A struggle to grow trees in Clashindarroch Forest
Clashindarroch Forest - Over a period of twenty or so years I have been in most of its corners and have always enjoyed its landscape variety and amazing tree crops. Well do I remember the harvesters thinning tall forty year old Sitka spruce which had originally been planted in mixture with Scots pine and also clearfelling Sitka spruce which was standing at over 1000 cubic meters to the hectare. Many times I have puzzled over the areas of Japanese larch which were remarkable for their very poor stem quality, all bent and twisted, and in other areas slow growing European larch which had at some time suffered serious damage to their stems. In the Kirkney area I have been fortunate to have wandered among 35 meter tall Grand Fir with massive stem diameters to match and in behind these, some beautiful stands of large Scots pine.
And so it was with some curiosity that I read through a Forest Research file that charted the story from the first plantings in 1930 through to the 1970s, a story of many trials, many disappointments and a thirty five year struggle by a stellar cast of foresters and advisors to deliver a remarkable forest for the 21st century.
Back in 1929 the Forestry Commission acquired a large area of almost 18000 acres of hilly and deep valleyed land which lay at an elevation of between 700-1500 feet and named it after Clashindarroch Lodge which was located on its edge. The land included almost 2400 acres of farmland and 7000 acres of land over 1000 feet altitude then judged to be largely unplantable. From the very start Forest Research took an interest in the area because of the range of altitudes, steep slopes and difficult vegetation to see if they could come up with an infallible prescription to enable productive afforestation to proceed with a degree of certainty. The normal work of planting the forest also proceeded with squads of workers and local foresters working to prescriptions that they were familiar with from other locations. Like all good stories the main strategy was to work with what was familiar and what had succeeded in the past. This involved three groups of tree species namely larches, pines and spruces with a scattering of other species as a bit of variety. Cultivation initially consisted of what could be done by a man with a spade or a mattock and was more or less direct planting into matted grass or wet heather but a trial tractor and plough experiment was laid down in 1931. The canny foresters knew that Sitka and Norway spruce did not like heather and the former was prone to late spring frosts and so judged that various species of larch would be the best option on heather, leaving the Scots pine for drier ground and Norway spruce for the richer valley bottoms.
And so the scene was set for a massive confrontation between forester and nature when 1000 acres and more of larch all but died on its feet and was in well into the process of being replaced when it eventually recovered of its own accord after fifteen years. Scots pine, the great native fall back, was almost an unmitigated disaster in all but the most sheltered and driest sites and simply died from exposure but did find a role in mixture with Sitka spruce. Its crown however passed to Lodgepole pine. As for Sitka spruce, which held so much promise in an intimate mixture with Scots or Lodgepole pine, it just did not grow more than about 6 feet in 10-15 years on so many sites that foresters were faced in the mid 1960s with a sizable 7000 acre headache of apparently useless trees. (This was but the forerunner of many struggles future foresters were to face as much of the land that was to become available for new planting had increasingly more difficult soil and vegetation types, and was often at higher and more exposed locations.)
How did all this change and what was the magic cure? Well now I will leave you to scan through some fifty years of discussions summarised on around 75 pages, then the landmark Soil Survey and covering remarks (about 40 pages all in attched PDF) but below I must introduce some of the main characters with the years they appeared in the texts (some first names and designations are not known).
Mark L Anderson – Research Officer Scotland 1929, 1930
Sir Roy L Robinson – FC Chairman 1931, 1935, 1941, 1944
Mr O J Sangar - ? 1932
Dr H M Stevenson – Divisional Officer 1935 (1933-1938)
Mr A Watt – District Officer (Huntly) 1935
Johnston Edwards – Forester Clashindarroch 1932-1938
Mr I Gillespie – District Officer (Huntly) 1944 (1940-1947)
James Farquhar – Research Forester 1944, 1947, 1950, 1956, 1959, 1966
Advisory Committee on Forest Research (Includes Dr Laidlaw) 1945
Directors Research, Education and Silviculturist (N) (Including Messrs Guillebaud, Macdonald, Bourne) 1947
John W L Zehetmayr – Silviculturist or Research Officer Scotland 1947, 1951, 1956
Tom H Woolridge – State Forest Officer 1949
J A B MacDonald - Research Officer Scotland 1937, 1950
Mr J M Kennedy – Forester Clashindarroch (1938 – 1940 and 1946 -1950s)
Frank Oliver – Conservator East Scotland 1958
David Anderson – Head Forester Clashindarroch 1958
Mr M V Edwards – Research? 1953, 1958
John Keenleyside – Research Forester 1966, 1968, 1970
Prof Matthews 1966
Roger Lines – Silviculture North 1967
S Andy Neustein - Research officer, Edinburgh 1967
Ken Townsend – District Officer Huntly Area 1967,1968, 1970
Jim Atterson - Assist Silviculturist North (Edinburgh) 1967
D Graham Pyatt – Soils Edinburgh 1968
John M Mackenzie – Silviculturist North (Edinburgh ) 1970
David B Paterson – Silviculture Branch 1970, 1971
W Thomson Soil survey Forester 1971
D A T Douglas Soil Survey Forester 1971
Groups: Forest Research, Forestry Areas, Forestry Records, Booklets and Reports, Northeast Scotland