IT offered much-needed respite during the Covid lockdowns.
But when the area of woodland was put on the market in 2023, locals feared it would be chopped down by commercial loggers sparking a huge fundraising effort to save it for the community.
Now a group of dog walkers have successfully bought Broughtonknowe Woods, Peeblesshire, after raising almost £900,000.
And they plan to share the precious area with others and turn it into an educational hub and natural pharmacy.
Ian Brooke, chairman of Broughtonknowe Community Woodland charity, said: ‘Local people are delighted that the woods are now safely in the hands of a locally-run charity that will preserve the environment for future generations. Everyone you meet in the woods is smiling.’
The forest, between Biggar and Peebles, extends to 135 acres and was planted in the late Eighties with a mixture of native hardwoods including oak and ash as well as more commercial softwoods such as Sitka spruce.
The introduction of Covid restrictions in 2020 encouraged local dog walkers to spend more time exploring the woodland – and to eventually reclaim larger areas of the hillside forest for the public to enjoy.
Over the following two years, they joined forces with the woods’ owner, Christopher Lambton, to create accessible footpaths, wildlife ponds, and a bird hide, along with picnic benches and viewpoints.
But when ill health forced Mr Lambton to consider selling the land, the community action group rallied together to raise the £875,000 asking price.
Charity secretary Alastair Leaver told the BBC: ‘We feared that if we were unable to purchase Broughtonknowe a commercial forester would come in and the whole woodland would be turned over to Sitka spruce.
‘If that had happened, all the wildlife would be ruined and our enjoyment of the place would have been over.’
Led by a five-strong board of directors, activists formed the charity with the backing of 140 members.
The campaigners launched a crowdfunding page for the project, as well as securing funding from the Scottish Land Fund, South of Scotland Enterprise and SSE Renewables.
Local councillor Viv Thomson, who helped lead the initiative, told the Mail: ‘The amount of support that we have had from the community is amazing. Everyone came together to make sure the wood was looking its best and it just snowballed from there.’
She explained that as well as offering financial support, local residents designed merchandise to raise funds and donated trees to ensure the site was spruced up for visiting grant assessors.
While the Broughtonknowe Community Woodland group has successfully finalised the purchase, the charity is by no means resting on its laurels.
Spurred on by its recent victory, the community has already installed new bee hives and planted fruit trees within the woodland, and is planning to construct a shelter from which it can run woodworking workshops in the future.
The group is also developing plans to ensure that the woodland can enrich the lives of even more people throughout Peeblesshire and Lanarkshire.
Ms Thomson explained: ‘We have got plans to work with the NHS and the local authority to do social prescribing from the woods.
‘We want it to act as an education facility too, so we’ll have foraging workshops and dyeing workshops there.’
Speaking of the future potential of the woodland, Mr Brook said: ‘It is used for people coming together – whether it’s wellbeing groups, yoga or education – and we hope even more groups can come and enjoy what is here.
‘We will make sure, though, that nature is in control, not any timber companies.’