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After measuring tree trunks it was time to relax with the ducks.

So, next week I embark on "Part 3" of my Conserver Level John Muir Award and will be walking coast to coast on the John Muir Way from Dunbar to Helensburgh. Much of it coincides with the National Cycle Network, so it's also a walk to mark my 10 years working at Sustrans on volunteering. "Part 1" of the Award was to do the planning and prep - organising 10 days of walking with Explore/Conserve/Share tasks along the way took a surprising amount of time, although not much to blog about. The John Muir Way website took a lot of work out of stage planning for me, but thinking through how best to organise travel, accommodation and inviting volunteers, colleagues, ex-colleagues, friends and family to join me was something I dilly-dallied on for ages, eventually putting everything in one spreadsheet, closing my eyes and hitting send to share it with almost everyone I know, then anxiously waiting to see if I would have walking buddies. I do. Quite a few of them :) And I have the John Muir Way passport to get stamped along the way. So all I need now is the weather and some good socks and a supply of jelly babies. But the Conserver Award takes 20 days. The original "Part 2" of my plan to complete this amount of time was to be some stitching craftivism projects which were supposed to be done LONG before the walk and taken with me, but which have been chronically waylaid. Maybe pounding out 134 miles will give me time to reshape that part of the plan!

We started off this years Adventure into Nature and the Environment with a visit to the Environment where our lecturer grew up and where his love for nature and the outdoors began. Our day was divided in to two sections with the first taking us to the Industrial Past of Summerlee Heritage Museum. We asked questions and wondered what life would have been like working in Steel Works smothered in black dust and smoke to deep mines filled with blackness and pin pricks of light from lanterns! The opposite as you can see is the beautiful Drumpellier Country Park where Countryside Ranger Jackie took us for a nature adventure along the very paths where our lecturer played as a boy!!!

We looked at the many shades of green all around us, the fresh air that filled our lungs and the sounds of the wild life all around us! We as questions about time and how the park had evolved and found out that it had been here for a lot longer than we first thought. Wild Flowers grew up along the path and Jackie told us that he had sewn the seeds for these over the past years. We worked with our Support Staff as we walked, talked, listened and learned guided by Countryside Ranger Jackie and one another.

One of the questions we have been tasked with finding out the answer to is 'What is Horticulture'!! With this in mind and Active Learning the Learning Vehicle we have chosen to find these answers we set of in search of 'A Hidden Garden'!! Today's Active Learning Adventure would look at not only Horticulture but also the Environment and how our city has changed and evolved over time. We would try to establish a link between our two visits and see how the environment has been positively impacted over the years through the courage and foresight of others who like us have been on their own Nature & Environmental Adventure.....

The Hidden Gardens are jam packed full of special plants and special people and are without doubt and essential part of Glasgow's future. Andrea invited us along once again this year with Head Gardener Rhona there to tell us the stories of how the gardens came to be, their purpose in the community as well as describing the many plants and their histories and purposes within the garden. We looked at fruits and vegetables, burst open peas and wondered at the corn growing triumphantly in the raised beds. We listened to Rhona and asked many, many questions about how and why the Hidden Gardens came to be. Our adventure was only just starting to grow.....

As soon as we crossed the cobbles through the rear entrance to The Hidden Garden we noticed the metal rails fixed fast into the ground and watched as they snaked their way through towards the green space beyond. Around the corner of the far away wall burst into view a sea of green, coloured flowers, shapes and textures and to top it off an array of people from throughout our communities. Again we walked and talked, asking questions with Rhona always on hand and ready to offer any answer and advice. Leaving The Hidden Garden we made our way to the Riverside Museum and the image of Trams and the Industrial Age fixed firmly in our minds! The first thing we came into contact with was the tram and horse pictured above and the images of the horses housed 'Upstairs' in the Tramway crashed into our imaginations. One of us had asked why the horses had been stabled upstairs and we learned together of the weight of horses compared to the hulking weight of the trams!!! We made our way around the fantastic Riverside Museum looking at the many forms of transport, asking how they impacted our green spaces and our lives. However before long it was time to leave and we said goodbye to another learning adventure!!!

We were kindly invited along to meet the staff at the absolutely incredible Silver Birch Nursery in Milton of Campsie. Part of our investigation involved looking at Horticulture and there was no better place to do this than at Silver Birch. Silver Birch Client Manager Shirley and her team certainly know a huge amount about the development of plants and the growth of people!! The Silver Birch Site on Antermony Road is not your average Garden Nursery and we were soon to find out exactly why!!