ALIEN life in Blackford? Well, not exactly, but Carol Ritchie has heard it all in her 18 years as a Lothians countryside ranger.
It is an enthusiastic teacher who once phoned her in a panic shortly after finishing one of her courses who sticks in
her mind today.
She called to say she had spotted a creature with two heads, a shiny body and six legs attacking something in Blackford pond.
Carol, regional park manager for Edinburgh and the Pentland Hills, wracked her brains wondering what it could be, until the penny suddenly dropped.
"She thought there was an alien creature," recalls Carol. "It was, of course, two toads mating."
Carol, 45, is happy to recall many of the memories from her 18 years in charge of Edinburgh's countryside parks as she works out her last days in the job.
The countryside ranger is off to Bavaria next week to become director of the Europarc Federation, which promotes the work of parks all over Europe.
Today, she allows herself a grin about people's lack of knowledge about nature, yet confronting ignorance of the countryside has often been one of the hardest parts of the job.
From her office at Boghall Farm, in the Pentlands, Carol manages a team of 14 countryside rangers, whose work covers more than a dozen natural heritage sites, from the Cammo Estate to Craigmillar Castle Park.
Over the years she has dealt with sheep worrying, dog fouling, litter and vandalism, as well as the challenges presented by the Outdoor Access Code.
She is particularly passionate about teaching school parties about nature, a need which struck her forcefully just a fortnight after first starting the job. She was then Edinburgh's sole parks ranger.
"I took my first school group into the Braids and the kids were pointing at blue flowers and saying: 'What are those?'
"They were bluebells. It was quite sad that they didn't know that and it really made me think," says Carol. "Kids don't get enough environmental education and that's part of the frustration.
"We are desperate to give them the experience but part of it is lack of information and lack of confidence on the part of teachers."
Her career began with a master's degree in ecology from Aberdeen University after which she trained to be a geography teacher.
But it was a stay at an outdoor centre on Arran during her probationary period that got her hooked on the outdoor life and she took her first job as a ranger at Culzean Country Park in Ayrshire.
As a uniformed ranger, she walked for several hours a day, patrolling nature reserves, leading walks, picking up litter and seeing what repairs needed done.
Even now as a manager she refuses to let herself or her staff get buried under paperwork.
"We are all outdoorsy folk and we now have our weekly staff meeting as a 'walk and talk'.
"I instigated that years ago because you don't want to lose touch with the thing that is most important."
Carol herself often takes to the hills armed with her mobile and laptop to catch up on work away from the confines of the office.
Home for Carol is a small flat in the 18th-century Hermitage mansion house in the Braid Hills, a place very dear to her heart. "If one thing makes me sad it's that Edinburgh has invested in other woodlands but the Hermitage is desperately in need of investment."
Carol is clearly passionate about the countryside. She shrugs: "When you work in parks it's a passion and a vocation."
She will leave behind her a new ten-year park plan to benefit the Pentlands' 600,000 annual visitors. "The most exciting thing is the creation of a new visitors' centre at Flotterstone. We will replace the centre we have with a bigger, greener one."
Though her new office sits in the foothills of the Alps, Carol says she'll miss the rolling Pentlands and proximity to the sea.
"I'll be very sad to leave," she admits, gazing across the hills. "But I hope I've left the countryside in a better state than when I found it."
CARING FOR THE COUNTRYSIDECAROL manages the Pentland Hills Regional Park and all designated sites within the city of Edinburgh.
These include such havens as Blackford Hill, Burdiehouse Burn, Corstorphine Hill, the Water of Leith walkway and the Hermitage of Braid.
Visitor centres operate at Cammo Estate and another at the Hermitage of Braid.
Areas have received protection by being designated country, regional or national parks and every region has its own ranger service.
The main ranger service in Edinburgh is the Pentland Hills Ranger Service, which was established in 1976.
Holyrood Park has its own ranger service, as do East Lothian and West Lothian.
The full article contains 854 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
