The support came after Gifford Community Woodland project manager Neville Kilkenny recently contacted Tillicoultry Quarries director Wallace Menzies with the hope of securing materials to improve the drainage and improve accessibility to the woodland, which is just three miles away from Tillicoultry's Longyester Quarry.
Kilkenny said: “With Longyester Quarry on our doorstep, enabling us to minimise our environmental impact, and having been a customer of Tillicoultry Quarries myself, I hoped to secure some much-needed local business support to reprofile and maintain the drainage ditches using perforated pipework backfilled with 100 tonnes of gravel. They didn’t disappoint and we were delighted when they said yes.”
He added that the Community Woodland at Gifford has become an important resource to the local and broader community for both health and well-being, as well as in terms of it being an example of a native broad leaf woodland in Scotland.
The footfall within the woodland and on East Lothian’s path network has significantly increased since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic as many of the community use it as the main destination for daily recreational walks and outdoor exercise.
Menzies commented: “As a family business, Tillicoultry Quarries prides itself on giving back to local people, businesses and communities. It’s an important part of who we are as a company, as we know our successes are firmly rooted in the local communities which we work and live in.
“Given the environmental importance of the work being done at Gifford Community Woodland, it’s positive impacts on the local community – especially throughout Covid-19 – and with its proximity to our Longyester Quarry, we were only too pleased to offer our support."
