Slasher Magazine Summary: Publication No. 21 - September 1949
The scanned images of the Slasher were produced by and courtesy of the Forest Research Data and Information Team staff based at Roslin, where some of the original copies are located. The Forestry England Information Knowledge Management Team and New Forest Heritage made available copies of The Slasher from their collections. Brian Mahony of the FC Retirement Association devised and coordinates the Slasher Project and has been instrumental in locating many missing editions and coordinating the searches to locate all the earlier publication numbers.
The content summary below was again very kindly compiled by Diane Birkett, Bedfordshire. See PDF attachment link below the text summary to view the full document. A total of over 420 issues or publications were produced between January 1948 and the final publication in 2010.
Quibbles in The Quantocks
Great exception has been taken by villagers and others to the proposed acquisition by the Commission of some 1,200 acres of land at Quantoxhead, adjoining the existing 2,283 acre Quantock Forest. The land has been offered to the Commission by Mr Geoffrey Luttrell, who is Chairman of the South West Regional Advisory Committee.
Letters of protest have been written to the press and a Friends of Quantock Association is being formed.
Well Done!
The State planting programme for the whole of the country last season was 43,600 acres - still below the Command Paper estimate, but nevertheless a formidable area. The area actually planted was 43,496 acres, only 114 acres behind the programme figure. England exceeded the quota by planting 15,099 acres against the 15,000 asked for; Scotland planted 19,625 acres out of 20,000; and Wales also exceeded the programme figure by planting 8,762 acres against the 8,600 acres expected.
Chairman’s Visit to America
Lord Robinson, accompanied by Mr James MacDonald, Director of Research and Education, left on the Mauretania on August 9th for New York. At Lake Success, the Chairman and Mr MacDonald are among delegates from Britain who are attending the United Nations Scientific Conference on the Conservation and Utilisation of Resources. They are expected to arrive back in this country on September 14th.
Club Started on a £5 Note
Kershope Camp Working Men's Club and Institute, formed two years ago, is situated in Kershope Forest. At the beginning, there were 36 members and finances took the form of a borrowed £5 note. There are now well over a hundred members, total assets are more than £500.
Forester G.A. Sharp played a big part in bringing the Club into being and soon afterwards, rules were adopted and a subscription fixed at six shillings a year. More details on the Club are given.
Fire in Hutted Camp
There was a fire at Dalavich, Loch Awe, in the West Conservancy, Scotland in a hutted camp erected by a firm of contractors to accommodate their workers, who were to build Finnish houses for the Commission.
Unusual Accident
Forester B.R.G. Hammond of Collingbourne, South West England, reports an unusual accident. At the back of the stores hut at Collingbourne, he says, there is a milk-churn in which rainwater is collected. The other day a Tawny Owl was found drowned in the churn. "This goes to show," says Forester Hammond, "just how serious is the need of water to wild birds during times of drought. It is unfortunate that so useful a bird as an owl should have been the victim."
The Quibell Oaks
Forester H. Adams, of Laughton, E(E), and Forester D.F. Marshall, of Willingham, in the same Conservancy, took part in a ceremony at the agricultural show at Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire. Three young oak trees were taken from Willingham Forest and planted at the entrance to the showground by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Lord Quibell. The two Foresters held the trees in position during the ceremony and afterwards 'tidied up' the operation. The trees are henceforth to be known as The Quibell Oaks. Lord Quibell is a former Forestry Commissioner who lives in Scunthorpe.
Who’s Who in the Commission (No. 3)
A profile of Forester D.R. Beaumont, who is in charge of Orlestone, South East England, is contributed by Mr R.W. Gulliver, Chief Clerk at the Conservancy Office, Woking.
Forester Beaumont (writes Mr Gulliver) is proficient at wood turning. Before meeting him I had heard all about the lathe he is alleged to have made out of his grandmother’s sewing machine, but I had a pleasant surprise when I was the recipient of a sample of his work. This took the form of a set of four egg-cups on a stand, the intricate finishing of which left no doubt at all that the job as a whole was the work of a master. The stand is of teak and the egg-cups had been fashioned from a laburnum some 80 years old which, Forester Beaumont tells me, came from the grounds of an old Rectory in Suffolk. When he came across the tree, it had been dead for some years.
The majority of us would be content to leave our spare-time occupation at woodwork, but not Forester Beaumont. He is organist at the Warehorne Church and, although he is modest where his accomplishments in this direction are concerned and says he knows enough to get the congregation through the psalms and hymns, the fact that he has occupied the post for a number of years speaks for itself. It is certainly remarkable that Forester Beaumont has never had a music lesson in his life!
Forester Beaumont is a grand man with whom to spend a leisure hour, for he talks with great knowledge of facts and legends concerning cathedrals, castles and other historic buildings he has visited. He wrote out for me from memory Thomas Ingoldsby’s "Legend of Canterbury - Nell Cook", in which the "Dark Entry", a low passage near the cathedral, is mentioned. As this ran to 47 verses his interest in the subject is evident! Forester Beaumont is also a collector of old flint implements, and possesses several which he has found in various parts of the country, including an arrowhead of the Neolithic period, and several flint scrapers.
Field and Forest Club
Divisional Officer W.A. Cadman of North Wales Conservancy is the Secretary of the Commission's Field and Forest Club and there are representatives in each Conservancy. The main objectives of the club are to observe and record natural history occurrences of interest, to promote the protection of rare species and to carry out investigations into the status of particular species.
Last year, a start was made on the compilation of lists of birds occurring in certain forests. A report on the status of Polecats and Pine Martens in Wales has been made for the Cardiff museum, and similar reports on the status of Peregrines and Black Game in North Wales have been compiled.
Club representatives include: P.F. Garthwaite, D.O., NE(E); A.E.G. Flynn, D.O., NW(E); J.M. Ross, D.O., SE(E); J.T. Wildash, Forester, SW(E); D.W. Young, New; J.T. Fitzherbert, Div. Officer, N(S); B.R. Feaver, D.O., E(S); J.R. Thom, Conservator, S(S); J.E. James, Conservator, W(S); W.A. Cadman, Div. Officer, N(W).
The Muntjac Again
Forester W. Cottenham, of Apethorpe, E(E), has no doubt about there being a Muntjac or Indian barking deer in the New Forest (The Slasher, July). He had one in Oundle Woods in 1947, and a few years ago the Head Keeper at an estate at Haywards Heath, Sussex, shot one and had it set up for the late Sir Alexander Kleinwort. Some years ago a Muntjac was shot in Tomblin Wood, Apethorpe. The Muntjac is easy to track in damp soil. He skips along when disturbed, and all four footprints come close together. Its tusks protrude like those of a boar pig.
Sports
Description of Cricket on a Saturday afternoon at Glentress, between the staff at Edinburgh Office and the students of Glentress Forester Training School. Glentress knocked up a bold 108 in reply to Edinburgh's hard-earned 34, of which J.R. Ferens scored 25. The best Glentress bat was carried by J. Maxwell, who collected 44 runs. Glentress bowler W. Heckles took 6 wickets for 4 runs, while A.B MacPherson had 3 Glentress wickets for 14 runs and G. Stevenson had 4 for 29.
There are no statistics available for the marathon "baseball" game in which the ladies participated in the evening.
Warms thanks were extended to Education Officer T.A. Robbie and the students.
The Trials of Establishment Sections
Mr W.R. Doherty, H.C.O. Cardiff, is in charge of the Establishment Sections in the South Wales Conservancy Office, assisted by Mrs B.F. John, C.O., and J.L. Thomas, C.O. (part time).
Mr Doherty gives a detailed description of the work by the Establishment Section, which includes recruitment, promotions, transfers, pay and overtime, leave, sickness, accidents, travelling, removals, regulations, E.O.C.s, road haulage, wages orders, Agricultural Wages Board Orders and the National Insurance Act.
Views From St. Asaph
Forester R.J. Jennings, St Asaph, North Wales, refers to the infinite variety of views visible from his house and surrounding woodlands. From a bedroom window in the Forester’s Lodge, he writes, "We can see Liverpool Bay, with the endless parade of ships in and out of the port. Sometimes the large vessels come near enough to the coast for me to recognise the company to which they belong. On a very clear day we can view the Cumberland - Lancashire and Westmorland fells, as well as the Isle of Man. From my garden can be seen part of Snowdonia, in Caernarvonshire, and from the road behind the house is seen Coed Clwyd, a forest only recently "started", as well as a high point of Clocaenog Forest in Denbighshire. Go down to a wood a short distance below my house, and you will see the whole coastline from the Great Orme of Llandudno holiday resort to Colwyn Bay, and along past Prestatyn to the Wirral peninsular of Cheshire. Often, on a fine night, and from the same point, can be seen the lights of New Brighton and Blackpool Tower. From Kinmel Park, on our east side, can be seen St. Asaph Cathedral, the ancient Rhuddlan Castle, the famous Marble Church at Bodelwyddan; and if your watch has stopped, you can see the correct time (through binoculars) on the church clock at Rhyl.
It occurs to me that one or two Foresters in North West England - for example Forester Arthur King at Grizedale, near Ulverston - may be able to see us here in North Wales, or maybe we have a landmark in common, such as Blackpool Tower. If so, may we hear from you, Arthur? And who really can see the furthest distance from their forest?
Retired
Ganger T. Armstrong of Thornthwaite has retired in his 74th year after 24 years service with the Commission.
Marriage
Congratulations to Miss M. Poucher, C.O., at Cambridge, E(E) on her marriage to Mr P.S. Reynolds.
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