Thatching dunes with grass cuttings or old straw
Photograph courtesy of Moray and Aberdeenshire Forest District with particular help from Lesley Hutcheson who collected a series of general photographs found in the Newton Office and filed them.
The photograph is numbered Forestry Commission B7497A and shows a group of men using forks to spread what looks like grass cuttings. It was known that road verge cuttings were shipped into forests for thatching over sand dunes.
The photograph number and the work wear of the men seem to indicate a late 1950 or even late 1960s event. There is no indication of location and could even be a southern or northern forest such as Dunnet. Someone might recognise the farm located at the very top of the picture which going by the direction of sunshine must be west, south is to the left of the picture and if this is Culbin or Roseisle the sea is in front of the men on the right side of the photograph.
Can anyone recognise the men?
There has been a suggestion that it could be a young Jimmy Sutherland in the middle which leads on that the other two gentlemen might be Frank Cowie and Willie Duncan, those 3 worked together a lot.
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Groups: Forestry Areas, Forestry in Action, Groups of people