Milngavie in Bloom Beautiful Scotland Milngavie in Bloom 2019 Milngavie, originally in Stirlingshire, was located in an area that became an enclave of Dunbartonshire on the orders of King David II (1324-1371). The town lies to the north west of Glasgow, about 7 miles from the centre of the city, situated in the valley of the Allander Water and River Kelvin, at the foot of the Campsie Fells. Despite this proximity to Scotland’s largest conurbation Milngavie has a quite separate identity and character. Milngavie began as a corn mill on the banks of the Allander Water, milling the corn grown by the many surrounding farms. It developed into a busy market town transporting agricultural products to Glasgow. Textile mills played an important part in the development of the town, along with associated print works, bleaching and dye works. A paper mill, laundry and aerated water factory also contributed to later industrial development. At present industrial activity is limited to a few industrial estates. Retail and service businesses are centred on the pedestrian precinct. Points of interest in Milngavie Starting point of the West Highland Way, Scotland’s first and world-renowned long distance walking route, opened in 1980 Antonine Garden, a replica of the Roman Bath House excavated in nearby Bearsden (recreated from the Glasgow Garden Festival of 1988) Conservation area and listed buildings – Gavin’s Mill 1664, Corbie Ha’ circa 1800 and Milngavie Railway Station 1863 Lennox Park gifted to Milngavie Town Hall, and the Lillie Art Gallery bequeathed by local banker Robert Lillie and opened in 1962 Town centre pedestrianised in 1974 with Copland & Lye clock donated to Milngavie Town Council Milngavie in Bloom Established in April 2008 with 5 members Clean Sweep litter picking formed in July 2011 Present committee: Chairman Douglas Cameron, Vice-chair Evelyn Parbrook, Secretary Tim Rhead, Treasurer Norman MacLeod, Clean Sweep Convenor Rona MacLeod, Membership Secretary Ian Pascoe, Minute Secretary Sandra Wilson, Fundraiser Anne Craw and Committee Member Sue Scott. Achievements Awarded Silver Gilt medal certificates in Medium Town category in 2015, 2016 and 2017 Awarded Community Involvement Award in 2015 Awarded Greening Grey Britain Special Project award by Royal Horticultural Society for work on the West Highland Way Awarded Community Champion award by Milngavie Community Council in 2017 Milngavie in Bloom Portfolio 2019 Milngavie in Bloom Portfolio 2019 We celebrated our 10th anniversary in 2018 and planted the Community Bed to acknowledge this milestone. We planted a large floral ten on the right-hand side and a variety of small plants, representing the surrounding environment on the left-hand side with a slate “river” bisecting the bed, representing the Allander Water, topped with a model water mill. July 2018 We held a celebration in late July attended by the Provost and representatives from several local organisations. The Allander Walkway project links to the West Highland Way, but is very different, being a community project with a group of residents from the Allander Road estate joining with Milngavie in Bloom. Phase 1 involved bulb planting and creating two beds of flowers at the entrance to the estate. August 2018 Phase 2 is focussed on the restoration of a 1970s garden in the middle of the estate. Named The Italian Garden, and built on a series of shallow terraces the garden originally won a prize, and is of an unusual and original design with big rock sculptures. The aim here is not only to restore the garden, but to revitalise the community and become a focal point for meeting and talking to neighbours. June 2018 Milngavie in Bloom Portfolio 2019 Our West Highland Way team, made up of Ramblers volunteers alongside Milngavie in Bloom volunteers, has met almost every month, excepting winter months, for the past 5 years. Enthusiasm has not waned and the achievements can be seen in the rich variety of planting including a stretch of wild flowers. Our efforts to improve the soil condition on the West Highland Way flower borders are certainly showing results; over the past two years we have added over four cubic metres of composted bark, multipurpose / ericaceous compost when planting, and fish, blood and bone, chicken manure pellets and seaweed meal as fertilisers. Selective pruning of the trees now allows more light for under-planting which has also helped growing conditions. September 2018 The maturing and new planting now has something in flower everyday of the year! Something the regular passers-by comment on and share their enjoyment of seeing what is coming up throughout the seasons. Walkers on the West Highland Way also comment and show their appreciation. Some perennials are thriving, such as campion, geraniums, cirsiums and mallow that have been lifted, divided and replanted in the borders. Having a better understanding from our experience of the challenging growing conditions we have planted astilbies, goats beard, more hostas, foxgloves, and bluebells, snowdrops, pachysandra and epimediums in the shaded areas under the trees. We received a gift of 5 saplings from Jo Swinson MP donated by the Woodland Trust as part of the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy. The trees, hazel, rowan and silver birch have been planted in various locations. November 2018 We have maintained colour throughout the town all year round starting in spring with the snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils, bluebells and primula before the summer bedding is planted. Milngavie in Bloom Portfolio 2019 Spring 2019 We delivered nasturtium seed to six schools and have received information about the planting from three schools. Two schools have used the nasturtiums to brighten up their own playgrounds, however, Clober Primary have planted the nasturtiums in their herb garden. To protect the beds in Kirk Wynd from parked cars the council engaged a contractor to build a stone wall that meant we had to raise the ground level. We removed all the shrubs and plants from Kirk Wynd in March and in May we added compost to the bed. The bed has now been replanted with new shrubs and herbaceous plants. March 2019 May 2019 Carers Link garden continues to be developed by a willing group of volunteers, who have taken over pruning the shrub hedging as we were not happy with the way the Council cut it at the wrong time of year and so it did not flower. April 2019 Milngavie in Bloom Portfolio 2019 Regular litter picking sessions have continued twice every month throughout the year. April 2019 As 2018 was Milngavie in Bloom’s 10th Anniversary we held BIG CLEAN SWEEPS in spring, summer and autumn. At our Big Spring Clean in March 2019, we had 55 volunteers who collected 82 bags of litter, which were removed by the Council. March 2019 Staff from Tesco and McDonalds joined in, helping to drag supermarket trolleys, traffic cones and other heavy items out of the Allander Water. March 2019 Drinking dens in the local woods are a big problem and we have had work parties hacking down huge swathes of brambles in order to reach the underlying cans and bottles. Some of our solo volunteers keep certain roads clean on a regular basis, which is a huge help, as new litter appears daily due to the increase in new housing and traffic. September 2018 Milngavie in Bloom Portfolio 2019 A few of our volunteers have formed the Upstream Battle Anchor Group, monitoring litter in and on the banks of the Allander Water over a twelve month period, as part of a survey of River Clyde tributaries for Beautiful Scotland. February 2019 One of our committee members also participated in the Source to Sea Week, collecting litter from the Forth and Clyde canal during May. May 2019 Mosshead Primary School organised a litter clearance by pupils and parents. We were able to lend equipment and volunteers. The Council has responded promptly to every report of fly-tipping that we have made to them. The Council has provided 3 new very large bins in the precinct and we have commissioned 2 large dog fouling posters, in an effort to deter dog fouling. Thanks to a donation from the local gardening club we were able to purchase two 6-foot long pickers which are a boon for collecting litter through the railings down on to the river bank. Although we are frequently disheartened, many residents tell us that we are making an impact on the cleanliness of our community. Milngavie in Bloom Portfolio 2019 We were contacted by the staff of this outdoor travel company who offered their time to help with our work. Groups of six or so came to help us on three occasions at the Italian Garden, the Ellangowan Bed and the Community Bed with great results. October 2018 June 2018 July 2018 Clober Primary School Pupils grew sunflowers from seeds we provided and we were invited to the schools Eco assembly to see the results for ourselves. We gave the school some pallets to use for raised beds. September 2018 In March a few of us helped pupils to plant 60 trees donated by the Woodland Trust in the school grounds. March 2019 Milngavie in Bloom Portfolio 2019 We donated and erected a polytunnel at the school where they could grow herbs from seed, as we asked the school to plant up the Community Bed. May 2019 Milngavie Youth Centre We have held work parties with the youths to assist in the weeding around the Centre. October 2018 Carers Link A few of our volunteers help to maintain the tranquil garden at Milngavie Enterprise Centre where Carers Link have their offices. Our volunteers also helped the Young Carers at a seed planting evening.