Category Archives: Views

January 2018 round-up.

16 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by in Headstones and monuments, Information, Nature, Views

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Various days in January 2018.

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January 1st…

This caught our eye in passing. Had to clear it a bit! Aside from a slur on Scotia’s Darling Seat, it’s an unusual choice of Biblical quotation – not to mention those serpents emerging from the bosses. It’s Hebrews Ch.13 V.14 (and I rather like V.16 also). Didn’t find the cross’s base, so we don’t know who was commemorated. Yet…

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Started as a lovely day! Rained later, though.

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Today there was formed a sub-group entitled “The Rebellious Bored”. And off we went grave-hunting. Here’s the evidence. Yes, there really is an upright stone in there! And now some will understand why we call this area “The Jungle”..

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January 3rd…

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This blue tit is house-hunting already. It checked out this gap in the stonework, disappearing inside twice as I watched.

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The visiting bird-ringer wrote…

I thought, as we’re in the new year now, I’d give everyone a round up of the bird Ringing activities in the cemetery for 2017.
So since July I’ve ringed almost 80 birds at Warriston, the majority of which have been long-tailed tits with massive flocks passing through the area. The highlight being a couple of redwing, a winter visitor, which have been identified as the Scandinavian race or subspecies rather than the Icelandic/Greenland.
Hopefully these birds start turning up in far away lands and give us some valuable information on migration and distributions.
I also do some moth sampling and came across a phyllonorycter messaniella (a leaf mining moth) larvae on the resident holm oak (Pictured below). Which was an interesting find for me.
It’s been great to speak to those who’ve shown an interest and thank you for co-operating and being helpful by avoiding the mist nets when they’ve been set up as I do try to keep away from all the main paths and stick to quiet periods of the day.

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Bold robin.

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January 5th…

For those interested, three more recently identified brick maker marks to add to the five previously posted. The bricks were used for various outbuildings and walls in the head gardener’s cottage area. *Winchburgh* – Winchburgh Brick Works, Winchburgh, West Lothian. *NCB P-Grange* –
Prestongrange Brick, Tile and Fireclay Works, Prestonpans, East Lothian. *Vogrie* – Vogrie Brick and Tile Works, Newlandrif, Gorebridge, Midlothian.

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January 6th…

After a couple of days of rain, we had a light sunny day. What this photograph can’t show, though, is the raw and chilly easterly breeze! Still, it wasn’t nearly as bad as the conditions on the North American continent.

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Some bulbs, impatient for Spring. Aren’t we all!

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January 8th…

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January 11th…

A good day for birding. Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Buzzard, Great Spotted Woodpecker.

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January 13th…

Here they come…

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January 16th…

16/01/2018. Between light snowfalls.

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January 17th…

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January 18th…

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January 19th…

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January 29th…

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December 2017 round-up.

03 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by in Headstones and monuments, Information, Nature, Revelations, Views

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We’ve undertaken a joint project with the Council’s Trees & Woodland Officer. Up in the north-east corner there’s a bank which had a load of diseased ash trees (plus too many sycamores and the usual ivy, brambles, nettles, and some convolvulus). Nearby residents had expressed concern. We’ve removed a lot of the undesirable growth – more to go still! Some elm saplings, plus a birch and a hazel have been left in place, plus this mass of mature ivy up a tree trunk.We received 120 shrubs and hedge plants from The Woodland Trust and we’ve been planting them beside the fence. About 80 in, so about 40 to go yet. The second photograph shows some of the clear tubes protecting the new plants. The residents are now receiving more light and warmth into the south-facing rooms and into their drying green. They’re happy! (See the two photos below.)

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Something a bit different. Edinburgh skyline from the south perimeter of the cemetery. (See the three photos below)

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‘Secret Garden’ work.

09 Sunday Oct 2016

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This double wall-mounted monument has had some of the weight of a thick tangle of ivy taken off the top. Here are before and after shots. As well as relieving pressure on the stonework and wall, this helps more light to bathe the section. A section which, until recently, had very little light coming through thanks to so much ivy running wild for many years. The difference is incredible already, with more work to be done this Winter.

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Recently re-discovered stones in the Secret Garden

09 Sunday Oct 2016

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We thought we’d found all the stones in The Secret Garden under ivy and earth etc. There are still some substantial headstones to be tidied up but as they are near a wasp nest we’ve decided to wait until they are no longer a danger to us. The following photos (befores and afters) show a trio of small stones very recently liberated from under years of accumulated organic debris.

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Revealing an obelisk.

26 Friday Aug 2016

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Revealing an obelisk in the Secret Garden. At first sight, it was really hard to tell there was an obelisk here as it looked just like a tree with thick ivy covering the entire stone compressed together resembling tree bark plus the huge leafy canopy above. There must have been a lot of weight pressing down on the stone and the ivy caused a bit of damage to the stone facings. Here are some before, during and after shots of the reveal. Work had to be carried out very carefully, as always. The last photo is of the ‘crown’ removed from the apex. Some ivy had been removed during a previous work party session.

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August 18th, 2016. More ‘Secret garden’ work.

19 Friday Aug 2016

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A before and after sequence in the ‘Secret Garden’ area. The brambles had to be cut back because they had simply over-ran the ground and were in a poor state of health, producing few flowers and even less viable berries. The lack of sunlight caused them to reach out, seeking as much light as possible. This lead to a thick mass of interwoven stalks and some of the inner branches had already died or were dying. They also obscured several headstones so had to be cut right back. We will attempt to keep them under control when they produce new growth so that they will be healthy enough to produce flowers and fruit to keep the wildlife happy.

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