Slasher Magazine Summary: Publication No. 335 - June 1988
The scanned images of the Slasher were produced by and courtesy of the Forest Research library staff based at Alice Holt, Surry, where some of the original copies are located.
The content summary below was very kindly compiled by Diane Birkett, Bedfordshire. See PDF attachment link below the text to view the full document. A total of over 400 issues were produced between 1948 and the final issue in 2009.
Grants Flood Likely In New Scheme
Forestry Commission private woodland officers are expecting many applications for the new Woodland Grant Scheme, which has been given the necessary clearance by the EEC. It is designed to encourage private forestry through enhanced grants for planting and restocking, including natural regeneration. The payment of grants up to £1,575 per hectare will depend on applicants meeting environmental aims as well as the growing of timber. These will include creation of wildlife habitat, enhancement of the landscape, sensitive treatment of water courses, protection of archaeological remains and wildlife habitats. A feature of the scheme is the provision of £200 per hectare for planting on land which was arable or improved grassland. Of special interest in the Scottish Highlands is the extension of the rate of grants for broadleaves to the regeneration of Caledonian pinewoods.
Princess Alexandra Drops In
Princess Alexandra and her husband the Rt. Hon. Angus Ogilvie, attended the Royal Highland Show and met Forestry Commission staff members. The Princess met Kathleen Wood, Margaret Hodge, Rena Stewart and Nan Dickson. Mr Ogilvie met Don Lindsay, Robbie Adam and John Williams, all from the Mid-Scotland Conservancy.
Pictures: (1) Princess Alexandra meets Commission staff. (2) Rt. Hon. Angus Ogilvie with Mid-Scotland Conservancy Officers Don Lindsay, Robbie Adam and John Williams.
Bellamy on The Trail
Picture: David Bellamy introduced the first three visitors to the new Visitors’ Centre at Alice Holt. More details and pictures in this edition of “Slasher”.
The Creature
Picture: More details of the Rendlesham Forest sculpture in this edition of “Slasher”.
The Machine
Picture: More details of the machine at Bedgebury in this edition of “Slasher”.
The Runner
Picture: Patrick Winterton, Captain of the British Nordic ski team is training in the hills and forests of Wales. More details in this edition of “Slasher”.
The Octogenarians and the Old Days
Two octogenarians have recalled their time with the Forestry Commission. Eighty four year old Mr W.F. Stoddart from Morayshire has been retired for 21 years, but remains active. He completed his training in 1926 and for 43 years, served in all four conservancies in Scotland and in North East England, including 16 years with the Education Branch. After taking early retirement in 1967, Mr Stoddart spent a few years in Australia, following leisure activities and studying insects, birds, reptiles and animals on frequent trips in the bushland, and as a member of the local Flora and Fauna Society. After other travels, Mr Stoddart and his wife returned home to Scotland to pursue other interests.
More reminiscences come from Mrs D. Cooke whose husband worked on the old FC site at Kennington in Bagley Wood.
New Consultant
Professor Peter Fowler has been appointed as the Commission’s first archaeological consultant.
Picture: Peter Fowler.
Forest of Dean Competition
The Association of Professional Foresters will stage a thinning and felling competition at Forest of Dean on 30th July.
Chinese Visitors
Groups of officials from China have been visiting Britain’s forests. They visited Alice Holt, the Dean, North England, South Scotland, North Scotland, HQ and NRS, and included visits to Shotton and Highland Forest Products.
Pictures: (1) A party of Chinese guests at Alice Holt. (2) Six senior foresters from China with A.J. Grayson, Director of Research at Alice Holt.
Kitchen Tip from Joan
A recipe from Joan Pascoe for chutney, which doesn’t require any cooking.
1 lb apples (peeled and cored weight)
1 lb onions
1 lb stoned dates
1 lb Demerara sugar
¾ to 1 pint vinegar (preferably apple cider vinegar)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon salt
A little ground pepper
Finely chop or mince apples, onion, dates. Mix in mustard, salt, pepper and sugar. Add vinegar – don’t make mixture too sloshy!
Leave mixture for a day or two, stirring occasionally. Put in jars and label. Leave for six weeks to improve flavour before eating.
Your Slasher
“Slasher” Editor Roy Gregor requests suggestions for the contents of the magazine and lists the regional correspondents.
New Booklet - Interesting Trees in the Forest Of Dean
A new booklet “Interesting Trees in the Forest of Dean” was launched by Alan Mitchell. The booklet is a guide for visiting some of the more spectacular trees in the forest, particularly oak, yew, ash, lime and conifers. Co-authors of the booklet are Ian Standing and Fred Savage, a recently retired forest officer.
Picture: Some of the invited guests at the Weymouth pine during the opening ceremony. They include the Conservator W(E), the Deputy Surveyor, Verderers of the Forest of Dean.
Publications For Exhibition
Two FC publications, Handbook No. 1 “Forest Insects” and the guide “Explore the New Forest” have been selected for display at this year’s British Book Design and Production Exhibition. They are two of the seven HMSO titles chosen and after display at Foyles bookshop, will go on for display at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Tropical Paradise
After a fire at Afan Forest District, a reporter from the South Wales Evening Post telephoned to ask, “Was there any serious damage to the citrus fruit trees?” He was told “It was 0.3 ha of Sitka Spruce trees that had been burned.”
First Meeting
The new West England Regional Advisory Committee, under the chairmanship of Ian Mercer (Director of Dartmoor National Park), met in May at Conservancy Office to visit all the sections at work. They also visited Leigh Woods, near Bristol, to see conservation work, studying lime coppice on stools dating back hundreds of years.
Picture: The West England Regional Advisory Committee visit Leigh Woods.
Keep-Fit Brigade Pant to Success
Road running and jogging is harder on the tendons and leg joints than the same exercise in the forest. Forests give comparative shelter, free from noise, fumes and traffic hazards and beautiful scenery.
Coed y Brenin, near Dolgellau, North Wales, and other FC forests have many miles of waymarked paths and forest roads available for walkers and runners.
In Coed y Brenin, the captain of the British Nordic ski team at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada, can often be found on training runs.
The annual Coed y Brenin Yomp, a cross country race with males carrying a 25 lb weight and females carrying a 15 lb weight, is run over easy and difficult terrain. Competitors consist of local Forestry Commission staff and members of the public within Gwynedd, including the Armed Services.
Previous winners have included Patrick Winterton, and David Anderson, Forester at Corris Forest District who is one of the top six orienteers in Great Britain. Team winners have included Royal Marines and the Paratroopers on exercise in the locality. This year’s event in May attracted 105 entries, including representatives from Aberystwyth and Bristol offices, together with Dolgellau, Llanrwst and Corris Districts.
This year’s inter-Forestry Commission Challenge Cup event was won by Gwydyr Forest with a fine performance by Harvesting Craftsman, Raymond Williams,
Unfortunately, Dave Anderson (Corris) was unable to defend his 1987 winner’s title, as a result of a nasty tumble among hard granite of the Isle of Arran the previous week.
Compared with this year’s individual winner’s time of 1 hour 59 minutes, Forestry Commission entries performed with credit: -
Raymond Williams, Harvesting Craftsman, Gwydyr, 2.13; Martin Parry, Harvesting Contractor, Gwydyr, 2.29 (winner of his age category); Hefin Lloyd, Harvesting Craftsman and Dai Thompson, Harvesting Craftsman, Coed y Brenin, 3.07; Ken Jones, Harvesting Craftsman, Coed y Brenin, 3.41; Kate Hanley, Accounts, Wales, 4.17; Gareth Rowlands, Messenger, Wales, 4.17; Pat Sherwood, West England, 4.25; Susan Fuge and Mary Richards, Accounts, Wales, 5.29; Gillian Thomas and Lynne Williams, Corris, also took part with gallantry, whilst Jonathan Walker, FC OND student, Coed y Brenin, unfortunately lost his way through going too fast.
Pictures: (1) Winners all with the Mayoress of Dolgellau at the Coed y Brenin Yomp.
(2) The FC’s fastest man Raymond Williams of Gwydyr setting a fast pace through the Douglas fir. (3) The hardy brigade crossing the River Mawddach in the 1988 Yomp.
You Live and Learn
Quotation from a newly joined administrative assistant: “If it hasn’t got a file reference on it, it’ll still be in my tray – if it has got a file reference on it, God knows where it will be!”
Odd Beast of Suffolk
Ranger Keith Paternoster and Conservancy Wildlife Officer Fred Curry, spotted an unusual sculpture in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk.
Picture: The sculpture in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk.
A Great Chance to Rectify Old Mistakes
In the last issue of “Slasher”, Steve Scott wrote about the devastation caused to Suffolk Forest District by the gales that swept Southern England on the night of 15th October. In the months since, foresters, both state and private, have been striving to assess the total damage. They have also been laying down plans for long-term reinstatement of woodlands and how flattened areas can be redesigned to meet the needs of future generations in terms of timber production, allied to the growing demands for greater recreational access and conservation. Here, Roy Gregor looks at the future of some of our forest districts and in the first of a series, tells how Weald and West Downs are looking ahead.
In Weald Forest District, the gale brought down 1500 hectares of trees, equivalent to 350,000 cubic metres or ten years of normal harvesting.
Suffolk District was able to call on harvesting teams from nearby Thetford, but Weald, where no harvesting had been done since 1983, had to call on field staff with no real harvesting experience, to cope with the massive clear-up operation through a number of blocks. FDM Pat Dineen, who had started work at Bedgebury aged 15, said “After spending two days cutting our way into the forest office and receiving initial reports on the scale and severity of the windblow, we realised that none of us had experienced an operation of this immensity.” On the day after the gale, he had seen compartments he had planted, were uprooted, snapped off, flattened, and even today from his office window, he looks out on the remains of the stands of research plots. On the day after the gale, it was decided to create a special emergency unit for the Weald. Under the directorship of Norman Dannatt, Assistant Conservator, Operations, East England, assisted by Brian Roebuck, Harvesting Officer, HQ and Richard Cable, Work Study, the Weald staff of Norman Day; Dick Preston and Paul Vickers started to sort out the logistics.
The first help to arrive was a skidder. That was followed by other essential equipment, and now operational in Weald are a Valmet harvester, an Osa harvester, three Lokomo forwarders, a Bruunett processor and forwarder, backed up by two mobile workshops, eight “personnel” vans and a crew of mechanics. In all, something approaching £1m. “More than just the machinery, we needed a committed team and that is what has been achieved. We knew this was going to be an arduous task, at times almost around the clock, with essential back-up to keep machines working,” said Mr Dineen.
A typical working day for a harvesting operator starts at 5am. At 8.30am, there is a half-hour break for maintenance, then the other operator takes over until 12.30pm. In turn he is relieved from 1pm to 5pm, with the final shift lasting until 9pm. This shift rotation continues for three weeks followed by leave. Since the operation started in January, the FC team have cleared more than 30,000 cubic metres and another 38,700 cubic metres have been reserved for standing sales.
In some compartments the operators have come across severe problems with well-grown sweet chestnuts, an inheritance of the former coppice-management. Mr Dineen says they are coping well and finding markets for most of the output, but the market price may be lower than times of stable supplies. He is worried about how some of the private woodland owners in the region will fare. He believes those without a background of land and forest management, will be trying to clear and market the wrong type of products to raise the funds needed for proper restocking. Some pockets will never be cleared or replanted and will be left to long term regeneration.
While the clear-up operation continues over the next two years at least, detailed plans are being drawn up for a restocking programme which could extend for ten years. “The problems we are going to encounter include the varying level of stump height, the amount of brash that has been compacted on to heavy soil, the regeneration of species such as sweet chestnut and the usual range of woodland weeds,” said Mr Dineen.
“We are going to have to look at the whole range of possible treatments – scarifying, chipping, windrowing and burning – as well as keep a close eye on possible drainage problems, following the extensive operation of heavy machinery. “Then we will have to take a fresh look at the species to be planned, the landscape and conservation and public access considerations, including education and interpretation.
“Before the windblow, we were looking at the need for greater public admission into Weald, not only for picnic sites and forest walks, but for such things as caravan sites. Now it is back to the drawing board to see how these can be incorporated into the various stages of the large-scale replanting we will now have to undertake.
“We foresters say the next decade in general restocking provides the opportunity to rectify mistakes that were made in block afforestation of 30 to 50 years ago, situations such as we face now in South and South East England will dictate more drastic rethinking. We cannot afford to rush a replanting programme which would not permit proper management of forest blocks in their early years and thus lead to young trees suffering from lack of maintenance as their predecessors did. We have the opportunity to create new forest for the 21st century and the demands that we think the public will place on them for conservation and recreation. We must not let them inherit a new generation of mistakes.”
Pictures: (1) The Weald team of Norman Day, Paul Vickers, Dick Preston and Pat Dineen. (2) The Lokomo Forwarder stacking the trunks at Bedgebury. (3) The Valmet Harvester clearing the damaged trees for the Lokomo to take over stacking. (4) A small corner of windblow that affected Alice Holt. In all, West Downs reported 46,000 cubic metres were on the ground after the gale.
Planning for Public - Meeting the Problem of Growing Recreational Demands
The problems facing West Downs FDM Ron Melville are typical: the growing demands for a wide range of public facilities, but restricted resources for meeting and maintaining those requirements. Despite those pressures, he has just announced an ambitious conservation plan for the West Downs which includes more than 100 projects. The first stage was marked recently when David Bellamy officially opened the Alice Holt Visitor Centre and introduced the public to a mosses and liverworts trail which incorporates many of the 130 species that can be found in the surrounding forest.
The interest that Mr Melville has generated in his conservation plan is evident in the organisations that have joined in the refurbished visitor centre – the Surrey Wildlife Trust, the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Naturalist Trust, the East Hampshire Rangers Project and the British Butterfly Conservation Trust. Alice Holt Forest is expected to become a much more popular centre. It already contains six forest walks, which together with the forest roads, public footpaths and bridleways, attracts vast numbers of people.
In conjunction with British Rail, a scheme exists to draw people from London and stations in between to Bentley Station and into the forest. In the centre of the forest is the highly commercial enterprise Birdworld and it is hoped to link up with other planned commercial and FC ventures via an underpass on the main A325 which runs through the forest.
Within its 6,080 hectares, West Downs has a harvesting programme of 42,000 cubic metres. Following last October’s gale, some 46,000 cubic metres were on the ground and this poses problems on and around a number of public access routes, some of which had to be closed while clearance operations were undertaken. The area is also under pressure from existing and proposed developments including gravel operations and housing. Camping by gypsies and rubbish dumping from nearby communities also poses problems. Then there are extensive motorway plantings to be undertaken.
There have been requests for husky racing, mock battle and carriage driving.
There are other conservation plans throughout the district, including a woodland at East Horsley, which sits on the green belt on the western side of London near Dorking. There are old flint bridges and a historic kiln site.
Picture: (1) The moss and liverworts trail at Alice Holt in West Downs district. (2) One of the old flint bridges which have been incorporated into the shape of the future at East Horsley and which are the responsibility of the District Manager.
Pair of Shrikes are Rare Visitors
The only known pair of Red-backed Shrikes in Britain are nesting in a busy Forestry Commission car park at Thetford Forest, Suffolk. Young were successfully hatched last year at the same site. The present pair are sitting on four eggs at St Helens, Santon Downham. Red-backed shrikes are summer visitors to Britain, migrating from Africa in the Spring. They are also known as “Butcher birds” due to their habit of impaling insects on thorns to form a “larder”. About the size of a blackbird, they have a rusty red back and grey head with a black stripe through the eye.
And Here Come Harrier and Osprey
North Scotland Conservancy is recording more successes with birds of prey rearing chicks in Commission woodlands. In Easter Ross, a hen harrier has appeared with a pair of chicks in a nest close to a new car park. Regional Conservation Officer Tony Hinde has seen young ospreys being reared in an artificial nest provided for them. Another eyrie has also been adopted with fruitful results, and a pair of osprey are raising young in a natural nest.
Torn Apart by Stupid Idiots
Thugs destroyed facilities at a picnic site in the Gwent Forest District, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage. Ten stone barbecues were destroyed, a portable toilet was overturned and a refuse shed was damaged at the Cwmcarn scenic drive. FDM David Parsons was shocked at the scale of the damage. He said the Community Task Force had worked hard creating the site and erecting the barbecues, and would have to start again. Forest Manager Owen Roberts said it must have taken the vandals two or three hours to cause the destruction and must have used sledge hammers.
Pictures: (1) The task force hard at work on the repairs. (2) Senseless vandalism at one of the ten barbecue spots showing the broken slabs.
Game Fair at Kelso
In this 30th anniversary year, the 1988 Game Fair will be staged at Floors Castle, Kelso, Roxburghshire, on 22-24 July.
That's Much, Much Better
An MSC team have rebuilt a 250 metre dry stone dyke which separates Cashel Campsite from the road to Rowardennan, on Loch Lomondside. The dyke has suffered badly from the ravages of time and traffic – and West Highland Way walkers taking short cuts. Central Regional Council who run a Community Programme Agency, agreed to set an MSC team to work. Fifteen men spent the winter on the project. Their supervisor had learned dyking on a similar project at Sheriffmuir. The project was carried out at no cost to the Forestry Commission.
The same MSC agency have also been improving footpaths up four mountains in Aberfoyle Forest District – Ben Lomond, Ben A’an, Ben Venue and Ben Ledi. They also organised a short course for FC employees to learn how to maintain dry stone dykes and footpaths. The course was attended by QEFP Warden John Brommage, Forest Craftsman Jim Scott and Forest Craftsman Alistair Livingstone, who have put their new skills to use by dismantling a section of dry stone dyke in Aberfowle and rebuilding it at the Glasgow Garden Festival.
Picture: Three newly skilled dry stone wall workers.
Saving Forest Wildlife
During the last ten years, there has been an increase in bracken in many West Country forests and other habitats.
By mid-July, valuable woodland glades, verges and large areas of heath, once rich in flora and insect life, have become buried under bracken, sometimes over a metre in height. Short stem flowering plants such as violets, primroses, ground ivy and trefoils, all important for nectar or larval food, become totally suppressed and fail to flower and establish themselves.
Not only are flowers and insects affected, very often sites of historical interest and SSSIs suffer from the same problem, making it almost impossible to visit them in high summer, let alone see them. The increase in bracken has coincided with a sharp decline in the fritillary butterfly populations, particularly the Highbrown. All require violet leaves as their larval food plant.
Several years ago, four sample areas were selected in the Haldon Forest, near Exeter, and the bracken was swiped to try to regain some of the lost flora and insects. This was followed by treating the areas as sensitively as possible with Asulox chemical. Although a selective bracken killer, Asulox will temporarily defoliate plants such as hemp agrimony, common fleabane and the buckthorn species - all useful butterfly plants.
Today the Haldon sites are virtually bracken free and once again covered in wild flowers. One of the sites is now supporting many orchids and 32 breeding butterfly species. The Highbrown, Pearl-bordered, Small pearl-bordered and the Silver-washed fritillaries have greatly improved in numbers despite poor summers.
Bracken has some uses. It provides shelter and shade for many wild creatures and supports a number of night flying moths, which in turn provide food for the nightjar. The clearing of bracken from flora rich habitat is not only a valuable conservation exercise, but it could provide our Rangers with a worthwhile monitoring and recording programme.
Pictures: (1) Small Pearl-Bordered butterfly. (2) Silver-washed butterfly.
Honours
Eric Masters, Senior Ranger, has been awarded the BEM. He joined the Commission as a Forest Worker at Wareham in 1950 and gained promotion to Ganger, Ranger, then Senior Ranger in 1967. His interest in bats led to the development of a nest design that has found favour with five main species of bats in the forest. He is also an expert on the management of Sika deer and his liaison with police forces has led to the curtailment of poaching in Dorset and Hampshire.
Maureen O'Donnell, Systems Development, HQ, who has been with the Commission for 13 years, has been awarded the BEM for her work with the Intelligence Corps, Territorial Army.
Picture: Maureen O’Donnell.
Thomas Smith, Managing Director, Kirkoswald Sawmill, Ayrshire has been awarded the OBE. The company also operate mills at Benmore and Kilmallie. In 1967, they announced plans to merge with A.R. Brownlie, another Scottish based company. Mr Smith has served the industry through the Home Grown Timber Advisory Committee.
James Sutton, Purchasing Manager, Shotton Paper Co. who spent 35 years in the private sector, has been a respected purchaser and has served on many advisory bodies, has been awarded the MBE.
Welsh Doctorate Awarded to Dr Julian Evans
Dr Julian Evans, Principal Silviculturist at Alice Holt has been awarded the degree of D.Sc by the University of Wales. In 1987, Dr Evans was invited to submit his published work for consideration. It includes a series of papers about the productivity of successive rotations of pine in Swaziland and several on various aspects of broadleaved silviculture. Two of his books, “Plantation Forestry in the Tropics”, published by Oxford University Press, and Forestry Commission Bulletin No. 62 “Silviculture of Broadleaved Woodland” were also included as an integral part of the degree submission.
Two Wheeled Brigade
Cycling is becoming increasingly popular in Wales, fostering an idea that could be taken up by other forestry areas. Mountain bikes have up to 16 gears and with their specialised off-road tyres, are a means of long-distance recreation. With many miles of hill tracks, ‘green lanes’ and bridleways in the Welsh hills, there is ample opportunity to explore new countryside in a fraction of the time it would take on foot.
For the experienced rider, with careful use of gears and the agreement of the relevant landowner, there is also the opportunity to ride cross country on all but the rockiest or boggiest terrain. The sight of cyclists on the 2,500 foot range of Cader Idris mountain above Dolgellau is not unusual.
A recent approach to the Commission's office in Dolgellau, from an outdoor pursuits entrepreneur in the small town of Bala in the Snowdonia National Park, has concluded with an agreement for conducted cycling parties to use Aberhirnant Forest (part of Dolgellau Forest District) in the foothills of the Berwyn Mountains to the south of Bala.
With the help of Forest District Manager and District Forester Paul Sherrington, the leader of the cycle groups has been fully briefed on the Commission's work and objectives, together with the local history and natural history of the forest and surrounding locality.
Picture: A group of cyclists in Wales.
Help Us
The Forestry Commission staff at the Chelsea Flower Show were inundated with requests for advice for gardeners, farmers and estate owners who had suffered varying amounts of damage in October. The show attracted 160,000 visitors and many of those who visited the FC stand wanted guidance on clearance and restocking. Staff from Alice Holt and East England Conservancy dealt with the flood of enquiries.
A Cycling We Will Go
Cyclists on the 2,500 ft range of Cader Idris mountain is not an usual sight.
Picture: A party of cyclists in the hills and woodlands of mid-Wales.
Record Entry for APF
A 25 per cent increase in the number of exhibitors who have registered so far for the seventh National Forestry Machinery demonstration at Cannock Chase, Staffordshire, in September, has been reported by the Association of Professional Foresters. APF are the organisers of this bi-annual major international exhibition, recognised by the forestry industry as the leading event in its calendar.
Retired
Lena Birchall, Typist, Alice Holt, has retired after 28 years’ service with the Commission. Her word processing skills used in the preparation of publications were praised as was her key role in the preparation of open days at Alice Holt.
Picture: Lena Birchall with Brian Hibberd, Research Communications Officer and Noel Blatchford, with whom Lena had worked for 18 years.
David McAlpine (Jock McAlpine), has retired after 30 years’ service with the Commission in the Loch Ard section of Aberfoyle FD.
Jackie MacKenzie, Lorry Driver, N(S), has retired after 24 years’ service with the Commission.
Alan Rix, Conservator, North England, has retired. He was honoured by the North Wales Softwoods Thinning Association at a dinner-dance in Ludlow. He served as Assistant Conservator (Harvesting and Marketing) in North Wales from 1976-1982 and then as Conservator South Wales from 1982-1985.
Margaret Foster, AO, Silviculture (S), Alice Holt, has retired after 14 years’ service with the Commission.
Bill Gordon, SEO, Edinburgh HQ, has retired after almost 40 years’ service with the Commission. Beginning and ending his career with the Commission in Edinburgh, he worked in London, Dumfries and Basingstoke.
Peter Hermon, Controller of Finance, has retired after 43 years’ service with the Commission, mainly in audit and finance.
Wally Hammond has retired after 39 years’ service, joining the Commission at Kennington Nursery, weeding seed beds with George Holmes. Most of his service was in NE(E) as Forester and Fire Warden and his final 17 years were spent on Forest Surveys.
Kenny Clark BEM, Head Ranger, South Scotland, has retired. He worked throughout South Scotland, including Changue, Fleet, Dalbeattie, Ae and Moffat. He won the Balfour Deer Trophy in 1971 for his contribution to wildlife research.
David Forrest, Craftsman, Lothian and Tweed Forest District, has retired after 33 years’ service with the Commission.
Valery (Joe) Vasilieff BEM, Ganger, Clatteringshaws, has retired after 37 years’ service with the Commission. Born in Ukraine, he fled Russian and German regimes and settled in South West Scotland.
Roy Faulkner has retired after 38 years’ service with the Commission in the Research Division. During his 25 years as Head of Genetics, he pushed forward the breeding programmes for the main coniferous species, which he deemed to be economically justifiable in comparison to broadleaved species. Roy regretted the move away from the use of career specialist foresters in Research Division, especially in those branches involved in long-term projects, and stressed there were no short-cuts in tree breeding.
Picture: (1) Roy planting one of his trees. (2) Roy gives his listeners cause for merriment.
Ray Braine, District Manager, Cornwall and North Devon Forest District, has retired after spending his entire career with the Forestry Commission, with a break for Army service.
Pictures: (1) Ray Braine with his wife Audrey who was presented with a bouquet by Natalie Harrison. (2) Roy Braine, his wife Audrey, colleagues and friends.
Sandy Davidson, Head Forester, Kincardine District, has retired after 37 years’ service with the Commission, all in old E(S) Conservancy. His travels took him from Speyside to Drumtochty and most forests in between.
Picture: Sandy Davidson, his wife Helen with the painting presented by Graham Tuley, FDM Kincardine, and surrounded by friends and colleagues.
Obituaries
Mike Little, Wales Conservancy Drawing Office Manager, has died aged 45 after 26 years’ service with the Commission. He joined the Commission from college in 1962 as a Cartographic Draughtsman and was promoted in 1966 to take charge of the Drawing Office. He became a higher grade draughtsman in 1980.
Eileen Empson BEM, died on 5th May. Eileen and Jim Empson joined the Commission in 1949 at Alice Holt, Jim to be Caretaker and Eileen to be a Cleaner. Eileen became the telephonist in 1958, remaining in that position until retirement in 1981. She was awarded the BEM in 1978 in recognition of her services to and on behalf of the Forestry Commission.
Jimmy Patterson, retired Ploughing Manager, South Scotland, died on 9th May.