Annual Report Dingwall District (West) 1979-80
The report is courtesy of Inverness, Ross and Skye forest District and lists the main activities and comments on the work for year April 1979 – March 1980. 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 District officers’ reports would be compiled to complete the annual report for the North Conservancy and then placed in files and forgotten about!
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), Arthur Bramwell (Followed Arthur Christie into Assistant Conservator Forest Management role) , Alan Flynn (Conservancy Estates Officer), Peter Malcolmson (Conservancy Civil Engineer), John Martin who succeeded Ray Harrison (Conservancy Mechanical Engineer).
Linda Swanson headed up the drawing office.
George Dey reports on the retirement of Willie Beattie (Senior) as Forester from Torrachilty after 30 years service and his replacement by John Spittal. A note mentioning Freddy McCreadie who was six months off work following an accident. At Raasay Forest, Ganger D Nicolson retired after 30 years service, George Robertson after 18 years service from Achnashellach Forest and Jonathan MacLeod from Skye Forest after 25 years service. From Achnashellach Forest Head Forester W Murdoch, Foresters Willie Grant and Keith Mills had various training courses.
Particularly remarked on was the very successful spraying of 1000ha of young pine plantation with the insecticide Fenitrothion and all the liaison work that was carried out with neighbours to the forest. The usual aerial fertilising programmes were carried out by Dollar Helicopters in this case a total of 745 ha. The effects of the long winter of 1978/79 carried on until May holding up planting and ground work programmes. Harvesting programmes were largely completed is spite of uncertainties over future of pulp mill but extraction tractor and skidders (Falstone and Malvern) proving troublesome. There was a brief mention of Skye Forest producing 7963 pokers for the Kinlochleven Aluminium Works – must have been getting towards the last use of wooden pokers? Three only reports filed one each from Bob Murdoch, Achnashellach Forest, Alex Forsyth of South Strome Forest and Tim Taylor of Torrachilty Forest.
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