Friends of Corstorphine Hill

The Corstorphine Fair Quiz - In Which Park?

Next Saturday, June 6th, the FOCH will join Clermiston, Drumbrae, Gyle, Union and St. Margaret's Park at the Corstorphine Fair from 11am - 4pm.

You can win 'Afternoon Tea for Two' at the Prahna Indian Grill on St John's Road https://theprahna.co.uk/ by successfully completing the Corstorphine Fair Quiz - In Which Park along with giving a few details about yourself that you can find at: https://friendsofstmargaretspark.wordpress.com/corstorphine-fair-quiz/.

Perhaps Geraldine, Robin and Patrick, volunteers at the Walled Garden on Corstorphine Hill will see you on Stand 38 at the Fair?

Come along and ask Geraldine that question about horticulture and gardening that you've been wanting to know the answer to.

Join in children's games games such as bug hunting, hook a duck, bean bag toss and guess what's in the bucket by feel alone and meet with volunteers from the other local Parks.

We look forward to seeing you .

https://friendsofstmargaretspark.wordpress.com/corstorphine-fair-quiz/

Photograph: edinburghnews.scotsman.com>Kevin Quinn

🌳The Corstorphine Hill Tower is open! 🌳

🕑 Sunday 2 - 4pm 🕓

Great views despite the showers today 😊 A reminder that our lovely volunteers are opening the Tower every Sunday until end September. Entry is free, but donations are gratefully recieved, to support the work of FoCH. Thank you 🙏

Huge thanks to our Walled Garden volunteers! 🌟
The Walled Garden is looking wonderful just now! 😍
In particular the tree peony and azalea 🏵🌳🌼 The tulips are still adding to the colour too! ⚘️

Looking for a corporate Volunteering day? The Green Team Edinburgh & Lothians can host you on our very own Hill - taking on the very important work of invasive species management is critical to ensuring biodiversity remains on our slopes. Well done all!

🌷 🐸 Tulips and tadpoles! 🐸 🌷

Spent a lovely morning pottering in the Walled Garden at the weekend with the kids. So much bright colour to see, especially the tulips which were incredible! 🌷 (Though we returned after the hail shower, and noticed that some had been quite badly damaged.)

The tadpole buckets are wriggling... with the drier weather we have put small buckets to maintain the spawn, topping them up with fresh water periodically. Hope to watch them develop in the coming weeks!

Corstorphine Hill - Geology and Panoramas

**Event update** Due to the nature of the walk, we will need to implement a limit on numbers. We have taken note of the interest shown as of 14-May and will inform how many remaining spaces we have once we have included our Member sign up. This information will be included in the Event (to follow).

On Sunday June 21st at 10:00am the Friends of Corstorphine Hill (FOCH) is hosting a walk around the Hill to explore how geological events and processes came together over 340 million years ago to create this important geological site. The walk will be led by Dr Angus Miller, Teaching Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and contributor to the work of the Scottish Geological Trust and Edinburgh Geological Society as well as owner of his own business, Geowalks. Learn from Angus about "the wonderful geological story of Scotland" and "how this geology plays out in our landscape and the variety of rocks and the way that people have lived in Scotland" as well as continuing geological processes that are going on to shape how the planet works, even now. You'll learn not only about geology but discover some archaeology curiosities too. Known about by many, but only seen by those who know where to look, we'll visit the "well-formed cup markings", rediscovered in 1921 that were probably created by Neolithic or early Bronze Age people (c3600-1500 BC) and of course, enjoy bird song, wild flowers and trees (and perhaps even animals at the edge of the Zoo if we are lucky.

We will meet and finish at the Walled Garden, 109-111 Clermiston Road, EH12 6UR. The walk will take about two hours. We will walk on well marked and maintained paths but there are some steep areas so that you should be reasonably fit and you should wear appropriate footwear and clothing suitable for the weather on the day.

This is a great time to join us as 2026 is the tercentenary anniversary of the birth of Edinburgh philosopher, James Hutton widely described as the Father of modern geology who made significant contributions to our understanding of the Earth and agriculture.

Donations gratefully accepted to support the work of the FOCH.

🌱🏵Wildflowers

🌸 May is great month to look for wild flowers on the hill.
🌼 Lots of flowers are starting to bloom in the (slightly!) warmer weather ☀️

🧐 Today I spotted Garlic mustard, the blue- flowered Green alkanet, Common wood sorrell, Lesser celandine, Bluebells, Red campion and the tiny blue-flowered Speedwell, amongst others.

🌳 The hill is really coming alive now with leaves on the trees and lots of bird song too! 🐦‍⬛🎶

🪶🪵 Woodpeckers! 🪵🪶

I stopped and watched a woodpecker busily at work this morning, in the tall trees off the sledging field, directly opposite the Walled Garden. Amazing to see. I had listened to likely the same bird yesterday evening, too!

🪶 Woodpeckers are true woodland characters; the species you’re most likely to see on Corstorphine Hill is the Great Spotted Woodpecker.
🌳 These birds can create a nesting hole in a dead or decaying tree in around two to three weeks.
🔨 They manage this impressive feat thanks to a strong, chisel‑like bill and a shock‑absorbing skull, which protects their brain as they hammer away at the wood.
❗ An extra clever adaptation: stiff tail feathers act like a prop, helping them brace against the tree while drilling.
🎨 Great Spotted Woodpeckers are bold and eye‑catching, with black‑and‑white markings, a flash of red under the tail, and (on males) a red patch on the back of the head. 🪵🪶

You might see one at work if you manage a wonder out on this lovely warm day 😊

🍀 ️Corstorphine Hill Tower - Volunteers needed! 🍀

Good morning all! We are looking to increase our pool of volunteers who kindly give a few hours as often as it suits them, to help us open the Corstorphine Hill Tower every Sunday from May through Sept, 2pm - 4pm, for visitors.

Unfortunately our volunteer numbers are running low, which means we may not be able to continue with this popular event on a weekly basis, unless we are able to recruit some additional volunteers.

This fun and interesting role would be to:

🌿 Meet at the tower on agreed dates (could be once a month, could be twice a season. Up to you!)

🌿 Meet the regular volunteers who will give you an overview of what happens and what you can do (it's very relaxed, no prior knowledge of the tower or hill required!)

🌿 Chat to visitors to the tower! (If they ask any questions, our website has a lot of info and is an easy reference for answers!)

🌿 Enjoy yourself, and learn something about the hill!

If you might be interested in supporting FoCH, learning more about our wonderful Hill and the tower on it, and supporting the work we do in conservation of the Hill, then we would love to hear from you!

Please email [email protected]

Thanks,

Friends of Corstorphine Hill Committee

🌿🚨 CALL FOR VOLUNTEER HELP - WIX 🚨🌿

The birds are getting louder, the paths are greening up—and we really need your help to support our own fresh start 💚

Friends of Corstorphine Hill are looking for someone with WIX experience (or just good digital skills!) to help us set up a membership management system on our website.

This will make a huge difference to how we support the hill and our community. 🙌

But we can’t do it without a bit of extra help… and we need it soon. ⏳

👉 If you can spare some time, or even just offer guidance, please message us or email us.

Your support—big or small—will go a long way. 🌱💻

Thank you for caring for Corstorphine Hill and helping us protect this special place. 💚🌳

— Friends of Corstorphine Hill