A cache of reasons to smile

As previously reported, Cuthill Park is home to a geocache, one of several in the vicinity.

The latest cache is bringing people to the park who either never knew of its existence or hadn't visited for years  (which is exactly why so may people love this hi-tech form of treasure hunting).

Here's a taste of some of the comments left on the geocaching website:

nice cache and great view. thanks.

This used to be a swing park where i played many years ago. Nice to revisit

nice wee cache

A pleasant hidden park, nice murals

Prestonpans is just full of murals and was nice to see some more that we never knew was here

a great little park we never knew was there..

seems like a nice place to have a wee picnic lunch

What are you waiting for??

Love Parks Week - show Cuthill Park some love!

Love Parks Week is the perfect excuse to get outdoors and enjoy the summer, with hundreds of events taking place in the UK’s parks and green spaces. It's a celebration of all that parks have to offer and highlights the need continued support for these valuable community assets, so why not visit Cuthill Park during the week to show what it means to you?

While there is no specific event taking part in Cuthill Park, why not take part in the annual Butterfly Count that coincides with Love Parks Week?  Or look at the artworks in the park ?  Or hunt for the hidden geocache?

Whatever you do in Love Parks Week -let us know and share your photos with us!

Big Butterfly Count - 3 easy steps to spotting butterflies in Cuthill Park

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  Step 1: Get Ready Download and print out the handy Butterfly Chart to help you identify and record the butterflies you spot.
  
  

  Butterfly ID Chart 2.2mb (.pdf)
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  Step 2: Join in On a sunny day, find a spot in Cuthill Park.   Use the ID chart to make a note of which species you see.
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  Step 3: Report back Record your sightings in July and August.
  Remember you can do more than one 15 minute count!

Find out more at The Big Butterfly Count

Pictures from the Big Lunch 2010

The first ever Big Lunch in Cuthill Park was a great success.

The weather was great right up until 4 o'clock when the rain came on.

East Coast FM staff and their families provided brilliant music for us and reportedly had a great 'team-building' game of rounders!


More sedate entertainment was provided by East Lothian Museums service who were on hand, in the shape of Debi and Julie Anne, to give a flavour of the type of fun that can be had at Prestongrange Museum.  We hope this can be the start of lots of joint iniatives with East Lothian Council.

The bigger kids were rounded up by author Annemarie Allan who thrilled them with tales of scary creatures set in magical forests!

And of course there was entertainment of the homegrown variety with guitars and frisbees and....running!  Lots of running.  Remember, there aren't any swings or other types of play equipment in the park, but there are lots of curves, slopes and rabbit holes which kept the kids happy for hours.

Notes for next time:
Everyone that was there came as a result of  having heard about the event from a handful of core volunteers/activists/supporters - proof that word of mouth works.  But why did the extensive advertising not attract a single person???  Are people simply community-minded or not?  Are they so disenfranchised from their communities that they no longer see this sort of event as being for them?  All questions to be answered another time...

People stayed in their own wee groups and there wasn't too much mingling but it was the first time anything like this has been tried.  Perhaps next time we'll have a mass conga or hokey cokey to break down a few barriers!

Geocaching in Cuthill Park

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.

Geocaching is a great way of discovering places off the beaten track or adding a fun element to an otherwise unremarkable walk.  You have probably walked past countless geocaches already!

Wherever you are in the world, you are never too far away from a geocache.  Prestonpans has several geocaches ranging from the quick 'cache and dash' variety to the multi-location puzzle-solving variety that take a couple of hours to solve.

Cuthill Park is currently home a geocache called "The Day the Park Smiled"- learn more at geocaching.com or watch the movie below:

Inspirational Community Gardeners

Isn't this brilliant?!  Wouldn't it be brilliant if we could do this in Cuthill Park?  Should we? Can we? YES, WE CAN!!!!!

How to create a community garden - More DIY How To Projects