Durris Forest Record Book 1932 — 1950
Record Book is courtesy of Forestry Commission Moray and Aberdeenshire Forest District, Huntly.
See the PDF for full view of the complete Forest Record Book.
This is one of a few Forest Record Books that have survived since this system of recording details of forest work in each new forest was changed after the early 1950s. Two copies of the book were maintained one at the forest and the other by the District Officer but in reality both were maintained by the District Office as it was only they who had a typist. It is likely the forester had to provide a written summary for the DO to work off.
The hard back cover had a sophisticated and durable locking system to retain the loose leaf pages as they were added when each year’s work was completed. The pages came in several categories R3 - Staff Record; R4 - Annual summary of Operations; R6 - Silvicultural Notes by Year; R7 - Plantation History. No doubt these forms were themselves summarised by Division, Country and Nationally. The form R1 still survives today as the annual planting record and always had its own folder.
The Durris Forest R3 staff record shows that the senior staff (Divisional Officers) who covered a number of Districts with many individual forests:
J F Annand from 1932; R G Forbes from 1933; H M Steven from 1934; F Scott from 1938; L A Newton from 1939.
District officers covering several forests including Drumtochty were:
D H Bird from 1927; D W Harvey from 1940; D H Bird from 1941; T H Woolridge from 1946.
The foresters and foremen in charge were:
J Reid from 1932; T Allan from 1933; J M Kennedy from 1937; W G Milne from 1938; S H A Paterson from 1946; G Gilbert from 1955.
The rest of the records chart the life of a forest over 25 or so years where the early programmes of planting ran to some 100 plus acres. Fairly early on but the work shifted to tending, thinning and maintaining the acquired areas of established forest areas. Increased planting started again following the war time felling and with further acquisitions.
The Silvicultural Records R6 give a bit more detail on operations, planting methods, choice of species and weather events through the years. Of particular note is the work with ploughing and use of mixtures and seedlings.
Groups: Forestry Areas, Forestry Records, Booklets and Reports, Northeast Scotland