Dunbar is a small fishing port situated on the East Lothian coast of Scotland about 30 miles east of Edinburgh. It has a population of circa 7000 people and within it’s southern boundary are Lochend Woods.

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Interactive Map

The map on the left is designed to give you an idea of where Dunbar is situated and where you can find Lockend Woods.

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Be our guest and click on the icons and
play about a bit. You will soon see where we are.
(The red marker is a bit of a give-away!)

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Lochend Woods form a lovely part of our town and for those of us lucky enough to live close to them, they play an integral part of our lives too.

The Dunbar Community Woodland Group
is committed to preserving and managing them
for future generations.

Lochend Woods belong to the townsfolk of Dunbar

The care and maintenance of these woods is the responsibility of all who live in the town.

The Dunbar Community Woodland Group (D.C.W.G.) is a Registered Charity and was set up to oversee these responsibilities. Membership is open to anyone and everyone.

The Group’s activities include fundraising and liaison with organisations such as the Forestry Commission to ensure the woods are looked after properly.

Will you help us please?

We need you to help us – but the level of your commitment is down to you!

You can simply join the Group as an Single Member (or you and your family can join collectively) and pay your annual Membership Fees. These are currently £5.00 for a Single Member or £10.00 for a Family Membership.
(We need subscriptions to pay for day-to-day running costs and expenses.)

PLUS, you are very welcome to come along to the regular meetings we hold and contribute to the running and administration of the Group – or simply attend as an observer.
(Meeting dates, times and venues will be posted on the ‘Latest News’ Page. However, if you Subscribe to this site, you will automatically be notified as items to the ‘Latest Page’ are added.)

PLUS, you can help us with the minor maintenance projects that we get involved with such as footpath upkeep, litter collection and tree planting etc.

IN RETURN you will receive our bi-annual Newsletter, gain a lot of satisfaction from knowing you are doing your bit and make new friends – no matter how small your involvement.

Lochend Woods belong to the townsfolk of Dunbar and we are simply looking after them for future generations.

OUR AIMS:

• To manage Lochend Woods as a community resource for the benefit of everyone in Dunbar.
• Maximise potential for educational and recreational use, and to value wildlife.
• Encourage all who use the woods to treat them with respect, to clear litter and to discourage damage to the trees and wildlife habitats.
• To steward the environment, and maintain pathways and waterways.

Why Join?

If you are interested in:-

• Conservation of woodlands and wildlife.
• Hands on experience.
• Supporting an important community initiative.
• The opportunity to influence and participate in the development of the woodland.

If you would like to become a Member of the Group, you can do so now – or at anytime in the future by using the facility provided on the right hand side of each page.  Alternatively, use our Contact Form to get in touch.

Anyone joining before April 2010 will not have to renew their Membership until April 2011.

Lochend Woods: An overview and a brief summary of current management proposals.

Lochend Woods are part of what was once the Lochend Estate and contain the old garden and some ruins. It has been a managed woodland since the 18th. Century but the trees now growing in the woodland (mostly Sycamore and Scots Pine) were planted shortly after the 2nd. World War, circa 1947-50, the previous trees having been cleared and used to help the ‘War Effort’. A recent survey shows that the natural woodland on this site would have been predominantly Ash (with Field Maple) and Alder (with Elder) in the wetter areas. The woodland is currently quite low in conservation value and there are many dead, dying and fallen trees, wet and overgrown paths and some dumping.

The new management aims are equally to improve the:

• Safety
• Accessibility: for walkers and cyclists
• Recreation opportunities
• Wildlife value
• Educational opportunities
• Appearance (landscape)
• Timber value

The kind of work planned will include:

• Developing educational activities with local schools.
• Removing unsafe trees but leaving some dead trees for wildlife.
• Creating more open spaces, slowly thinning dense areas and encouraging more ground flora
• Removing the Spruce trees and gradually bringing in more native trees
• Managing some of the trees to produce timber
• Creating a clearing as a children’s play space.
• A whindust surfaced path through the centre of the woodland
• Creating or re-surfacing other smaller paths and making bridges and boardwalks where necessary.
• Using some of the felled trees to make benches etc. along the paths.
• Putting up simple notice boards at key points.
• Managing the pond and wetland areas for wildlife

A report from our recent community consultation will be available shortly and will be used in finalising a long-term management plan.

Dunbar Community Woodland Group manages Lochend Woods as a community woodland for the benefit of everyone in Dunbar, in order to maximise the potential for education and recreational use, and the value to wildlife.

As part of the new housing development at Hallhill/Lochend, work is to be carried out over a ten year period in order to make some improvements to the approximately 80 acres of woodland that once formed the policy grounds of Lochend House (no longer standing. The woods are in the area bounded to the south by the A1, to the east by the Spott road, to the west by Hallhill, and to the north by the existing Lochend housing estate. Please view map.). It is hoped that perhaps, after the development has taken place, ownership of the woods would come to the community. One proposal is that it could be owned by the Dunbar Community Development Company, and DCWG take responsibility for the management of the woods.

In any event during the period of development, the opportunity exists for the community to influence the plan of work that is due to be undertaken, to ensure that the work carried out is sympathetic to the woods and to the needs of the community. Many people already use these woods for walking and recreation; and use of the woods will almost certainly increase as up to 500 families move into the new houses of the development, and improvements are made to the woods.

In the absence of management in recent times, there are many dead and diseased trees to be removed. Necessary thinning and replanting are due to take place; rubbish is to be removed. A play area is to be established and maintained, and significant work to establish a network of paths through the woods, and more.

What do you think? Do you use these woods? Would you use these woods once improvements had taken place? Are you simply interested in natural habitat around Dunbar and East Lothian generally? Be involved, have your say, give your support to this community initiative intended to benefit all, and to maintain and improve our local environment.

The photographs on this site were taken by Group Member Andrew Morris