Guide notes for Press tour of Rannoch Forest 1960
The notes are courtesy of Duncan Menzies, Banchory who was stationed at Rannoch at the time.
Perhaps fairly unusual to have a tour solely for the members of the press but the notes do give a valuable insight into the early management ideas for Rannoch Forest and in particular the remnant Caledonian pines in the Black Wood. There are no names of staff listed and little in the way of detailed management practices.
The guide mentions the acquisitions of the land by the Forestry Commission between the years 1947-1958 totalling 45,667 acres of which, by 1960, 3,730 acres had been planted. It states the intention of planting only Scots pine of Black Wood native Scots pine origin in the Black Wood area and also in the zone around the Black Wood but in the latter area other non pine species could be added. The guide lists three foresters, 31 workers, and 12 Forestry Commission houses built in 1952 at the east end of the loch.
A portion of the guide sets out the history of the Black Wood and its exploitation over the centuries. This is followed by the plans for the core of the remaining 670 acres of the wood with some under planting and planting of the open blank areas with Scots pine grown from seed collected from the Black Wood pine trees.
The next portion of the guide describes the Scots pine species distribution and its role in British forestry with some seed being imported from the continent. There is then the case for using local origin seed and also the larger scale objective of bulking up the scattered remnants of the six native Scots pine areas, within Forestry Commission land holding Scotland wide, with planted trees grown from the seed from each of the respective areas.
How much of this was done could only be assessed from the planting records of the follow on years from 1960. Perhaps with the exception of Affric, the next major safeguarding step really did not occur until the 1990s.
The final page is a map of Rannoch Forest with planted areas and native pine wood highlighted. The full guide is available in the PDF below but the map can also be seen in the large image.
Any comments very welcome.
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Groups: Forestry Areas, Forestry Records, Booklets and Reports