Who we are
Hamilton Claypits LNR Management Group is a charity,
run by volunteers who are passionate about fostering the Claypits as a place that is a haven for wildlife and a source of wellbeing, enjoyment and learning for our local communities.
The Hamiltonhill Claypits Local Nature Reserve Management Group is a community group of volunteers.
We are a registered charity. We work in common interest with the landowners, Scottish Canals and Glasgow City Council, to maintain and promote awareness of the ecology and heritage of the Claypits.
Our objectives are to ‘Increase awareness of, access to and understanding of ecology and natural heritage.’ and ‘Enable protection, and enhancement of ecology and natural heritage.’
As the Management Group, we want to:
- Ensure everyone can access and enjoy all that the Claypits has to offer.
- Promote connections between all of our diverse communities and nature.
- Provide opportunities to appreciate the ecology and history of the Claypits for the surrounding communities
- Promote the site to visitors and tourists.
- Protect and enhance the ecology, natural heritage and biodiversity of the site.
MEMBERS
We are a diverse group of volunteers, living in the local community and passionate about caring for nature and community through the Claypits.
Angela McCormick
“I am Angela McCormick and I am on the Claypits LNR Management Group because I love the fact we have this amazing place right on our doorstep, where I live and grew up.
The Claypits should be where everyone can go to relax, play, enjoy the view, the wildlife and the peace and quiet. I go to see the goldfinches, greenfinches and bullfinches. Whatever your interest, if we see it as belonging to all our communities then we can make sure it really does have something for everyone.
I’m particularly keen to help get more people involved. We need you, so become a member and help us get better!”
Richard Weddle
“I am Richard Weddle and I am a biodiversity enthusiast with a particular interest in insects.
When I’m not setting up moth traps in the claypits and beyond I am a database manager for the Glasgow Museums Biological Record Centre.”
Ellen McCann
“I am Ellen McCann and I was brought up in Ruchill so the parks and canal were my adventure playground. I have fond memories of this wonderful area and I am glad to be involved with the stakeholders of this ongoing regeneration work.
I am glad to volunteer and will put to good use my public engagement skills and administration experience in my role as secretary of the Claypits Local Nature Reserve Management Group. As this is a small charity we have more hands-on input and it is an exciting opportunity to become part of a passionate team who make a tangible contribution to the local community and area.”
Colin Thomson
“I am Colin Thomson. Having had a great interest in the natural world from an early age hearing about the planned Claypits Nature Reserve project was really fantastic. I remember going birdwatching around the countryside in and around Glasgow and beyond when I was a kid and loving it! Since then I’ve cared about and kept an interest in wild spaces and am excited about how people, young and old, can feel it’s for them too and take a greater interest in how the natural word lives and thrives! The Claypits is right on our doorstep, so from nature trails to fun events it’s a place I hope to see grow in popularity and simply give people the “feel good factor” we are all nourished by.”
Bob Alston
“I am Bob Alston and I fill my retirement with lots of different projects including the Woodside Community Council Chair, Queens Cross Housing Association Community Involvement Group Chair and on the Residents Task Force.
I set up the Eiger Music charity Project Board of Woodside Health Centre , Hillhead Area Partnership, North West Area Planning Partnership and I Volunteer with Scottish Canals.”
Reiko Goto Collins
“I am Reiko Goto Collins an environmental artist working in the Collins + Goto Studio in the Glasgow Sculpture studios in the Whisky Bond building. Our studio has been working on the sound of trees and deep mapping of native woodlands in Scotland for the last ten years. I am interested in how we engage with nature through creative acts?
Hamiltonhill Claypits is important because it is an open green space, a public space that provides freedom, a sense of natural vitality and tranquility. It provides opportunity and experience that is more than city streets. It brings a diverse community into a relationship with natural biodiversity. Most important is this place is a home for recovering nature, it then connects to other green spaces. It needs care (we all need care) and support from communities.
My current interest is making the place greener and more diverse by collecting native trees and listening to the new stories that emerge as people gather to plant them at the Claypits together.”
Tim Collins
“I am Tim Collins another environmental artist working at the Whisky Bond and living in North Kelvinside. I grew up in a town dominated by a polluted river and an old empty textile mills in West Warwick, Rhode Island. Reiko and I lived and worked on the abandoned steel mills of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania for ten years.
When we came to Scotland, we were drawn to the claypits as well as the shale bings around Winchburgh and Livingston. We also spent time visiting the six largest Caledonian pine forests in Scotland. We explore, read and write, conduct research and produce a range of artworks with a focus on nature, and its recovery. I believe that these new public spaces have a natural body, a community body and a narrative body.
What do we do? It is probably more than what you expect. look here collinsandgoto.com, listen here collinsgotostudio1.bandcamp.com/album/plein-air-sylva-datum-musica.”
Reuben Aspden
“I am Reuben Aspden and I love getting having the Claypits on my doorstep. I love being outdoors and it’s amazing being able to walk round the Claypits and feel like I’m escaping from the city even though I’m still in the middle of it. I love organising events and getting as many folks as possible involved whether at the Claypits or when I volunteer down at the Grove on Saracen St and with Clay Community Church.
Having had a great interest in the natural world from an early age hearing about the planned Claypits Nature Reserve project was really fantastic. I remember going birdwatching around the countryside in and around Glasgow and beyond when I was a kid and loving it!
Since then I’ve cared about and kept an interest in wild spaces and am excited about how people, young and old, can feel it’s for them too and take a greater interest in how the natural word lives and thrives! The Claypits is right on our doorstep, so from nature trails to fun events it’s a place I hope to see grow in popularity and simply give people the “feel good factor” we are all nourished by.”
Gino
“Gino is passionate about Community and currently volunteers in various organisations that promote community involvement in Local Housing, Intergenerational work and the Environment.
My personal focus with the Claypits and the Management Committee is to ensure, in whatever small way that I can, that the community involvement with this Local Nature Reserve thrives and that people utilise this fantastic space that is on our doorsteps.
I am new to the Management Committee and looking to support it with some calendar events like, Doors Open Day, The Big Soup Share, Bird and Bat Walks, Litter Picking Sessions and any other events engage people with the Claypits.”
Cathel de Lima Hutchison
“I am Cathel de Lima Hutchison, a local resident of the Claypits with a passion for fostering a thriving place for wildlife and people. My involvement with the Claypits centres around making sure we develop good records of the wildlife that lives in and visits the site; and engaging the local community in learning from and caring for the Claypits.
To this end, I am currently involved in organising wildlife surveys in the aftermath of the recent infrastructural works; and coordinating a Heritage-Lottery funded project around enhancing digital engagement, through employing a youth digital artist in residence. Other groups I engage with include Glasgow Calls Out Polluters and Glasgow National Park City.”
Gino
“Gino is passionate about Community and currently volunteers in various organisations that promote community involvement in Local Housing, Intergenerational work and the Environment.
My personal focus with the Claypits and the Management Committee is to ensure, in whatever small way that I can, that the community involvement with this Local Nature Reserve thrives and that people utilise this fantastic space that is on our doorsteps.
I am new to the Management Committee and looking to support it with some calendar events like, Doors Open Day, The Big Soup Share, Bird and Bat Walks, Litter Picking Sessions and any other events engage people with the Claypits.”
Want to get involved?
Contact us and find out more. You can do as little or as much as you want. It all helps. The Claypits is for everyone.
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: Hamiltonhill Claypits Local Nature Reserve
Twitter: @ClaypitsLnr
Instagram: hamiltonhill_claypits_lnr
