Thanks to £4,000 from Bags of Help, the northern loop of the Woodland Walk beside Eskrigg Reserve is no longer accessible only to walkers in wellies!

The Eskrigg Reserve and adjacent Woodland Walks have been developed by volunteers over 30 years from an overgrown curling pond into a nature reserve with pond and stream, two bird watching hides (one with a feeding station for red squirrels), picnic area, teaching centre, composting toilet and woodland walks.

Bags of Help assisted with the final phase of the Access For All project - the laying of a hardcore path around the Northern Loop of the Woodland Walks. Apart from some in-kind help from a student on work experience and a Dumfries & Galloway Ranger Service digger, all was completed by the hard work of volunteers. This included clearing debris and turf from old paths; measuring, cutting and laying membrane; barrowing, raking and rolling gravel.

“The old path was often wet and muddy, but as one of our regular walkers said - I used to have to put on my wellies to walk the dog, now I could do it in my carpet slippers!”

• Jim Rae, Eskrigg Reserve Manager and volunteer for Lockerbie Wildlife Trust

The four phases of the Access For All project have been a partnership between Castle Milk Estate, Dumfries & Galloway Ranger Service, Lockerbie Academy students and the volunteers of Lockerbie Wildlife Trust. They have created woodland paths and bridges that can be used by mobility scooters, wheelchairs, pushchairs as well as ponies, dog walkers and wildlife watchers. A new car park and access route were created and a wheelchair accessible composting toilet has been installed. There are excellent links with local primary schools, with Lockerbie Academy and many other visiting groups.     

Key Facts

Location: Lockerbie, Dumfries & Galloway
Project type: Creating a better environment
Bags of Help Funding: £4,000
Grantee: Lockerbie Wildlife Trust
Website: www.lockerbie-wildlife-trust.co.uk

View the printable pdf Eskrigg Reserve- Access For All

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Up to £2000 is available from Tesco Bags of Help to support a wide range of projects that benefit your local community. Tesco Bags of Help is administered by Groundwork working with greenspace scotland to support applicants and successful projects in Scotland. 
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