FCA Magazine (FCAtoday) - Issue 34: March 2008
FC staff Retirement Association magazine. The content summary below was very kindly compiled by Diane Birkett, Bedfordshire. See PDF attachment below the text to view the full document. A total of 77 issues were completed between 1997 and the final issue in 2023.
Issue 34: March 2008
Articles
The ’67 Faskally Twelve
Seven retired foresters and their wives enjoyed a 40th-anniversary re-union in Pitlochry on 24th October 2007. They were from the 1965-67 year at Faskally Forestry Training School. All 12 graduates that year joined the Forestry Commission and have kept in touch over the 40 years since.
A photograph shows: - Fred Millwood; Jean Millwood; John Baird; Tillie Baird; Celia Rees; John Rees; Tony Hinde; Adrian McLaughlan; Liz McLaughlan; Margaret Shuttleworth; Mike Shuttleworth; Elizabeth Reynard and Bryce Reynard.
AGM 2008
This year’s annual general meeting of the Forestry Commission Association will be held on 20th May in the west boardroom of Silvan House, Edinburgh (previously called Forestry Commission HQ). The AGM dinner will be in the Gillespie Room of The Mansion House at Edinburgh Zoo.
The after-dinner speaker will be James Ogilvie, who climbed Mt Everest last year and, through sponsorship, raised a considerable sum for Tree Aid. The AGM visit on the following day will be to Aberfoyle, Achray, and Loch Katrine, with lunch at the David Marshall Lodge forest visitor centre.
Another 100!
John “Jock” Mclennan recently celebrated his 100th birthday at a party with friends and family at the Forestgait Care Home in Aberdeen. He previously lived at Tomintoul and retired in 1971, having worked for the Forestry Commission for 48 years.
Hazards to Wildlife in Highland Forests in the 50s and 60s – Part 1
In Part 1 of David Paterson’s glimpse into forestry life in the 1950s and 1960s, he writes about raptors and blackgame and has several capercaillie stories. He also gives some brief light-hearted wildlife lessons.
Storm Impressions of an Old Forester
Peter Noot remembers the storm of 1987 which caused property damage and disruption to communities. He says owners of small woodlands, especially if they were native woods, were faced with high costs for clearance if they didn’t have insurance.
Watery Stories and Other Storms
The article in the December issue of Slasher on the 1987 storm reminded John Keenleyside of the storms in January 1968 and January 1953. The use of water storage to preserve the timber was also used after both storms.
South Wales Reunion
The South Wales Conservancy was disbanded in 1985, but a reunion is planned for 14th June 2008 at the Cardiff Bay Yacht Club in Cardiff Bay.
Craig Heaney OBE
Margaret Shearer writes about Craig Heaney’s OBE and the high regard colleagues have for him.
George Stewart is on a Good Racquet
A cutting from the 22nd January edition of “The Scotsman” shows ex-Commissioner George Stewart has just become a Scottish Champion at tennis. He and his partner won the over 85s Super-Seniors World Championship in December at Christchurch, New Zealand. The pair had a combined age of 174.
Letters to the Editor
Letters from Derek Smith who started working for the Forestry Commission at Savile Row in 1938 and David Paterson who was a DO in Dornoch and took the photograph at South Strome on a cable crane demonstration by John Drummond, featured in Issue 33 (December 2007). He says the missing names are Stan Forrester beside Jack Massey and Joe Huntly behind John Drummond.
From the Editor
Comments from Richard Toleman.
Obituaries
Bart Venner and Geoff Waygood know many former Dean students will recall Stan Betterton, who died recently, as the instructor on nursery work and fire control. He was an ex-Dean student himself (1946-48), and returned to the School in 1951.
Mike Whitlock recalls John Christie, who died in December, aged 84. After leaving FTC he joined the Mensuration Branch at Alice Holt and spent the rest of his career there.
John Voysey remembers John Cubby, who died tragically recently. John was the quintessential stalker-ranger who spent most of his career with the Forestry Commission, coming under the influence of Gerald Springthorpe, Bill Grant and Jack Chard.
Libby Capstick has told of the deaths of two members of the Yorkshire branch. Clive Edgell died last July aged 87. He worked for the FC for 38 years mainly in Cropton and Dalby Forests. George Jones died last spring, aged 88. He was a foreman for the Road Division, and was well liked by all who worked with him. There were many stories about him, one in particular featuring him and Peter Davison crossing Fylingdales Moor in the snow late one afternoon. They decided to take a short cut, but were confronted and arrested by Fylingdales Police from the Early Warning Station, and were only released when a forestry worker identified them!
John Zehtemyar and George Taylor have fond memories of Stan Forrester, who died in January, aged 82. Stan was an extraordinary character: mercurial, hands-on and willing to tackle anything – building, sailing, theatricals. He graduated from Edinburgh in 1948 and went straight to Hamsterley as DFO. However, Work Study was an obvious posting for Stan, and he joined it in 1958 in West Scotland. There he bought the redundant Loch Eck youth hostel and converted it into a bungalow.
Bill Sutherland attended John Jackson’s funeral at the end of January. John was just five days short of his 102nd birthday when he died. The July 2006 edition carried a tribute to him and his career in forestry when he reached 100. It is proposed to plant a memorial tree in Kilmun Arboretum to celebrate his 58 years’ service in the Commission.
Bart Venner recalls Cyril Lewis, who died in December, aged 92. Cyril was the last of a long line of foresters from the Dean. His great-grandfather was a woodman in the 1850s, and his grandfather was a keeper who was born in Russell’s Lodge. His father, Tom, was also born in there, and went to the Dean FTS in 1904-5. Cyril’s brother Jack went to the FTS in 1927-9, and Cyril followed in 1935-6.
John Fletcher writes of Gerald Springthorpe, who died in October. Gerald joined the Commission in 1953 at Cannock Chase, and HF Bill Tribe soon recognised his wildlife skills.