Slasher Magazine Summary: Publication No. 75 – March 1954
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.
Happy Birthday! School's Half Century
The Dean Forester Training School will be 50 years old in July. Celebrations will take place on Thursday, 22nd July, when the programme will include the presentation of certificates to students by the Director General, followed by a garden party and afternoon tea. There will be a dance and cabaret in the Village Hall in the evening. Education Officer Mr J.F. Goodwin hopes all past students will attend.
It is hoped to mark the anniversary by the production of a Jubilee edition of the Deansday Book, a journal well known to earlier students.
Staging a Squirrel Shoot and The Climax!
Forester R. Main Ellen, of Blairadam, East Scotland gives details of a recent grey squirrel shoot in his locality. Careful planning was involved so that the spectators arrived according to plan and without incident, and it was necessary that they should leave suitably impressed.
In attendance were reporters, photographers, a B.B.C. representative and officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Forestry Commission. The shooting team were standing aloof with their squirrel poles, their varied traps and guns.
The first drey was approached, and up went the poles, followed by a battery of cameras, and all eyes were on the nest as it was dislodged .... but there were no squirrels. On to the next drey - a repeat performance - and still no squirrels. Just one squirrel in the next drey which met its fate and another six in the following drey.
On Brewing Beer at Four Pence a Pint!
District Officer A.A. Rowan of North East England provides notes and a recipe for brewing beer.
You need a large earthenware vessel (a 25-pint egg-pickling crock is ideal), a piece of rubber tubing for siphoning, a jelly-bag or similar strainer, and sufficient bottles. To make a 25-pint brew of strong beer, boil 3-4 pints of water in a saucepan, add 2½ ozs. of dried hops and simmer for 40 minutes. Place 2¾ lbs. of extract of malt in the crock, together with 1¼ lbs. of sugar and add hot water to make the whole liquid. Mix well. Strain through the jelly-bag into the crock and wash with more water through the bag until the liquid is half an inch from the top of the crock. The temperature should be 100-110 degrees F. - slightly above blood heat. Add 1 oz. of yeast and two teaspoonfuls of Heinz gravy browning, to colour. The brew will ferment for 24-30 hours, but try to keep the temperature round about 100 degrees by leaving the brew overnight in a warm place. Skim off froth periodically. Then, when fermentation has almost ceased and frothing has lessened, siphon off the liquid into bottles, taking care not to siphon from the bottom of the vessel, where a yeasty sludge will have collected. Use screw-top bottles and add half a teaspoonful of sugar per pint of liquid to each. This gives a head. Screw the corks down.
Next day, gently slacken the corks in one or two bottles - a gentle "fizzing" indicates the right pressure. If the sound is a "whoosh", loosen off all corks for a few seconds, then re-tighten. Repeat the following morning if necessary.
Leave the bottles to stand until the liquid is clear; they are best left standing for three weeks, but the beer is drinkable after 10 days or so. If there is a slight "bitter-almond" flavour, leave to mellow. When pouring out the beer, take care to avoid the small amount of yeast which always collects in the bottom of the bottle.
The cost? About 4d. a pint. But a warning - don't be persuaded to sell any of your beer or there may be difficulty with the Excise people!
Next month we will give recipes for brewing a heavy and a light bitter, beer. - Editor
The Stone in a Field - Resting Place of Alice Holt
After last month's story of the execution of Alice Holt for poisoning her mother, Mr R. Wotton, a Clerical Officer at Headquarters records what might be described as a personal association with the lady - or at least with her memory!
During the early part of the war, he tells us, I was stationed in Cheshire. One night, when walking back to the camp alone, I happened to be passing over a bleak common when the moon, shining through a break in the clouds, revealed a strange memorial stone. I have since been unable to trace its actual whereabouts, but the words carved upon it are imprinted on my mind. I give them below.
Here lies the body of poor Alice Holt,
Who left this earth with a dreadful jolt,
She would have left easier, but for the dolt
Of a dithering fool who fumbled the bolt.
She spoiled the taste of her mother dear,
By putting arsenic in her beer.
A most abhorrent deed - I fear
The Devil whispered in her ear.
If you've no wish to land in jail
Or walk your last beyond the pale,
Take heed of Alice's sad tale
And don't mix arsenic with ale.
Sherwood Foresters at Princes Gate
Some of the staff of the office of Director, England, now located in somewhat "plush" surroundings at Princes Gate, Kensington, have become founder members of an archery club - "The Princes Bowmen". The club was actually brought into being by staff of the National Savings Committee who occupy part of the building now used by our colleagues.
A small range is in use in the basement of the building, but an outdoor range will be obtained as soon as the weather is suitable for open-air activity. Enthusiasm for this ancient sport is increasing noticeably and membership of the club in question is open to all Civil Servants stationed in London.
The Huge Highlander With a Hand Covered in Blood
For years in the North Scotland Conservancy, interest has been centred on the Loch Ness Monster, to the exclusion of other strange creatures and things that go bump in the night. Few people seem to know that there are at least two unusual characters in the Glenmore National Forest Park who are worthy of attention.
They are described by Mr S. MacKintosh, Clerical Officer in the Inverness Office. Their home, he says, is by Loch Morlich. The small beach in front of the Lodge, at the north end, is the haunt of a huge Highlander who, clad in full regalia and having one hand covered in blood, is known as Lamh-dearg, or the Red Hand.
Any unfortunate visitor to the beach around midnight is liable to be challenged to a duel to the death by this fellow. To the hardy, who boldly accept, no harm will come; but the more timorous soul who considers himself insufficiently versed in this form of play, and shows a distaste to being run through with the sword and attempts to run away, will suffer dire calamity. Lamh-dearg is also known as a protector of wild creatures, warning those people who take more from the nearby hill than necessary and dealing with those who disobey.
At the other end of the loch lives the King of the Fairies, at a spot much favoured by the Little People. Many years ago a renowned hunter named Robin Og, a son of one of the Barons of nearby Kincardine, was on his way home from the hill when he met a company of fairies led by the King, marching in procession to the music of silver bagpipes. Robin coveted this instrument and, taking off his bonnet, threw it among the fairies, crying "Something of mine for something of yours", at the same time snatching the pipes and hiding them under his plaid and making off. The fairies did not appear to notice these antics and continued on their way, the music sounding sweeter than before. On arriving home Robin was naturally full of excitement and agog to show his prize, but alas the plaid, when opened, contained only three grasses and a puff ball.
The Much Prized Weed
A correspondent comments on the recent notes on tobacco growing by Mr A.P.F. Hamilton. He states he has grown tobacco for several years, and finds the Virginian type gives a pleasant smoke and is better than the Havana and Turkish varieties.
Tobacco plants need plenty of room in which to grow and should be put out four feet apart, in staggered rows. Shelter is also important, for on an exposed site the leaves will be whipped by the wind, resulting in tearing and bruising of the tender leaf margins, the best part of the leaf. Top dressings of tomato fertiliser or, better still, pure potassium nitrate, give excellent results; the latter improves the burning qualities of the leaf. It is not widely known that during the American Civil War, tobacco was grown in Berwickshire.
A New Community and a Disastrous Fire
The opening of a new forest village normally receives a great deal of publicity, but in the North Scotland Conservancy the coming into being of a new community, has taken place without fanfare. At Cannich, Glen Affric Forest, the Department has acquired 27 wooden houses from the Hydro-Electric Board, together with a large hostel with accommodation for 70 men; the houses formed part of a hydro-electric construction camp but are no longer required by the Board.
Also in North Scotland, one of our timber houses erected in 1949 at Slattadale Forest on Loch Maree was recently burnt down. Forest workers fought hard to extinguish the blaze but a high wind fanned the flames. The nearest fire brigade travelled from Dingwall, 45 miles away, but was unable to arrive before the house was gutted. The tenants Mr Duncan Gray, a forest worker, and his wife, who were recently married, saved only part of their belongings.
We Just Can't Believe It (For the Second Time)
To cap the disparaging remarks about the Civil Service of 1853, says Conservancy Engineer F.G. Dufton, East England, this reference to Forest Officers of the time of Charles the First may be of interest. It comes from Joan Wake's "The Brudenells of Deene"
"Thomas Brudenell …. sat down and prepared a memorandum to the king, entitled 'Reasons to induce His Majesty not to enlarge his Forest of Rockingham but to keep it according to the old Perambulation 27 Edward I.' The forest, he asserted, as it then was, would maintain 10,000 deer which, he submitted, were more than sufficient for the King's use. If the forest were to be enlarged, twenty or thirty of the local gentry would forsake the county rather than live under the subjection of forest officers, who were 'men more void of reason and manners than the beasts they keep'."
A Scarcity of Foxes
Who has not heard the allegation that our plantations harbour foxes. If this were true (and we were a much older Department) the Commission would have been popular way back in 1863, for some old newspaper files record in that year a "Fox Famine in Ayrshire"".
It is stated that "a meeting of country gentlemen convened by Lord Eglington, was held in the King's Arms Hotel, Ayr, for the purpose of taking into consideration the shortage of foxes. Lord Eglington said he had convened the meeting to consider ways and means of devising a remedy to the scarcity". A speaker said at the meeting that it would be "nothing short of a disgrace to Ayrshire if Lord Eglington were not better supported in this matter of getting more foxes."
A Rugby Stalwart
Rugby seems to appeal to quite a big proportion of our readers, several of whom are players of some skill. Ganger W. Evans of East England plays for Norwich. He started his rugby career while at the Dean School, having then played for the Whitecroft and Lydney clubs. On moving to the Research Station, he played for Alton and had a trial for Hampshire. Then after arrival in East Anglia, he represented Norfolk in the sub-counties championship and was later picked for the Eastern Counties Wanderers' match against Cambridge University second team. A forward, he humorously states he occupies a position noted for brawn, not brain.
Exam Success
Following his success in passing the final examinations of the Institute of Cost Works Accountants, Mr D.J. Crabb of Headquarters, has now passed the intermediate examination of the Society of Incorporated Accountants and Auditors.
Newcomers
Assistant Experimental Officer Miss J.M. Davies to Research;
Executive Officer C. Breslin to Headquarters;
Clerical Officer Miss K. Pollock to NW(E);
Clerical Officer Mrs. G. Lusher to N(W);
Clerical Officer Mrs. M.M. Lawson to SE(E);
Clerical Officer R.C. Ede to Headquarters;
Clerical Officer R.A. Rowley to S(W).
Transfers
District Officer A.J. Grayson from Pickering, NE(E) to York, NE(E);
District Officer D.Y.M. Robertson from Tintern, S(W) to Aberystwyth;
District Officer J.C. Voysey from Betws-y-Coed, N(W) to Aberystwyth;
Forester E.J.D. Wilkinson from Research, Alice Holt to Information;
Forester N.A.G. McNamara from Didlington, E(E) to Bramshill, SE(E);
Forester D.L. Shaw from Brechfa, S(W) to Aberhirnant, N(W);
Forester T.G.M. Jones from Coed-y-Brenin, N(W) to Tair Onen, S(W);
Forester P.P. Davis from Cotgrave, NW(E) to Packington, NW(E);
Foreman F.W. Thick from Packington, NW(E) to Cotgrave, NW(E);
Clerk of Works J.A. Cowie from Kessock, N(S) to Glenurquhart, N(S).
Births
The birth of a daughter to Assistant Mechanical Engineer N. Deveria, West Scotland and Mrs Deveria.
The birth of a son to Forester M.R. Chisholm, Carrick Forest, South Scotland and Mrs Chisholm.
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