Alva Glen Heritage Trust

21/08/2026

Our friends Tillicoultry Wildlife Group are running several fun wildlife events this weekend as part of FEL Scotland's Forth Valley Biodiversity Festival! The bat walk is fully booked but there are still spaces to join the minibeast hunt, nature photography workshop and wildflower walk 😀

We're looking forward to joining in tomorrow with the minibeast hunt - the forecast is looking good, why not pop along and see what we can find! 🐝🐞🦋🌼

Not long until Tilly Wildlife Weekend - come along and join in🦋🐞🐝🕷️🐜🦔🦡🦇

11/08/2026

The excitement is building! Not long to go now. Putting this event on is loads of fun but we can't do it without volunteers.

Many hands make LIGHTS work! Please get in touch if you'd like to help.

How do you fancy being part of a really exciting weekend? The much-loved Alva Glen Illuminations are coming on 19th September, and YOU could be part of the buzz! We need people to:

* marshal people walking through the Glen on the night (you'll have the chance to hear the bands, get some food from a vendor and see all the lights!)
* help us string the lights up in the trees on the day itself and the day before
* selling merchandise on a stall (lights, bands and food as above!)
* fetching and carrying and general setting up
* taking it all down afterwards Saturday night and on Sunday.

We will be putting training and orientation sessions on in the run-up to the weekend.

Just reply to this if you're interested (or email [email protected]) and we will be in touch.

05/08/2026

We had a great time on Sunday taking part in FEL Scotland's first ever Forth Valley Biodiversity Festival 😃 We looked for some of the amazing wildlife that's usually hidden from view - nocturnal moths and tiny river critters! Thanks to everyone who stopped by to marvel at these amazing wee creatures 😍

We check our moth traps on the first Sunday of the month, before our monthly volunteer sessions, at 9:30am, so why not pop by next time to find out more about Alva Glen's marvellous moths?

02/08/2026

02/08/2026

What an extremely productive morning in Alva Glen!

This month we had some extra jobs to do in preparation for THE ILLUMINATIONS on 19th September: we painted the steps so that you will be safer on the night, and made a heroic start on moving that gravel sitting around by the first bridge. More to be done very soon.

You really appreciate how hilly the Glen is when you are carting stuff in wheelbarrows up and down slopes over and over....

It's definitely the time of year when it can feel like a scene from "The Day of the Triffids", with giant weeds and huge straggly overgrown edges about to take over the world! But we made great inroads into the jungle, while also managing lots of chatting and laughing.

One volunteer carried out a survey on behalf of Edinburgh University and found the Glen today in the space of one hour had visitors from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Rosyth and Coatbridge, as well as Clackmannanshire locals. It's a popular spot.......

Afterwards, we tucked into cake and home-made cookies and flapjack and quenched our thirst with tea. Well done all!

Next work day 6th September. Meet 0930 up at the picnic benches if you want to see moths. Otherwise, 10am by the container in the car park.

31/07/2026

Marvellous moths & cool river critters!

Don't forget to pop by the Glen car park this Sunday the 2nd between 9:30 & 10:30am for our event as part of FEL Scotland's Forth Valley Biodiversity Festival!

This is your chance to see some of the hidden creatures of Alva Glen up close, including amazing nocturnal moths and incredible wee river critters!

This is a free drop-in event - pop by to say hello! If you're feeling inspired to help take care of our beautiful Glen, why not stick around to help out at our monthly volunteer session? We'll be tackling actions including path clearance, painting and litter picking - tools and gardening gloves provided, and we always have cake! 😃

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05/07/2026

A great morning in the Glen!

Lots of beautiful and varied moths had spent the night snoozing in our egg boxes before being admired and set free. Some new volunteers joined us and threw themselves into various tasks battling giant weeds and clearing overgrown paths. (Thankyou! And great to have you with us). The picnic tables were scrubbed and re-painted. A huge bin-bag of litter was collected, (with one adventurous volunteer sliding down a very steep slope on their bottom to retrieve someone's plastic bag full of picnic rubbish that had been thrown nearly into the burn!).

We deserved our home baked fruit pies and a good natter afterwards.

Work days are the first Sunday of every month, 10am meet at the container in the car park. Two hours followed by tea and cake.

29/06/2026

Alva Glen is so beautiful! Please enjoy these views from inside and just above it. Who has lovely pictures of the Glen? Pop them in the comments!

And don't forget! This coming Sunday 5th July is our monthly work morning. There's a plank missing in the upper path so if you enjoy getting outside and helping mend things, come and join us fixing that. We'll also be doing lots of weeding, litter picking and general tidying. There's a picnic table to scrape and paint, and before all that..... there will be MOTHS! (Humane traps are put out the night before, we open them in the morning, and have a close look at who has got comfy in there overnight. Then they are set free in a suitable location for them. Moths are amazing!)

And after it will be.... the all important CAKE.

Meet 0930 at the picnic tables above the car park for the moths.
Meet 10am at the container in the car park for the work morning.

Hope to see you there.

04/05/2026

Alva Glen was looking beautiful and green for our monthly volunteer session yesterday! 🌿

After checking our moth trap and recording species including early thorn and least black arches, we got to work on our tasks. Our volunteers had a busy morning building some new steps to improve the zigzag path, litter picking, and weeding & planting up the car park and lade gardens. All that hard work was rewarded with some delicious cake 🧁

Anyone is welcome to join us on the first Sunday of the month to help care for the Glen 😊