Bing on a bog!

The bing at Fallin is the unwanted spoil from the coal mining industry and this spoil actually lies on top of a peat bog! The bog Wester Moss is a Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest and is just to the south of Fallin Bing. The site is owned by Stirling Council and has been established as a partnership with Butterfly Conservation and the local community of Fallin. 

A volunteer with a leaf beetle on Wester Moss (c) Suzanne Bairner

Wester Moss is a lowland raised bog and these habitats are important for a wide range of wildlife species. Lowland raised bogs are a very scarce habitat and are typically found in the wetter parts of Britain within the north and west. Nearly 90% of their former area has been lost in Scotland.

Invertebrate species of conservation concern that have been recorded at Wester Moss include the Large heath butterfly (Coenonympha tullia) and the Bog sun-jumper spider (Heliophanus dampfi). 

Bog sun-jumper spider (Heliophanus dampfi) on Wester Moss (c) Lorne Gill

The Large heath is Britain’s only bog specialist butterfly and its caterpillars can even survive short periods underwater when its foodplant, Hare’s-tail Cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum) gets submerged.

The Bog sun-jumper is a tiny spider with distinctive fluorescent green legs and mouthparts. This species has only been recorded from a handful of other sites across Britain including Flanders Moss and Ochtertyre Moss that are both near Stirling.

Other wildlife and plants recorded at Wester Moss include Emperor moths (Saturnia pavonia), Hieroglyphic ladybird (Coccinella hieroglyphica), Common lizard (Zootoca vivipara), Round leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) and the Nationally Scarce Bog-rosemary (Andromeda polifolia). 

The Hieroglyphic ladybird (Coccinella hierglyphica) (c) Steven Falks

Butterfly Conservation and Stirling Council are working to restore the bog to its former glory and work to create more ditches and to remove birch scrub is on-going. There is a habitat creation day on Saturday the 9^th of November (10am-3.30pm) and Wednesday the 13^th of November (10am-3.30pm) that everyone is welcome to attend for as little or as long as they want. For more information about the day and to book a place contact Scott Mason (Apprentice Ranger, Land Services), Stirling Council, Allan Water House, Kerse Road, Stirling, FK7 7TE, Tel:  01786 237792, E-mail: masonsc@stirling.gov.uk

For further habitat creation days at Wester Moss check out Butterfly Conservations website: http://butterfly-conservation.org/842/scotland.html

Life underground and its difficulties!

Working in a coal mine was not an easy job for anyone. Before health and safety was improved during the 1940’s life underground was fraught with danger! One wrong move could lead to broken bones, loss of limbs or even death. In 1947, the coal pit at Polmaise was nationalised and safety was vastly improved but from when it opened in 1904 till then, 35 miners had lost there life and more than this were severely injured. 

A coal miner at work underground (Image taken from Wikimedia Commons).

Most of the accidents in the pit were because of underground explosions caused by sparks coming off boring hammers which ignited any gas in the surrounding air. Another main cause of accidents was due to rock fall and this was often due to the limited amount of tools the miners would have with them that consisted of a shovel and a pick. The most important thing when working in the pit was to get the supports up to prevent rock fall and potential accidents.

With the death of a miner, many families were left without the main breadwinner and the family would be left to endure many hardships. In a small village like Fallin, neighbours, relations and friends would band together and help the family. With the change in safety laws, this improved the lives of many families as well as the community of Fallin and other nearby coal mining villages such as Plean and Cowie.

Miners waiting to head home from the coal mine (Image taken from Wikimedia Commons).

Below are only a handful of fatal accidents that happened in the early years at Polmaise Colliery pits 3 and 4 at Fallin (taken from Scottish Mining Website http://scottishmining.co.uk/352.html):

12^th February 1923- miner killed and another seriously injured at number 3 pit at Polmaise Colliery, Fallin when a large portion of the roof of one of the roads fell on them.

8^th May 1923- body of a fireman from the mine was found in the morning in number 3 pit after he went to make an inspection of the pit. On failing to return a search party was sent to look for him and he was found dead.

2^nd October 1925- fatal accident of a miner in number 3 pit when 2 tons of rock fell from the roof. The miner was pinned under the debris where he was found dead.

26^th February 1926- large stone weighing 13 cwts fell and seriously injured a miner about the head and he was taken to Stirling Royal Infirmary where he later died of his injuries.

16^th November 1928- Miner crushed by large stone at number 3 pit and was removed to Stirling Royal Infirmary where he died shortly after arrival. He was employed at Polmaise Colliery in Fallin for 21 years.

30^th August 1931- Miner dies in Stirling Royal Infirmary of internal injuries from rock fall from the roof of the mine the previous week.

1^st July 1934- Miner killed and several injured after an accident in the cages at number 3 pit after they overwound the cage. Seven men were descending the pit at the time and six were coming to the surface. The miners in the descending cage, which struck the pit bottom, were most seriously injured. The accident occurred when the afternoon shift was succeeding the day shift and miners going to their work helped carry the injured men from the pithead to the ambulance room. The joiner's shop was utilized for this purpose. The injured men were brought to the surface using number 4 shaft. Another miner later succumbed to his death.

Creating banks for bees!

Our habitat creation day at Fallin Bing on Tuesday this week was a great success with 14 volunteers from The Conservation Volunteers and the Green Gym coming along to help clear birch scrub from along the pathways and also create 2 bee banks. We were lucky as the sun was out and the rain clouds held off!

Before the area was cleared of birch scrub....

....and after.

When we arrived at site we decided to focus on clearing the birch scrub. After lunch, when the Green Gym turned up we split the group into two. Part of the group carried on with clearing scrub and the rest went to create a couple of bee banks. The banks add a topographical interest to the relatively flat slopes of the bing. They will be perfect for warmth loving invertebrate species such as ground beetles and spiders and also butterflies that like these areas for basking.

Volunteers creating the bee bank.

There was lots of wildlife out and about including Pink footed geese flying overhead. Fungi were growing up everywhere including this beautiful purple mushroom seen in the photo below.

A beautiful purple mushroom at Fallin.

This is the last of the habitat creation days this year but we will be back at Fallin next year to run some more bug walks as well as other activities- so look out for more information on the blog.