Balblair Forest Planting Maps c1960
The maps are courtesy of North Highland Forest District, Golspie which were photographed by Norman Davidson.
Balblair Wood map shows very regimented compartments which are numbering from 1-27 and planted between 1929 and 1937. A small area was added later and annotated Comp 28 and planted as show in another map. The map indicates the whole area was wooded at the time the original Ordnance Map survey was done and it is very likely the FC acquired it as a felled woodland site. The map shows the that the major species planted was Scots pine but substantial areas of Sitka and Norway spruce, European and Japanese larch, Douglas fir were also added with some Lodgepole pine (PC) and Abies procera. The writer does remember some very fine Douglas fir, Japanese larch and Scots pine being felled in the 1980s.
Interesting to note the pencil notes on the northern edge of the Wood indicating the seed origin of some of the planted Lodgepole pine (PC). The author does remember some very fine looking, straight Lodgepole pine which appears to have been grown from seed which originated in Shuswap and Alberta, Canada. Someone was looking to collect seed perhaps.
No more land was acquired in the locality until around Carbisdale in 1948 which must have caused some employment issues but the war would probably have had more of an effect. Balblair was therefore a single forest unit for quite some time.
Any comments on this forest and who worked there would be very welcome.
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Groups: Caithness and Sutherland, Forestry Areas, Maps of Forest and Woodland Areas