Some Great Glen Forest Name Signs
Images are courtesy of Malcolm Wield, Glenurquhart and Gordon Donaldson who contacted holders and collected Forest Name images and actual forest signs from several locations. The metal signs were manufactured by The Royal Label Factory (RLF) that has a history going back over 100 years of producing aluminium and none corroding metal signs.
The forest signs featured here show a little of the evolving nature of their design. Very early signs of this type appear to have had the words State Forest in the design. The signs following this simply had the forest management unit name and Forestry Commission highlighted in a yellow colour. Scotland located forests had the rampant lion at the bottom with the usual crown at the top. It is not certain if these were originally pointed yellow or red, the latter colour certainly used on the ridged edge lines. The word ‘Forest’ after the unit name appears to have evolved possibly about the late 1950s or early 1960s. The ladder style wooden signs were introduced around about 1973 and replaced the old metal signs in most areas except for some isolated forests.
Inchnacardoch Forest – The first official planting is recorded as taking place in 1920 along with planting in the same year at the neighbouring forests of Port Clair and South Laggan. Borgie Forest managed to complete more that the three afore mention forests combined.
Inchnacardoch Forest was therefore one of the first forests to be acquired by FC from the Lovat Estate and planted in the early 1920’s, in the original FC North Scotland Conservancy. Lord Lovat, who had been a champion for the concept of state forestry became the Forestry Commission’s first Chairman. The Forestry Commission established a major presence within this forest, with a district office, forest nursery, research base and forestry houses at Auchteraw, near Fort Augustus. There were substantial workers hostels both at Auchteraw (see Picture No 3512) and at Portclair Forest (another FC acquisition from Lovat Estate) just a few miles to the east. The forest village was built at Jenkins Park and the first ‘Forest Worker Holdings’, intended to be run as forest crofts, were created and tenanted on the better ground beside the river. Some of the original FC tree planting survives as ‘The Muir’, now a continuous forest cover area alongside the River Oich and particularly high quality Douglas fir at Portclair, planted in 1927. The extensive research area of the ‘Lon Mor’ is located on the high ground at Inchnacardoch. Here some of the early research, following on from work on Corrour Estate and Inveliever Crown Forest, into the suitability of non-native conifers to wet soils, particularly Sitka spruce, was carried out.
The original Inchnacardoch Forest unit was managed until 1971 (its area totalled 9546 acres included 4965 acres of plantation) following which the Forests of Ceannacroc and Port Clair were amalgamated with it to form the enlarged Inchncardoch Forest. This unit then was then maintained until the reorganisation in 1984 when the forest formed part of Fort Augustus Forest District.
Glengarry Forest – The first planting is recorded as in 1927 following the purchase of the Glengarry Deer Forest in 1927. This remained as the forest unit until 1967 when South Laggan Forest was attached to it creating the sizable Glengarry Unit with a total of over 42,000 acres of which 10,000 was planted. Glengarry Forest formed part of Fort Augustus Forest District in 1984 following the restructuring of the national forest estate.
Creag nan Eun Forest – Land first acquired in1925 and first planting in 1927 located to the north of Invermoriston on the steep sides of Loch Ness. Of the 2139 acres eventually acquired a total of over 1500 acres was planted by 1967. In 1969 it was incorporated into Port Clair Forest which itself was then incorporated into Inchnacardoch Forest.
Farigaig Forest – Located on the east side of Loch Ness where land was acquired in 1946 but first planting shown in 1948. The forest unit eventually totalled over 4,360 ha with more than 3,300 ha of plantings before it was incorporated into Inverness Forest District in 1984 following the reorganisation of the forest units into District Forests.
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Groups: Forest Signs, Forestry Areas