Wilfred Lawson in Glenbranter Camp accommodation
Images are courtesy of Colin Lawson son of Wilfred Lawson, a forester who trained at Benmore Forester Training School 1948-1950 but prior to that trained as a forest worker at Glenbranter from February 1947.
The accommodation appears to be one of the wooden huts lined with wooden panelling and furnished with single iron frame bed and some shelves with work clothing hanging on the wall. Reading material in hand may be a newspaper and on the bedside shelves a Review magazine plus notebooks, tins and other items.
Shortly after WWII the Forestry Commission stepped up its recruitment of foresters and workers particularly from the ranks of the demobbed service people. The ambition was to find staff for an increased planting programme generated by substantial acquisitions of land all around the UK and particularly in Scotland. Below are some extracts from the Annual Reports of that time – the first from 1946 Annual report:
Forest Workers Training Scheme — The expenditure on this scheme amounted to £44,352, of which £34,148 represented allowances to trainees and £10,204 expenditure on maintenance of training centres, etc. This scheme was started towards the end of 1945 to provide vocational training in forestry for men who had served in the armed forces, factories,
etc., during the war. The training is given in the State Forests and also on selected Private Estates, and at the conclusion of the course the choice is left with the trainee as to whether he will seek employment on a private estate or with the Commission. Many applicants came forward and at the close of the year the number of men under training was 759 distributed as follows:
..... State Forests - Private - Estates Total
England... 316 .. 157 .. 473
Scotland.. 166 .. 79 .. 245
Wales ........ 37 .. 4 .. 41
Totals..... 519 .. 240 .. 759
1947 Forestry Commission Annual Report –
Short courses for foresters and woodmen were held at the following private estates :
Bowhill Estate, Selkirk— Instructor, Mr. T. Allan ;
Darnaway Estate, Morayshire— Instructor, Mr. E . S. Grant;
Dartington Hall Estate,Totnes, Devon— Instructor, Mr. T. Brown ;
Raby Castle, Durham (two courses)— Instructor, Mr. H. Smith.
The average number of men attending each course was twelve. At the end of each course, which was of three months’ duration, examinations were held b y the Royal Forestry Society of England and Wales for the Woodman’s Certificate (in England), and by the Royal Scottish Forestry Society for the Junior Forester’s Certificate (in Scotland). All the students were awarded the appropriate certificate.
Forest Workers Training Scheme — The expenditure on this scheme amounted to £231,962 of which £145,634 represented allowances to trainees and £86,328 expenditure on maintenance of training centres, etc.
This scheme continued to provide practical training in forestry for men released from the armed forces, and other forms of war service. The trainees are accommodated in hostels or in private lodgings, and the training is given in State Forests or in the woodlands of selected private estates. During the year, 415 men completed their year’s training or entered a Forester Training School before the expiry of their year’s training; of this number, 214 went into State Forestry, 80 into Private Forestry, and 96 into Forester Training Schools; a small number (25) did not continue in forestry.
The scheme is proving a good recruiting ground for suitable men for admission to Forester Training Schools, and during the year places were found for h i trainees (includes 15 selected in the previous year). The country of origin of these entrants to the Schools was England— 76, Scotland— 27, Wales— 8; at the end of the year a further 177 had qualified for admission to a Forester, Training School.
In 1948 470 men were trained and received their Forest Worker certificates. A further 628 men were still in training at the end of 1948. By 1949 the number of workers being trained had fallen considerably with only 262 left in training. The scheme was only open to applicants who had been called up for national service before 1948 (or worked in wartime factories). The scheme was closed in July 1952. Since its inception in 1947 a total of 1630 men received their training certificates and within that number 400 went on to the Forester Training Schools.
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Groups: Buildings in Forests, Forestry Areas