Metal Plaque celebrating100,000 acres planted by the Forestry Commision in Argyll
This plaque image is courtesy of Gordon Donaldson former District Manager of Cowal and Trossachs Forest District. The event is covered in a little more detail in Photo No 4233 which features a pamphlet produced for the event on 24 May 1961.
The names on the plaque indicate a very egalitarian choice of personnel to plant the commemorative trees in Benmore Forest (possibly in the Kilmun Arboretum?) to mark the event. The named people are:
Sir Arthur Gosling – Director General Forestry Commission
A B L Munro-Ferguson – Chairman Regional Advisory Council North
J G Mathieson – County Convener
Thomas Conacher – Forest Worker
Hugh MacDonald – Forest Worker
Miss C S MacPhail – Provost of Dunoon
D C Bowser – Chairman of National Committee
Sir George I Campbell – Chairman of Regional Advisory Council West
A D Jackson – County Clerk
Duncan McAlpine – Forest Worker
James McDougall – Forest Worker
At this point it is not known who all attended the event but there may have been Forester and District Officer representatives from all the Argyll Forests and Districts, Roads Engineers, Clerks of Works, Divisional Officer and Conservator. It is possible also that the worker representatives may have been drawn from various forests in Argyll. Any information on the present condition of the planted trees, where the Forestry Workers were based or details on the actual event would be very welcome indeed.
The paragraph below taken from the event pamphlet as shown in Photograph No 4233 perhaps expresses well the appropriate sentiment.
‘In marking this occasion, it is not only the achievement of the Forestry Commission that is being commemorated. It is the work done, year by year, by the foresters and the men (and women) who have worked, and are still working, in the ever-growing forests of Argyll. Forests are not made by blueprint, but by skilled, patient and devoted work of the men (and women) who spend their lives there. It is this work, the work of the pioneers and of all who have helped restore the woodland area of Argyll that we are commemorating today.’
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Groups: Forest Signs, Forestry Areas