Vandals ruin kids’ colourful fairy doors in Galashiels woodland

Children from the town made the doors – some of which were full houses, with verandahs, swings and furniture – to brighten the woods up during lockdown.

They were a big hit with residents and with those who use the paths for dog walking.

One of them, Christine Mitchell, even left a thank-you note pinned to a tree.

It reads: “To the fairies and their helpers for the fairy gates on the trees ... really cheered me up. Beautiful. Thank you very much.”

However, Raymond Hume, who lives nearby, spotted that some of them had been vandalised when he went out on a run last night.

He said on social media: “Just in from finishing my run and just happened to finish on the path up from the swimming pool, and was disgusted to see a lot of fairy doors lying on the path all smashed up.

“Why can’t people leave things alone?”

We visited the area today, and it was mostly tidied up, but 12-year-old Galashiels Academy pupil Lucy Johnston was dismayed to find her house was completely broken.

She said: “It’s really sad. It looks like someone just stomped on it and kicked it.”

Her dad Douglas said: “We had heard about the doors and came a walk, and Lucy decided to make one as well.

“It was just done from a bit of old decking, but they all really brightened the place up.

“It looks like whoever did this just spotted it and took it to bits. It’s very disappointing.

“The same thing happened a while back at the Haining in Selkirk ... I said at the time they had better not mess with the fairies or they’ll come back to haunt them.”

Bonnie Fairbrass, of the Gala Policies Group, which helps to upkeep the beauty of the site, said vandalism was an ongoing issue there.

She told us: “The fairy doors started appearing just after lockdown.

“It was never a planned project.

“Mostly they were made by local residents with children and grandchildren.

“The anonymity of it was part of the joy really. There were around 48 at one point.

“Some had been taken by other children or parents, some were simply moved around.

“The vandalism started again when lockdown started to ease. We sadly have issues with vandalism often brought on by alcohol.

“On a larger scale these issues are caused by the atomisation of society due to political changes and social unrest.

“This leads to a disconnection between humans and nature, something we see reflected in the increase in willful littering across the countryside.

“There is also an unwillingness by the council, school and sadly some parents in educating children and young adults, or themselves about the benefits of nature and ways of using it without destroying it.

“This is not just a local issue, but one we see all over the countryside.

“I had hoped that when lockdown started and our green spaces became our only release that they would be treated with more respect and for a while, with the appearance of the fairy trail in the policies, it looked to be the case.

“However, this only seemed to last until boredom kicked in.

“It is a sad fact that people who do not have much in their lives do not appreciate the efforts of others and find more joy in destroying things.”

However Bonnie stressed that there are many who do appreciate the beauty of the area and work hard to keep it that way.

She added: “The policies has been looked after pretty well during the lockdown.

“Aside from our own team at the Gala Policies Group, there are several individuals who collect rubbish simply because they care.

“It is those people who do care who have kept the policies relatively unscathed during lockdown.”