Balblair Forest Standard Forest Map
The maps are courtesy of North Highland Forest District, Golspie which were photographed by Norman Davidson.
A great example of the first standard forest stock maps produced by HQ and the various Conservancy drawing offices. The forest would have been surveyed in detail by a small team of specialist foresters who checked on the species, planting years and their boundaries against the team’s own survey lines and also aerial photographs. The compartments were then rationalised into more regular sizable units and subcomparment letters along with species and P Year added to show the areas of similar species and ages within the compartment. New compartment numbers were then allocated to reflect the sequence within the new large amalgamated unit and in this case they are all in the 400 range. The team would have also produced a clear acetate master map and copied all the species, age, growth rate and area data onto many sheets of paper or needle card for eventual entry onto an early computer. Drawing offices would have double checked and measured the total area, the compartments and checked the total against the original acquisition. From these approved master maps these dyeline copies were then mass produced for forest use in the field. The master acetate maps had to be updated annually for any felling and new planting or replanting. All unplanted land was also measured and categorised to show the total estate and its constituents.
This replaced the laboriously hand crafted permanent cloth covered maps of which two copies were normally maintained one in the Forest and the other in the District Office with probably a third in the Conservancy Office.
This map shows clearly the Forest Worker Holding in Compartment 401, the new roads as depicted by the chain lines where they formed part of the new compartment boundary, the old boundary rides in faint double pecked lines, new compartment boundaries in solid pecked lines and the solid black line for the acquisition boundary. Another great advantage was the removal of some of the detail clutter from the old Ordnance Survey base map which led to clearer views of compartment details.
Note the legend and origin details at the bottom of the map.
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Groups: Caithness and Sutherland, Forestry Areas, Maps of Forest and Woodland Areas