Marjorie Stark, Women’s Timber Corps - 3 Jun 1942 to 29 Jan 1946
Marjorie Stark of Greenbank Loan, Edinburgh born in Oct 1916 enrolled in Timber Corps on 3 Jun 1942. Unusually under Period of Training category it is stated ‘Not necessary’. Her postings in order on her Index Card are shown as:
1. HGTP Dept – Douglas Hotel, Galashiels
2. Park House Camp, Drumoak, Aberdeenshire from ?
3. Bowmont Camp, Mainhouse, Kelso from 31 Jan 1944
4. Dunphail Camp, Dunphail, Morayshire from ?
5. Park House, Drumoak, Aberdeenshire from 23 Mar 1944
6. Echt Unit, Aberdeenshire from 10 Oct 1944
7. Rutherford Camp from ?
8. Bowmont camp , Mainhouse, Kelso from 4 Jan 1945
9. Released from Duty 29 Jan 1946
In a photograph provided by Freida Murray from her father Bob Allison who was Chief Instructor at Shandord Lodge, Brechin – a Margaret Stark as noted as one of the Instructors based at Shandford Lodge and her image is on the left above. The only Stark name noted on the Women’s Timber Corps Index card list is one Marjorie Stark. However she is not noted as based at Shandford Lodge at any time but certainly as at Park House, Deeside, where Timber Corps new recruits were trained for a period. It is possible that the group photograph of the training staff taken at Shandford was from an occasional gathering of all trainers and that her first name was not recalled correctly by Bob Allison. The two letters attached to the image were acquired by Forestry Commission Scotland, Edinburgh, probably about the time the Timber Corps statue was being commissioned for erection at David Marshall Lodge in 2007. They are addressed to Miss M Stark referencing her appointment as a Forewoman at Bowmont Camp. It would appear that Marjorie was from an early date selected for administrative and instruction duties (note HGTPD base in Douglas Hotel, Galashiels) and attained the Forewoman grade in charge of a camp in 1945.(Note that Mr Oliver is almost certainly Frank Oliver who was Divisional Officer in Forestry Commission South Scotland)
The second image on right is from Forestry Commission, Edinburgh (possibly circa 2006) but annotated as from the effects of Marjorie Stark via Bonnie Macadam who was also a trainer but based at Shandford Lodge. The name of the girl energetically wielding the axe to lay in the Scots pine tree is not known but there is a possibility it could be of Marjorie from her early Timber Corps days. It is certainly a very striking image.
Below is an extract from an article by Marjorie Stark that was first published in 1945 in a small booklet ‘Meet the Members’ describing the work of the wartime recruits. The booklet was reprinted in 1997 by the Imperial War Museum. The article perhaps gives us an insight into the descriptive and educational qualities of Marjorie:
“Felling, the process of cutting down trees, is one of the most interesting, because it is one of the most highly skilled, jobs done by the Timber Corps. Good felling is a matter of knowledge and judgment and good fellers are fascinating to watch. There are men who have been at this job for a dozen years or more who will admit that they can still learn new things about it.
The first part of this process, and the most difficult to learn, is what we in Scotland usually call "laying-in”. This is the preliminary axe work, levelling off buttress roots and cutting “mouth " in the tree on the side to which you wish it to fall, generally the " front " or the clear side. Laying-in is called " daubing " or “dabbing”—I can't vouch for the spelling—in some parts of the North of Scotland, and, I believe, “rounding-up " in England. We of the Scottish Timber Corps have been felling, laying-in and everything for all the time the W.T.C. has existed here, and some of our girls have been doing it for longer. We generally use a 4½lb. axe, though some girls use heavier and some lighter axes. We work mostly on pitwood trees, though some work on bigger stuff.
Having prepared your tree in the way mentioned, you next “throw” it or, in other words, saw it off root. This brings me to a difference of opinion. In the south of Scotland, right up as far as Perthshire and Angus, it is the custom to kneel at the side of your tree when sawing it off root, in fact wood-cutters, the real professionals, in the south wear kneeling pads strapped to the knees all day when they are felling, if they have pads at all. But in the north, beyond Perthshire and Angus, it is customary to stand and stoop to your saw as you throw your trees. The best one can hope for in this case is to get people to agree that it is all a matter of preference, even though they still think privately that their own way is the better. I think, however, that we are all agreed that it is most important to have a light grip of the saw, to swing your arms easily and rhythmically from the shoulders, never to pull your saw and always, if at all possible, to use its full length. The type of saw generally used is a cross¬cut with detachable handles so that it may be removed from the cut after the wedge is driven in, should this prove necessary. The wedge is driven in if your tree is leaning back or pressing on the saw, or if it is taking too long about falling, so that it is not safe to go on sawing. If the difficult tree is large, a rope is sometimes attached to a limb or branch beforehand, either by means of a long pole or by climbing the tree, and a good pull on this brings the tree down where you want it, or near it.
The final process in felling is snedding, I know no other word for this. It means cutting off the branches and the top of the tree. Some people prefer a small 2½-lb. axe for this. You work right up your tree, taking off all the branches you can reach, and you generally cut the top off where your tree is about 2½ inches in diameter. Then you turn the tree, using a cant-hook or peevie tool with a hinged hook designed for the purpose. You then work up the other side of your tree which you have just turned up. The last job is to pile the branches, or to burn them”. M STARK
Any further detail of Marjorie Stark’s Timber Corps career would be very welcome indeed. Please see the large image link below to observe more detail in the above image.
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Groups: Women's Timber Corps - Timber Jills