Lord Ancrum's Wood

4 Stars

Usually several times a week I walk this pleasant path from Newbattle Abbey to Dalkeith where I catch a bus to work. However, this is often ruined by unruly dogs jumping up on me and generally threatening my well being. Please dog owners, keep your pets under control, and those very few who do not clean up after them, please do it!

4 Stars

I love these woods but feel they have been spoilt by the recent work on the paths. The top path was always very muddy and needed something doing to it but most of the other trails were dry most of the year and vastly preferable to the mini motorway now present. I'm especially annoyed about the path that dropped down from the top path to the river side. Maybe it'll 'weather' into something a bit more in keeping with a forest.

5 Stars

more people using woods now because of the new paths, saw tree creeper, blue tit, great tit, robins, chaffinch and i think a nuthatch although i know they are not that common this far north. Have spotted roe deer in the past as well, only downside is that wildlife is going to retreat some-what back from green space of kippielaw as the house building has started and the whole area is surrounded by herras fencing, can't use the wee hole in the wall down into the wood now, i hope there is access through the new housing into these parts of the wood, can't seem to find any plans to check this out.