Cutting Christmas Trees Cardrona Forest

Date Added: 21 March 2018 Contributor: Norman Davidson Year of Photo: 1969 Picture No: 3984

With help from Ruth Robertson, Peebles, Helen has provided this image of Ed Smith (nearest camera) and Archie Wilson cutting trees in Cardrona Forest down below the old castle. Helen, daughter of Will Bruce, recalls the men stopping for a tea break and brewing their tea up in old syrup cans with a wire handle over a little wood fire. ‘The tea was smoky and often had little cinders in it. Dad looked after the Clydesdale horses at the weekend which of course had me frequenting the stables!’

The Norway spruce stand appears as though it is in the course of a normal thinning but the opportunity has being taken to cut Christmas trees from the tops using bow saws, hand extract them and get them ready for sale.

Behind the men can be seen the trunks of larger trees fully sned out by axe lying on the ground next to a tractor. The tractor has a mobile saw bench fitted and it would appear that once the trees were extracted by horse they may have been cross cut into timber products.

The attached PDF is part of a forest walking map which shows the location of the Castle Knowe.

Any further details of operations in Cardrona Forest and photographs always welcome.

Download PDF (624kB)

Groups: Forestry Areas, Forestry in Action, Tools, equipment and clothing

3 Comments

The tops of Norway Spruce for xmas trees reminds me of a contract felling squad from Fife around the 1970s who were working on first thinnings at Panmure estate caught filling their van with Spruce tops the head forester was not amused "ba humbug." Comment left on 22 March 2018 at 14:55 by Leslie Phillip

I think this photo is Yellow Mire road looking towards Skemiscleuch with Kirkhope Law in the background. The trees are Sitka and the Ford4000 has a double drum winch. A benchsaw was kept in the yard at Kirkburn around this time. The ground around the castle is steeper and mainly Larch in the sixties. Comment left on 18 September 2019 at 23:19 by Callum Wilson

I joined FC at Cardrona in 5/6/67 from school. I worked with Archie Wilson & Ed Smith for awhile. I think the second person in this photo is Bob Gibson as Ed Smith retired in 67/68.
I cut those trees that are in the photo with Dod Aitchison. We pushed any decent Norway Spruce tops to the side and they were collected for Christmas trees before the timber was dragged out. The tractor is a Ford 4000 with a double drum Cundy winch, it looks like it set up to go and there would have been a double wheeled pulley chained up a tree just out of the photo (also Norway Spruce)
The timber would have been converted into small mill woods, Bowater Pulp (it was still hand loaded at this time) and TBM pulp with the thin ends. Comment left on 17 January 2021 at 16:34 by Ian Smart

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