Raby Castle 1951 Course Certificates
Photographs are courtesy of John Keenleyside, Forres.
John has provided an image of his two certificates from end of three month course exams at Raby Castle. He says ‘There was an examination at the end of the three month course but the F.C. set their own exam and those that did well were offered foreman posts within the F.C.
The REFS awarded the Woodman’s Certificate to those who passed their exam, the main part of which was skill in felling trees. A tree was selected by the examiner. The candidate had to round it up with an axe and lay it in to determine the direction of fall, a pin was placed in the ground to show where the tip of the tree was expected to land. A mate was allocated for the crosscutting operation but the candidate had to be in charge to ensure that the tree fell in line with the pin.
After felling, the examiner measured the deviation from the selected line and distance of the tip of the tree to the pin. The axe and saw were also examined for sharpness and correct maintenance. The pass or fail decision came by post at a later date, with the award of the Certificate to successful candidates’.
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Groups: Forester Training Schools and Universities, Forestry Records, Booklets and Reports