Replanting the felled forest at Ratagan

Date Added: 22 March 2007 Contributor: Norman Davidson Year of Photo: 1978 Picture No: 123

The forest above and slightly west of Ratagan overlooking Loch Duich must have been felled about 1976. It is very steep and had very large quantities of dead branches, logs and big stumps which made this the hardest site to replant that I have ever seen. The planting team from the Ratagan area struggled through this for many days using special cut down spades to penetrate the debris. Jock? O'Kane is holding a bundle of about 100 young Sitka spruce trees trying to follow lines of canes to ensure the ground was covered fairly evenly with newly planted trees.

4 Comments

I was involved in brashing and thinning at Moyle on the Glenelg side of Ratagan forest for about 6 months in 1951. I visited the bothy site about 10 years ago.I was hoping to meet with some of the locals I had worked with at the time. but was informed that 2 of them had died, one in an accident the other Jack by natural causes. By coincidence a lad Ian McCuig from Glenelg, worked with me in the forestry squad, Edinburgh Corporation, for a number of years in the 1960s? Comment left on 10 April 2008 at 20:15 by Kenneth.W.McRae

This is my father Jocky O'Kane who we sadly lost on the 26/02/2011 at the grand age of 91. He passed away at home with his wife and 5 children and grandchildren at his side, still missed by us all.

If anyone has old photos I would love to see them.
Marion O'Kane, 11/sep/2011 Comment left on 12 September 2011 at 13:58 by Marion O'kane

Was this site extracted by skyline, looks like a nightmare to plant up. Comment left on 05 March 2016 at 21:06 by Leslie Phillip

Please see Forestry Memories record number 5134 for some details on Jock O'Kane's war record. Comment left on 20 July 2021 at 10:29 by Norman Davidson

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