Society hears about dynamite in the dunes
The first indoor meeting of the year for the Arran Natural History Society took place last week in the rangers centre in Brodick Country Park, where Tom Byars gave an illustrated
presentation entitled Dynamite in the dunes: a natural history of the Ardeer Peninsula.
The Ardeer Peninsula in Stevenston, just across the water from Arran, with its extensive dune system, was chosen by Alfred Nobel in 1871 to site the largest explosive factory in the world.
It was later taken over by ICI and, at its peak, the site employed almost 13,000 workers in this fairly remote location and had its own railway station. The station was used solely for workers and those special visitors with business in the ICI plant, and was never a regular passenger stop. Until the mid-1960s, there were two trains per day to transport workers.
Although the line no longer exists, the abandoned platform remains, hidden beneath dense undergrowth. Today, this huge brownfield site lies mostly derelict but now nature is slowly reclaiming it. The whole peninsula, an island up to the late 17th century, comprises a varied selection of habitats that in turn support a vast array of amazing wildlife, some species of which are rarely found in Scotland.
One of the secrets of this special place is the lesser whitethroat. Tom is a scientific officer in the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research and has been studying the lesser whitethroat in Strathclyde since 1983. The main aims of the study have been looking into the dynamics of the breeding distribution, habitat requirements, feeding ecology, breeding behaviour, site fidelity and conservation strategy. He has published numerous papers and observation notes on the lesser whitethroat and was asked to write the species account in 2007 for the book The Birds of Scotland published by the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club.
Members agreed that this was an excellent start to the society indoor programme, with Tom’s illustrated presentation being full of interest and surprises. Tom ended by asking whether the peninsula’s importance for wildlife will be enough to safeguard the site from future development. There is talk of a major redevelopment, funded by investment from China, and the estate that owns the land has not shown itself to be particularly amenable to conservation up to now. On the other hand, the area desperately needs new jobs, and perhaps some balance can eventually be reached.
The next society meeting is on Thursday October 5, at 8pm in the rangers centre when Anna Schilling will give a presentation entitled: Expect the unexpected – an ancient disease squirrelled away. Everyone is welcome to attend.