................................... 23 Appendix 3 - Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).................................................. 26 iii The Story of the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve Maps of Clyde Valley Woodlands NNR Location maps Boundary of Clyde Valley Woodlands NNR iv The Story of the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve 1 Introduction The Clyde Valley Woodlands NNR, in total, covers approximately 318.42 hectares (ha) of woodland stretching intermittently along the mid Clyde Valley from Hamilton to New Lanark. The Reserve is made up of six discrete woodlands. These include Hamilton High Parks (Chatelherault) on the outskirts of Hamilton, Mauldslie Woods at Dalserf, Nethan Gorge at Crossford, the contiguous woodlands of Cleghorn Glen and Cartland Craigs, two kilometres (km) north of Lanark and the Falls of Clyde at New Lanark. Cleghorn Glen and Cartland Craigs have been managed as an NNR since the 1980’s. Cleghorn Glen (41ha) was declared a NNR in 1981 with the addition of Cartland Craigs (10.29ha) to create the Clyde Valley Woodlands NNR in 1987. SNH has managed these woodlands ever since and it is their Story as part of the Clyde Valley Woodlands that this document covers. Boundary of Cleghorn Glen and Cartland Craigs 1 The Story of the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve The mid Clyde Valley is a gentle landscape dominated by rolling pasture, orchards and small industrial towns. Hidden throughout this landscape are dramatic ravines that slice their way through the valley sandstone. At ground level the woodlands appear as narrow belts of trees amidst the otherwise agricultural land. It is only when viewed from the air or on entering the woodlands that their scale and beauty can be fully appreciated. Cleghorn Glen and Cartland Craigs occupy two deep gorges along the valley of the Mouse Water, a tributary of the River Clyde, which it flows into just west of the Reserve. Cleghorn Glen snakes its way from the A706 north-east of Lanark, west for approximately 3 km, to a minor road called Mousebank Road. From here, Cartland Craigs continues another 1km south west to meet the A73 at the Cartland Bridge. Cleghorn Glen and Cartland Craigs are outstanding examples of ancient, semi- natural deciduous woods. Ash, oak and elm dominate the alkaline soils associated with the rocky slopes of the precipitous gorges whilst higher up rowan, birch and Scot’s pine favour the better drained soil. In spring and early summer dog’s mercury, wild garlic, wood anemone and bluebells carpet the woodland floor, with rarer plants like alternate-leaved golden saxifrage and herb paris also well represented. The variety of habitats provide an abundance of niches for a nationally important wealth of rare invertebrate life. An endangered species of caddis fly is found here, and a number of locally uncommon beetles that like the deadwood found in the woodlands have also been recorded on the Reserve. Cleghorn Glen and Cartland Craigs are less than an hour’s drive from the estimated 2 million people who live in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Motherwell, Hamilton and the smaller towns of Lanark, Carluke, Wishaw, and Larkhall. The Reserve is one of only a handful of National Nature Reserves that are located close to so many people. In common with most of the Central Belt the Reserve has an average annual rainfall of Clyde Valley Woodlands NNR 2 The Story of the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve approximately 1000 millimetres. On average there are gales on between five and ten days each year and ground frosts can occur from October until late into May. SNH owns all of Cartland Craigs (within the NNR) and 17ha of Cleghorn Glen. The rest of the Reserve at Cleghorn Glen is owned by Mr Elliot-Lockhart, with whom we have a 99-year Nature Reserve Agreement (NRA), due for renewal in 2080. The Clyde Valley Woodlands NNR has been designated for its wildlife interest at European and UK level. Cartland Craigs and Cleghorn Glen (along with Hamilton High Parks and Nethan Gorge) form part of the Clyde Valley Woodlands Special Area of Conservation (SAC), which includes 11 woodlands in the Clyde Valley. The Clyde Valley Woodlands SAC has been designated for its Tilio-Acerion (lime – sycamore) mixed woodland. The Clyde Valley Woodlands SAC is part of a European Union (EU) wide network of protected sites known as the Natura 2000 network. This network aims to protect those habitats and species that are rare, endangered or vulnerable within the European Community. The Natura 2000 network includes other areas across the EU that have also been designated as SACs for their Tilio-Acerion forests on slopes, screes and ravines. These include dramatic gorge woodlands found in France. At a national level the Cartland Craigs section