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Address
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Little France Drive/Tobias Street
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Postcode
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EH16 6HZ
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Telephone
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0131 529 2401
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Email
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naturalheritageservice@edinburgh.gov.uk
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Facilities
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Bicycle racks and seating. Active travel route Danderhall to Craigmillar and ERI. Surfaced wide path with rest stops. All abilities access. Views and natural walks.
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Background
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Little France Park is the city’s newest park developed from reclaiming unmanaged grassland for the local community and carving out a green corridor from the city centre to Midlothian. It will establish a new corridor for wildlife whilst offering a network of paths, cycleways spread across 45 hectares. The Park is being designed and managed to bring nature into the heart of the city, creating homes for wildlife and places for people to enjoy. The active travel route is suitable for almost all abilities and meanders uphill towards amazing views back across some of city of Edinburgh’s finest landscape features. There is a wide surfaced path suitable for walking, cycling, wheelchairs or mobility buggies and there are regular rest stops for those with reduced mobility, or just to enjoy the amazing views. The open mosaic of grasslands, specimen trees and woodland margins is unique in the city and provides a great opportunity for people to explore open grasslands, skylark, kestrel and sometimes a sparrowhawk can be seen hunting across the open ground. The park development will carefully consider maintaining and enhancing existing views to Craigmillar Castle, Edinburgh Castle, Firth of Forth and Arthurs Seat. The local community have already taken part in planting over 7000 new trees in Little France Park for woodland creation which involved 239 volunteers. A neutral grassland area will be enriched with herbaceous, pollinator friendly plants. Both a butterfly and bee transect have been created to record and monitor species on site and provide opportunities to participate in the park by joining in the surveying for our transects. Get in touch if you want to get more involved on the site.
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History and heritage
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<p>The area is reclaimed farmland with a large footprint of open parkland with clusters of scrubby hawthorn perfect for nesting birds, insects and cover for wildlife and small mammals. Mature woodland strips are located around the edges of Edmondstone Estate and younger compartments have received attention to the fringe blocks of Ash suffering from Chalara ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus). Many stems of diseased Ash have been removed and a new mixed block of 800 deciduous natives have been replanted with a Trees for City grant towards the South nearest the Danderhall entrance. The newly planted young woodland blocks on the North slope towards Hawkhill Woods are made up of many different native species such as alder, birch, oak, ash and hawthorn. These trees and open grasslands are excellent places to see and hear the many small birds that live in the park. You will regularly see and hear skylark, pheasant, buzzard and kestrel. The range of grasslands and woodlands means there are plenty of rabbits and voles for resident birds of prey. When visiting the site please ensure your dog is under close control and be mindful of their behaviour. We encourage responsible dog walkers to ensure that disturbance to any ground nesting birds during Summer months is prevented.</p>
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Organise an event
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Find out how to organise an event
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Management plan
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In progress, due later in 2020
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Location map
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55.9220588,-3.1223775
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