Dams to Darnley Country Park

Come along for a leisurely ranger led walk though the Country Park with some furry friends.

Following on from the previous post about the work the D2D Volunteers carried out at the rifle ranges, a new map showing the route to the points of interest can now be found in the history section of the Dams to Darnley Country Park website here - https://www.damstodarnley.org/park-history

Looks like another round of updates on the work of the D2D Volunteers is going to be needed - this first one is from October and November last year when both the Thursday and Friday groups were busy at the Patterton rifle ranges.

Both the Thursday and Friday volunteer groups continue to go from strength to strength and it's meant keeping them busy has been challenging at times, but it's also meant that we've been able to tackle more tasks and not just the same things all the time which is great. One of these other tasks was making improvements at the Patterton and Darnley Rifle Ranges. This is another odd section of the Country Park because it sits cut off from the rest, being found up behind the Darnley B&Q (who kindly let us use their carpark again last year for the public walk at the ranges), so doesn't get visited as much by both visitors and volunteers even though it's steeped in history dating back to around the 1860's when it's believed the ranges were first established.

When people have visited they've often reported not being able to find the backstops of the ranges - eg. the deep trenches where the soldiers would have stood and not only indicated where shots had landed but patched and replaced the targets. On top of this, the ground conditions are very wet and the undergrowth dense, making getting around difficult so - what a great opportunity for us to improve things. Over 6 days (3 Thursdays and 3 Fridays), the volunteers cleared and marked a route on the ground including adding painted markers (white for the way out and red for the way back to the start), added steps and rope handrails on slippery slopes, made overhanging trees safe, put in corduroy paths on boggy ground (using fallen logs and wood) and of course - cleared litter.

The groups work made a huge difference that was spotted by locals who commented on the great improvements. Those on my guided walk later in the month benefitted too, but also highlighted where we needed to make some further improvements, and we did those not long after.

What better way to kick off 2026's facebook updates than with the fun end to 2025's events programme...way later than I'd planned here's some photos from the Yule Log Crafting event in December.

It was another fully booked and fantastic day with familiar and new faces in equal measure. The Christmas carols were playing (I had to force myself to put them on!), hot drinks were available, and hot glue guns were in hot demand as everyone set about crafting their logs. This year I'd managed to find just enough fallen Scots Pine for everyone (if they wanted it) - this was historically the main species used where the practice originated, although as it became associated with Christmas and spread through Europe, various local tree species were used. The decorated logs were burned in the hearth and symbolised the returning light at the winter solstice - but on speaking to folks who'd made a log last year, none of them got burned...and some even brought last years log to decorate again!

In the event email I'd suggested bringing some items to personalise logs and it was great to see that taken on board, with some great festive pieces created. I'm in the process of drafting the 2026 events programme and wreaths will return this year along with...?

The Balgray Reservoir Artwork Feasibility Project is exploring options for a public artwork within the Balgray Reservoir area. A questionnaire is now live (until 15 January 2026) if you'd like to share your views with the design team.

Share your thoughts and ideas to help inform a feasibility study for a potential art installation at Balgray reservoir within Dams to Darnley Country Park
Survey link: https://orlo.uk/eIb07

Sorry about the short notice...