Convener’s Chat – Winter 2009-10
Well, how delighted were most of you with the last issue emailed to all who have an email address? Full of colour as well as literary delight? Those who received it in magazine form, through the post, at greater expense to us missed out on the colour. This a historic issue as well, as it is the last issue edited by Susan Milligan. Actually, it is being edited by both Susan and Debra Hopkins, who is being good enough to take over as editor. So a big thank-you to them both, one to Susan for six years of hard work, and the other to Debra, who has taken this on as a very new FORK.
Cliff Giddings has organised two excellent canoe trips on Loch Lomond. I am not a canoeist so cannot judge, but have heard how good they have been and they are free! A FORK has hired Cliff to take her, members of her family and work colleagues on a trip and they loved it. Now there is a Christmas present with a difference!
I have written about our (that is ‘our’ rather than FORK’s) goldfinches that feed outside the window I can look out of as I write. They continue to arrive no matter what the weather. Recently, a very handsome bird of prey – a male sparrowhawk – arrived and sat on our rowan tree. To my knowledge, it was the first time Fionna or I had ever seen one, but he was unmistakable! What an excitement! I may say the goldfinches have made themselves very scarce which is not surprising, as we read that the sparrowhawks’ main dishes are finches and birds of a similar kind.
Yesterday FORK was invited to have a stall in Anniesland College’s hall. Charles Thompson, of Ha’penny Bridge House fame, arranged a splendid show. We were up and running from 10 a.m. to shortly before 2 p.m. There were six other stalls. We were beautifully looked after, being treated to warm scones with butter and jam, and tea and coffee, and lunch in their excellent refectory.
The natural follow-on from this is that we will be able to attend, with Charles’s permission, many more public events and so get our name better known. Our (Fionna’s and my) little car can transport Charles and his exhibition with ease and yesterday Ann Brackenridge was good enough to join us in case we got too busy for Charles and me to cope.
If anyone has not attended any of Louis Kitchen’s river ‘three-minute kicks’ before or after our clean-ups, they are excellent and fascinating I am told! (See page 11.) Louis (one pronounces the ‘s’ at the end of his name) is a highly qualified biologist and we are jolly lucky to have him. So, those of you who rather like this idea, come along to the clean-ups! And while talking about them, the barbecue that Charles cooked us after the last clean-up was excellent and fun. Most of us ate it in the dry and comparatively warm Ha’penny Bridge House.
Winter 2009-10 edition of FORK News