A LASTING legacy of the intense work of the BERT volunteers is the Fairy Wood at Lochore Meadows Country Park.

Inspired by Derek Davidson the children of the community followed up the earlier Bird Box project by creating almost 200 Fairy Doors, beautifully painted.

These have become a much loved feature at the country park and more is likely to follow.

Following on from the success of the bird boxes competition, a new project was launched to keep the local children occupied during lockdown. They were asked to decorate Fairy Doors to go on the trees of what is now known as the Fairy Wood at the Meedies.

It became one of the great legacies of the work of the BERT volunteers. Most of the doors were made and donated by Alex Wight of RV Woodcraft. Some were also made and donated by Gordon Mackie and some special, opening doors, were created by James Strachan Brown. Those doors in particular, have delighted children and adults alike when they open them and see what’s inside!

The competition to decorate the doors was judged by Emma McGurk Kelly, a Radiographer at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, and the winners were: 1st Alisha Jarvis; 2nd Alex Mulligan; 3rd Maci Fotheringham.

All the doors were painstakingly hung by Derek Davidson. He and Gordon Mackie also went on to create other works of art for the Fairy Wood. Next up, was to invite fairies to take up residence in the houses. Again, local children,and adults, were invited to decorate fairy blanks and return them to Derek.

However, added the BERT team: "Regrettably, there have also been a few wanton acts of vandalism in the Fairy Wood, with exhibits either being broken or stolen.

"What goes through these people’s minds is beyond us. They are only ruining the work that the children from their own villages have created.

"Nevertheless, we are undaunted, and the project will continue after the demise of the current BERT. Derek Davidson, whose brainchild this was, has kindly agreed to continue as the Project Manager for the foreseeable future.

"The next phase of the project will see a couple of larger exhibits in the Fairy Wood. We don’t want to ruin the surprise, but we can reveal that these have already been commissioned and are expected to be installed in early autumn".

They added: "We want to ensure that the Fairy Wood is regularly refreshed, with new items, to give the community and visitors something new to see; and to maintain interest in the wood.

"An initial discussion with the Friends Of Lochore Meadows on lighting up the wood also took place at a meeting with them. They have their own plans for lighting in the park, and we will work with them in respect of the wood.

"If there is any funding remaining in the Fairy Wood Project, we plan to offer to install trail-cams within the wood, so that footage of the wildlife can be captured. We feel that this would be of interest to both those responsible for the wildlife in the park and to visitors. It could add another dimension to what’s available for visitors to see".