Course: Grassland Management and Mowing Regimes

Join us for our seventh Climate FORTH Environmental Skills Session at Lochore Meadows Country Park

Climate FORTH - Contractor Environmental Skills - Lochore Meadows Country Park

TCV in partnership with Climate FORTH are delivering a series of 8 on site environmental skills sessions to build skills, confidence and experience in habitat management techniques that deliver climate adaptation and mitigation.

This workshop series is aimed at contractors, land managers and people looking to move in to the environmental sector.

All events in this series are standalone events covering different topics/areas, you do not need to have attended previous events and you are welcome to attend multiple.

Our seventh session will be held at Lochore Meadows Country Park, Crosshill hosted by the Fife Coast & Countryside Trust.

In this session we will discuss:

• Comparing the various management options for grasslands and other habitats within the Park
• Focus on choosing the most suitable machinery for the task, with opportunities to see the alpine tractor and walk-behind units in operation.
• Walk round the Park visiting sites and discussions of past management history and options for the future
• Look at the challenges and opportunities that may be brought about by a change in mowing regimes
• The different options, flail, drum mower, reciprocating mower etc.

An introduction to Lochore Meadows

Situated in the heart of Fife, Lochore Meadows Country Park has over 1,200 acres to explore. It’s a great place to visit with a wide range of leisure and recreational activities that cater for all the family. With a beautiful loch at the heart of the park, it provides opportunities for walking, bird-watching cycling, fishing, paddling, playing in the playpark or enjoying a picnic or barbecue with friends and family.

Lochore Meadows boasts an incredible variety of habitats including wildflower meadows, park land and ancient woodlands. As the name suggests, the grasslands are a prominent feature of the park. Before the Second World War, meadows awash with wildflowers and humming with insects would have been a familiar sight across lowland UK. But in recent years, over 95% of our lowland meadows have disappeared. At Lochore Meadows Country Park we have around 12 acres of traditional meadow spread across 6 sites, and many areas of grazed grasslands which are manged in a positive manner to increase biodiversity. By ensuring that the land is looked after sympathetically for wildlife, we can create A Living Landscape: a network of habitats and wildlife corridors across town and country, benefitting both wildlife and people.

Further information can be found here.

What to expect on the day

Meeting Point

We aim to meet from 10 to 10.30am - Meet at the Willie Clark Centre entrance. The What 3 Words meeting point is - ///mows.locate.regard

Free on street car parking is available at the Lochore Meadows Country Park, Car Park.

Where possible, please use active travel, public transport or car share.

Travel

If you are traveling by public transport, you can journey plan with Traveline Scotland.

The local Stagecoach bus numbers 20 and 20A buses come into the heart of the park several times a day, Mondays to Saturdays. There’s a bus stop outside our visitor centre and it saves you having to make the walk along the long driveway.

The number 19 bus also passes the main entrance to the park up to every ten minutes. You can download the timetables from the Stagecoach website.

Lochgelly train station is around 1.6 miles away.

We are able to offer reasonable expenses for travel, if you would like to discuss travel arrangements, please contact [email protected]

What to Wear

Please bring appropriate footwear to suit the conditions but expect mud.

We will be outside for the duration of the session so please bring warm clothes and a waterproof.

Refreshments

We will be providing teas, coffees and sweet snacks. Please feel free to bring along water and lunch you would like for the session and advise us of any allergies.

For any other questions or to discuss the sessions please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected]