Glenhurich Forest – Polloch – Sunart Forest - Strontian Forest District
The map was recovered from shed at Newton that acted as a storage area for Forest Research who used the maps to locate forest and tree experiments in the field.
At one point this large forest was a unit on its own – the land acquired in 1927 from the then Department of Agriculture totalled over 6000 hectares. Several Forest Worker Holdings were set up and planting had begun. There is no memory of the nursery. There are records of the first planting in 1924 managed by Forester William Anderson in possibly some arrangement with the Department of Agriculture when there was a government drive to provide houses and work in the rural areas for returning service personnel. In fact on this map on the south western edge south of Loch Doilet some 1924 tree crops are noted. Planting carried on for many years and pushed higher up into the glens and hills.
The writer recalls hearing stories from a George Mackay (Glen Nevis) who worked in Polloch in his younger days on how the remarkably straight rows up the hill side were planted. Apparently a line of pegs was surveyed straight up the hill. A string with knots at the set planting distances was held across the hill from the pegged line by two young men or boys. The ‘string boys’ each had a measuring stick cut to the set tree planting distance. Using the measure, the distance up the hill was noted from the last spot. The string was pulled tight at the new planting point and the gang of men (one for each knot on the string) moved up hill to plant the next tree. This operation was repeated all the way up the hillside. The writer recalls marking trees for cable crane extraction on the very steep slopes where the rows of trees were arrow straight for hundreds of yards to the very top.
Access to Polloch was via the steamers on Loch Shiel or over the steep road with some 1:4 sections from Strontian past the old lead mines. Four or five double timber houses were built there above the old School probably in the early 1950s. By the 1970s there were fewer workers staying in Polloch but numbers were boosted by turning one of the double houses into a hostel type accommodation and young men, many from Liverpool area and other parts of UK, added to the squad numbers. Land Rovers travelled daily from Strontian over the hill carrying forest workers from the village and surrounds. The clerical work in the little wooden office was executed by Phamie Mackinnon from Strontian, all operations then directed by Head Forester Bob Howard assisted by Henry Bowers as Forester. Phamie also was a worker with one or two other local ladies in the forest during the war.
By 1970 a new forest road along side Loch Shiel linked Polloch to the Fort William to Mallaig road at Callop. Periodic shopping trips to Fort William along this road for the Polloch workers and families were organised with official vehicles and drivers on some Saturdays in the month. However the main reason for the long expensive road was the transport of timber to the newly build pulp mill at Corpach.
Names of many workers are not now recalled but in the late 1970s old John was a caretaker in Polloch who looked after the former School used as a bothy by the road building teams and also maintained the tools and tidied the office. Chris Sharp, Paul Willet and Nigel ? occupied the hostel with a number of others. Ted (Taduz) Harbert and his family lived in a croft at the head of Loch Doilet and used a horse to drag out timber and he also felled the trees. Travelling daily over the hill from Strontian were Bobby Cameron (Bobby Post) ganger, Colin MacNaughton, Donald MacNiven and Islay Stewart along with others. Donald and Islay operated a cable crane. Islay tragically died in a car accident in Glen Tarbert.
Any more names and stories would be very welcome.
In the early 1970s Sunart Forest was enlarged to incorporate Glenhurich and also Fiunary (Lochaline) under Chief Forester Arkle Fraser. Donald McIntosh, housed in Strontian, was in charge of the harvesting in Polloch and some of the new planting and restocking work. The office work all moved to the Salen Office when Phamie MacKinnon then travelled daily from Strontian to carry the clerical work assisted by Mary MacKenzie, Acharacle.
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Groups: Maps of Forest and Woodland Areas, Sunart Ardgour and Morven