Clearing 1953 windblow in Deeside
Photograph courtesy of Sandy Tough, Huntly.
One of a series of 7 high quality photographs showing the blown timber clearing up operations progressing after the devastating storm in Jan 1953 that wiped out most of the medium and older aged forests in North East Scotland. The location is not identified but thought to be somewhere in Deeside and the people featured are unnamed. Any help to identify location or people would be greatly appreciated.
This photograph shows two men precariously balanced on a wind blown Scots pine tree wielding 6lb wedge axes to cut off the branches from the stems. The man on the left is leaning well forward to clear a birch tree that is in his way.
The trousers made of a heavy duty material seem typical of the time and note that the man on the right appears to have tied the bottoms of his trousers possibly to reduce snagging on braches. Any details and names would be very welcome.
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Groups: Forestry Areas, Forestry in Action, Gale 1953, Northeast Scotland , Tools, equipment and clothing
The straps on the workers legs are Nicky tams. My father was employed by Forestry Commission Scotland dressed exactly like the workers in the photo Comment left on 26 January 2015 at 07:33 by Hamish Kemp