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Barescrape

/berskrāp/

Authors

Dr Amanda Thomson

Languages

Scots

Location

Ravenscraig

See Also

Land
19th century & early 20th century usage: very poor land yielding little return for labour.

Further Reading

The Scots Dialect Dictionary by Alexander Warrack [1911]

Text

The word barescrape came into my head when I first encountered Ravenscraig. The vegetation, after all, feels like it’s growing on the scraps and scrapes of post-industrial clearance, yet there’s another story to it in the flora and fauna that grows there. The pioneer birches and other species of trees cover the landscape and are so important for carbon capture. Research has found that silver birch leaves can filter out particles from polluted air; rarer plants like yellow bird’s nest, great horsetail, common fleabane, rue-leaved saxifrage and several species of orchid have found a home here.

Media

Moss steps, Ravenscraig, Image: Amanda Thomson

Birches, Ravenscraig, Image: Robb Mcrae

Questions & Provocations

How might we find ways to encompass, even celebrate what might at first appear incidental, accidental or unwanted and see the value in what can be unnecessarily or inappropriately deemed unimportant?
Dr Amanda Thomson
What happens if we were to re-define the word "weed"?
Dr Amanda Thomson