Retirement of Willie Patience and Hugh Morris
The photograph is courtesy of the family of George Dey. George took many forestry photographs in his forestry career and many of those are now shown on this web site. Check under ‘Groups’ and George Dey Collection.
Inverness Forest District appears to have had a combined Christmas party, retirement presentations to Willie Patience and Hugh Morris and a leaving do for Ann Lewis who was moving to the Conservancy Office.
Here Graham Gill The newly installed Forest District Manager for Inverness Forest District is presenting Willie Patience with his retirement gift. Willie was the Harvesting Head Forester covering Faraigaig and Culloden and had been doing so for quite some time.
The PDF shows Mary Patience receiving a bouquet from Mary Macdonald (Admin Officer) and also a very happy Willie and his wife with their gifts.
The author recalls about this time most of the forests in the north shared the same radio channels and in the pre mobile phone days the airwaves could be quite busy. In the early 80s there was a very annoying prankster, from within one of the widespread forestry squads and foresters who all had vehicle and machine radios, who insisted on imitating the sound of a crowing cockerel and broadcasting it time and again. It was quite tiresome for the staff, in the various offices, who had to listen for genuine calls from the field and also for safety calls from single working machine operators.
Late one afternoon after a spate of cockerel calls Willie was heard to come on the radio with a serious and threatening voice ‘If that chicken would like to come to my office now - I have some corn here that I would like to give it’. I do not believe his offer was taken up!
Any more information on the forestry career of Willie Patiece would be very welcome.
Groups: Forestry Areas, George Dey Forestry Collection, Groups of people