As part of Gala week the Maryburgh Community Woodland Group organised a Den Building competition on Tuesday 16 June 2026.  After the success of last year we wondered if we would have as many people turn up this year. We thought we couldn’t get more people. How wrong we were! We had a slight increase in the number of teams this year – up to 17 teams.

Location, Location, Location

This time we decided to use a part of the woodland that hadn’t been used last year. We all assembled on the grassed area at Birch Drive where all the teams registered. Then everyone was led up the woodland path next to Birch Drive into the porridge bowl area. From there all the teams scattered and found the area where they thought would be the best location for their dens.

It was really surprising at how quickly the teams pulled all the necessary resources together. We did a quick wander round about 20 minutes after they started and already all the dens were really taking shape. That area was a real hive of activity. At 7.30pm the whistle went and that was it….. Build over. Then it was up to our very brave Councillors to wander round and inspect each den, before they decided who had won each category. A really difficult job as all the dens were built to a really high standard.

Refreshments

While the judges were deliberating everyone else wandered back down to the grassed area where the Community Woodland Group had organised delicious refreshments – home made fruit loaf, crisps, biscuits, teas, coffees and juice for the younger participants.

The Results

Once everyone was suitably refreshed the winners of each category were announced.

Thanks

The Community Woodland Group would like to thank everyone who turned up and helped make the night such a success. it was really brilliant to see the community coming together and having great fun in the process.

Cllrs Angela and Sean Kennedy who had the unenviable job of judging the fantastic dens.

We’d also like to thank the group members who organised the much welcome refreshments and prizes and a special thanks to Gareth Parkinson, the woodland group member, who was responsible for organising this event.

Improving the Biodiversity

All the dens were built from tree saplings and cut branches. On the 1st Saturday of each month the Community Woodland Group runs work sessions which are open to anyone to join. During these sessions, we have permissions under the Tree Preservation Order, to work our way through the woodland removing branches that are overhanging paths and removing invasive beech and western hemlock saplings and small trees. The removal of these helps provide space for the native species to grow and flourish. All the saplings and cut branches are stacked and help provide shelter for insects, birds and small mammals. At a later stage the dens will be taken down and the materials re-stacked to provide this shelter once again.

How Can I Help?

That’s easy. Why not come along to one of our monthly work sessions – they’re held on the 1st Saturday of the month, meeting on the grassed area at Birch Drive.

Another way is to help the group with future projects. The Community Woodland Group depends on the volunteers for all the work, but we also need funds to continue our work for everyone in the community. The woodland has been neglected for over half a century, and while the Community Woodland Group have cleared the core paths of young growth, groundwork contractors are now needed to repair the core paths to allow villagers of all abilities to use the woodland. If you feel you could help with fundraising, we now have a PayPal account which can be accessed using the QR Codes at any of our events or just click on the button below: