Dunnet Forest — Drains
Photographs courtesy of John Keenleyside, Forres who took the photograph on a visit north in the mid 1950s.
Going by the look of the drain spoil at the left hand side and the large individual turves this drain was almost certainly hand cut and deepened. The layers of sand among the peat can clearly be seen. Not easily seen but from the ridges on the landscape there appears to be a herring bone network of side drains all leading into main drains. In between the side drains, trees would have been planted on some of the drain turves. There are very few trees visible in the image leading to the view that survival was poor but there are hints of many smaller trees hidden by the lush sward. The richness of the flora is remarkable most likely caused by the effects of the blown in sand.
The brown heads on the grass would possibly indicate that the summer is well through. There are a few white flowers in the foreground that look remarkably like Grass of Parnassus which flowers later in the season. Can anyone confirm if this flower grows in the locality?
The presence of later cut turves on top of the ridge of dug sandy drain soil would indicate that the drains had recently been significantly deepened. Did the drains fill up with wind blown sand over time?
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Groups: Caithness and Sutherland, Forestry Areas