My Scottish Adventure (Part 2)
“I’d do what needed to be done.”
by Leslie Shea
I didn’t have to wait long to learn what kind of work I’d be doing with Adventures in Preservation (AiP) in Burgie. The answer was, I’d do what needed to be done. The day after I arrived, I helped Hamish and his helper, Stewart, place and bury about 150 yards of flexible water pipe which serves the outbuildings, replacing one that had broken. Not what I expected, but it was outside, it was in a field, it was dirty, and I was helping!
Most of my work was to be with trees, and believe me, there were lots of trees. Hundreds of acres at Burgie are planted for commercial forestry, with much of the timber exported from this area, (nice carbon offset, too). During my 4 weeks there, we spent more time planting wee baby trees, and checking on trees which had been planted last year than any other single task. We did plenty of thinning trees from the woods, sorting the trunks, and clearing branches and bramble.
Sitka Spruce is a species that does well at Burgie. We planted about 750–1000 of them, including one morning when we planted 500 before lunch!
Hamish is working with a species of Australian Eucalyptus that’s supposed to do well in Scotland’s climate, but so far has only done so-so. Unfortunately, many of the 12–18” starts had died or been chewed by deer. We ended up walking the lines of starts, identifying the live ones, staking them, then placing plastic sleeves over the stakes/trees to protect them.
Difficult work involving hours of walking over half frozen, muddy, rutted, rocky, branch and rotted tree covered fields, but we gave those trees a chance.
After I drove back home and parked the Rhino in the shed, I saw Hamish and Max welding a strong metal handrail alongside the Stairs of Death. Although it was only steel tubing, it was safe, and it was a thing of beauty.
We spent another 2 days in mature woods thinning trees and collecting timber. Hamish would strip trees of the branches he could reach with his chainsaw, fell the tree and strip the rest of the branches. Our helper Stewart would then operate the backhoe to maneuver trunks into piles for lumber, firewood, or chipped for use in the house’s boiler.
Stewart is a quiet young man who works at Burgie intermittently. His family has lived and/or worked on the estate for generations, so he was handy to have around. Max and I took the branches and piled them to be cleared later or to be allowed to decompose. Sometimes Max put massive chains around trees whose trunks grow in bundles (willows), attached the chains to the backhoe and pull the whole thing up out of the ground. It’s pretty impressive watching heavy machinery work, so powerful! When we finished work those 2 days, that part of the woods had opened up…still a tall, mature wood, but clear of dead wood, brush and brambles. It allowed more light and ventilation. A big difference that provided timber and energy to many.
When the machinery was doing its thing, and I was keeping a safe distance, I could do one of my favorite things — walk into the woods to just look at the beauty and wonder of nature. My eye is drawn to so many little things that take my breath away, from the symmetry and spiral arrangements of leaves on a branch to the often-overlooked miracle of nature’s own recycling with moss, fungi, and lichens. Stunning.
My photos, taken with just my phone, give you an idea, but to see these “lowly” little growths in person, in multiple colors, working away, changing the woods that were into the woods that will be, is brilliant. It seemed that each twig, branch, and tree stump was a world of its own, living and dying in perfect harmony, each with its own part to play. It’s bittersweet, really seeing that if we allow nature to do her thing the world would be fine without us. Time spent in the woods is special, so much to see, but only if you want to look, and I did. I took my phone everywhere, glad that I had my ultra nerdy phone holding lanyard. It doesn’t make me take better pictures, but it’s always right there when I want it.
The star attraction at Burgie is the Arboretum, a curated space with hundreds of trees, some native to Scotland, but many exotics, beautifully situated to provide space to enjoy and appreciate.
Owning, working, and maintaining an estate like Burgie is an overwhelming responsibility, not to mention expensive. Commercial forestry is part of what keeps places like these going, as well as leases and holiday rentals. The house, buildings, and property are “Listed” as historical sites, and as such, must be maintained properly…and don’t for a minute think the government pays for it. Keeping historical homes and sites in proper condition is an honorable pursuit, but the requirements and restrictions are expensive, and sometimes seem to make little sense. Voluntary donations are accepted at the Arboretum, but unfortunately don’t make a dent.
To be continued …
About Adventures in Preservation (AiP)
Adventures in Preservation (AiP) is a non-profit connecting people and preservation through enriching cultural heritage travel and hands-on education. AiP was founded in 2001 by two women with a great love of historic buildings and a strong desire to travel and understand the world. While perusing the travel section of the Boulder Bookstore, the Volunteer Vacation section suddenly brought everything into focus. Judith Broeker and Jamie Donahoe combined their goal of saving historic buildings with the concept of experiential travel, and created AiP’s hands-on preservation vacations.
Work started on several sites in the U.S., and as word spread, requests for help began to pour in from around the world, underscoring the great potential of using volunteers to restore historic buildings. In supporting community-based preservation initiatives, we discovered that our love of old buildings could translate into environmental and economic sustainability for communities.
AiP is picking up the pace! As our hands-on experiential travel becomes more popular, we have new projects, new partners and initiatives to keep you excited and involved.
