Annual Report Dingwall District (West) 1978-79
The report is courtesy of Inverness, Ross and Skye forest District and lists the main activities and comments on the work for year April 1978 – March 1979. The document was written up by George Dey (District officer) from individual forest reports submitted from the foresters in charge of Skye , Torrachilty, Achnashellach and South Strome Forests. The reports from the first two forests are not available for this year.
The documents begin with a note from Conservancy Office requesting the Annual Report by a certain date. Names listed are some of those in the Conservancy Office (60 Church Street, Inverness) and is written by R B (Eric) Urquhart who may have been assistant to T S B (Tom) Macbeath (Admin and Finance Officer), copied to same and to A F (Allan) Mackay (Assist Conservator Harvesting and Marketing), David Woodburn (Acquisitions Officer?), Alan Flynn (Conservancy Estates Officer), Peter Malcolmson (Conservancy Civil Engineer), Ray Harrison (Conservancy Mechanical Engineer).
Linda Swanson headed up the drawing office.
George Dey’s report for his District for 1978-79 mentions the moves by Donald MacDougal moving from Broadford to the newly build house in Portree and Hamish Reid moving to the vacated house in Broadford. In the list of retirements he names William MacLennan, Horseman, as retiring from Torrachilty (Lael Forest) after 40 years service, Donald Mackenzie, Ganger, after 42 years service and Isador Szmytkowski, Wildlife Ranger, after 32 years service. The office clerk (Anne Cameron) at Torrachilty is noted as leaving on getting married and her place taken by a school leaver (recorded elsewhere in photographs on this site).
On training, George Dey, Willie Grant, Keith Mills and Alex Forsyth all attended various courses. Bob Murdoch lists some staff at Achnashellach who are regrading or training namely C Murdoch, B Green, S Keenan and D MacKenzie.
On the work progress and weather he remarks on the dry spring in 1978 with a long fire season, followed by a cool wet summer which deteriorated into winter by November and there after long periods of frost and snowfall until the end of March. All this delayed ground preparation such as ploughing and then the planting. On ploughing he highlights the use of double mouldboard ploughs and indeed one of the old Clarke shallow double mould boards for ploughing fire traces on Skye.
The first outbreak in the district of Pine Beauty Moth killing 16 ha of pine trees in the Strathrannoch area of Torrachilty is described with a follow up of a large scale pupal count taken thereafter. George also expresses relief that pulp deliveries have started again (Fort William?) but that a national lorry strike reduced delivery quantities to mills. On the harvesting machine front he says that a Falstone skidder has arrived at Torrachilty to add to the ones at South Strome and Achnashellach. Also a Malvern Skidder was added to the Torrachilty pool. Harvesting merchants are listed as Riddoch, H Murray of Portree and James Jones.
On the recreation front the Balmacara Caravan and Camping site was fairly busy but had to turn away those that did not have their own toilet facilities and that the sewage pits were causing some problems! New car parks constructed at Grudie (Achnashellach) and Corry (Skye). First mention of interest in potential skiing development on Ben Wyvis including an investigation by Faircloughs. Kishorn is on limited work and without future orders.
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