🌲****************** 🌲******************** 🌲
This cache is part of a series of geocaches called Park Life. Caches are placed within our urban parks, community gardens or country parks. For more details and statistics on how you can expand the Park Life series please visit the Park Life webpage.
🌲*** Drumbowie Park *** 🌲
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Drumbowie Park is in Standburn, a small village of about 150 people in Falkirk area between Maddiston and Avonbridge. The area is rural but also post-industrial in places, and sites like Craigend Refractory Works nearby are a reminder of the level of industry that was once located around here. Mining was the main focus in the Victorian era, and the site of Drumbowie Park is actually where some of the mining took place, albeit there are records of mining here since the 1530s. The village sits between the old Gateside series of mines, now a community woodland, and the Muiravonside series of pits to the east near Bowhouse Roundabout. Freight railways criss-crossed the area and ran through the edge of the park site to support mineral transport.Â
The village was once larger than it currently is, due to the existence of a series of miner's terraces to the south of the current main street. However by the 1930s mining had died away here and these houses were assessed as unfit for human habitation, (deemed by inspectors as 'the worst in Scotland' at one point) with the residents being moved en masse to the new model village at Westquarter.
Standburn Village - Victorian Miner's Rows (now demolished)
The local railways passing through the village stopped and Standburn became a peripheral little settlement at that point, being christened 'the deserted village'. One of those families to leave the village in the ensuing years was the Redmonds, and it was one of their household - James - who would go on to become one of the leading architects of the BBC. (Sir) James Redmond, also helped create the Open University (see the article on Wikipedia).Â
It is unlikely that Standburn will see much development or growth again in the future as the area has been badly undermined from all the pits (at one point there were 17 mines in the vicinity of Standburn), making housing developments less appealing.
Drumbowie Park was created in 1995 on former pit lands (Gateside Pit No.1), and has become a haven for wildlife. Around 60 different species of birds have been sighted in the park over the ensuing years, as well a badgers, bats, deer and foxes. There are nature info boards dotted around the site about the species here such as Sparrowhawks, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, and Kestrel. There are are also art-pieces commemorating the site's former history as a centre of mining, albeit some of them could use a little tlc.
Drumbowie Park Entrance
Note on terrain rating
The terrain rating reflects the fact that the cache is tricky to get at for cachers a bit below 6ft tall. Cachers 6ft+ should have an easy time getting to the cache.