Since the start of the new academic year in September 2025, there has been lots of activity at Drumbrae and Rullion Green Wood, with local community members and university staff and students getting outside. Some highlights are included below. Exploring archaeology at Drumbrae In October the University’s Archaeology Society visited Drumbrae for a guided walk. Local Archaeologist Dr Murray Cook showed the students around Logie homestead, where he has run two community digs. If you are interested, you can watch the Logie homestead dig video from June 2025. Logie Homestead Dig June 2025 video After that we visited the fallen standing stone, the Sheriffmuir Battlefield viewpoint and burial cairns, with Tom Rees from Rathmell Archaeology. It was a fantastic day talking about all things dead and alive! It was a great opportunity to explore archaeology in the context of woodland creation and discuss how we preserve these important sites and learn more about them. Students at the fallen standing stone. Tree planting Over three weeks in November and early December we had a number of tree planting days to mark the start of the new tree planting season. Trees are more likely to survive if they are planted in winter. During the winter months the soil stays moist and there is less competition from surrounding vegetation. The trees only have to focus on their roots finding their way in the soil and they don’t have to use energy growing leaves and processing sunlight.At Rullion Green, university staff, students and community members helped to plant 150 beech and oak trees to improve woodland connectivity. The weather was cold, but crucially the ground wasn't frozen. School pupils from Mauricewood Primary also helped by planting 20 trees in the community activity area at Rullion Green. At Drumbrae, Bridge of Allan Primary School planted 60 aspen and downy birch trees near the path to Cocksburn Reservoir. Hopefully the pupils will return next year to check on their trees. New information panel at Rullion Green Wood With help from Friends of the Pentlands we have installed a new interpretation panel at Rullion Green. Visitors can find out more about the new woodland and delve into the past to learn about the Battle of Rullion Green which took place in 1666. With some great views of the battlefield area, the information panel provides a well-earned rest stop for those venturing up Turnhouse Hill! Community Ranger Julie, with Friends of the Pentlands volunteers after installing the panel. Drumbrae Community meeting and survey It was great to see so many people at our annual community meeting on 21 November 2025 in Bridge of Allan. The Forest and Peatland team provided some updates on what has been happening at Drumbrae, explained how people can get involved, shared our plans for an Outdoor Learning Facility at Cocksburn Woods and finished with a Q&A session. We are keen to hear from the local community and those that visit Drumbrae about your views on how Drumbrae is changing, how we are managing the land and what we can do better. We have an online survey that is open until Monday 12 January 2026 so please share your views with us. Drumbrae Annual Community Survey Rare plants at Drumbrae At Drumbrae we continue to work with the Stirling and Clackmannanshire Scottish Wildlife Trust group to bolster the local population of two important plants, common rock-rose and sticky catchfly. This autumn we planted an additional 105 plants and it was encouraging to see that many of the plants that were planted in the spring had flowered and were doing well. You can find out more about this project on our Story Map here: Rare plants at Drumbrae We have also been checking on the crab apple trees that were planted as part of the Scottish Plant Recovery project led by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE). These trees were planted earlier in the year and have been health checked and measured by volunteers, with the data helping to inform RBGE. Some of the tree saplings have had a great growing season this year, growing over 90cm in some cases! If you are interested to learn more about the RBGE project you can read about the project on their website: Scottish Plant Recovery Volunteers surveying common rock-rose plants. Want to get involved? We will have more opportunities to get involved at both Rullion Green and Drumbrae in the springtime. Events will be advertised on our volunteer page and you can also sign up to our mailing list to be kept informed.Upcoming events will be advertised on our volunteer page: Volunteering opportunities | Social Responsibility and Sustainability. If you have any questions, please email: Community.Ranger@ed.ac.uk This article was published on 2025-12-09
