Dunnet Forest Caithness — Thatching sand du
Photographs courtesy of John Keenleyside, Forres who took them in the mid 1950s when on a visit to the north. A young Hugh Mackay was the forester in charge at that time and the photograph clearly shows how the thatching material was laid on the flatter areas and on the slopes and blowing out dunes.
Usually large amounts of material from ‘brashing’ (lower branches cut from trees up to a height of about 6 feet to allow access into the plantations) and from any thinning and felling operations would be used. What is surprising is the amount of stem and pole material used as this must have been cut from plantations and stripped of some of its branches to allow the stems to lie flat on the ground. It is unlikely there were very many areas of suitable aged trees in Caithness at that time from which to collect the stem wood. It is just possible that perhaps some came from fire damaged young forests.
Can anyone provide any information on the material source?
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Groups: Caithness and Sutherland, Forestry Areas