Had a wee wander trhough another of Edionburgh’s hidden gems, Ravestone Woods Local Nature Reserve. Here’s a few pics.
The park is a haven for wildlife; native trees include oak, ash and holly which are mixed with a number of planted exotics like horse chestnut and larch. The first record of this ancient woodland appears in 1826. Enjoy a walk through the woods in the spring and discover the rich carpet of Scottish Bluebells which covers the woodland floor. Look out for typical woodland birds such as robin, blackbird and wren. Tree-creepers and woodpeckers can also be found sharing the wood with raptors such as tawny owls and buzzards.
Alongside foxes, mice, voles and shrews, Ravelston has a thriving population of badgers.
My work background is in operational meteorology and in my career I have been involved in forecasting for everything from bananas to jumbo jets.I joined the Met Office 1974 as an observer at Glasgow Airport. After training as a forecaster, I worked as an Operational aviation forecaster at various defence sites and airports. In 1982, I moved to Glasgow Weather Centre as a forecaster and STV broadcaster till 1988. He then took up a post as Senior Forecaster London Weather Centre, then Senior Forecaster ITV where I qualified as a trainer in presentation techniques for the ITV Association. After being diagnosed with MS, he moved into management and became Head of London Weather Centre in 1997 followed by a period of front-line management for Southern England and Europe covering London and Cardiff Weather Centres and the Met Offices on defence stations from Akrotiri in Cyprus to St Mawgan in Cornwall. He took up the post of Met Office Chief Advisor for Scotland & Northern Ireland in March 2008 and moved to Edinburgh. I retired in September 2014. My one claim to fame is once performed a comedy sketch on TV with Manuel (Andrew Sachs) from Fawlty Towers in support of Comic Relief.
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