Forestry Memories Image Library

Some Faskally Forestry Students circa 1955-56

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 17:25:57 GMT

Some Faskally Forestry Students circa 1955-56

The images are courtesy of John Butch Murray who attended the Forester Training School for a time.

The people featured are in the back row from left:

Mick Oxnard
Billy Stuart or Stewart
Not recalled
Jack Brunton

John Butch Murray in front

John’s short version account of his curtailment at Faskally:

“When I started at Faskally, I was almost sent to Benmore instead as Faskally was overbooked but things changed at the last minute and so Pitlochry became home sadly for only one year as I blotted my copybook with Norman Tulloch our Lord and master. I did ok with my practical and written work but failed my P.A. (Personal Assessment) miserably on two counts. I refused to shave off my beard which was good enough for a four ringed Captain of the Royal Navy so why should Tulloch override this very senior Officer. Secondly while acting as Duty student one night I forgot to switch off the boilers so the heating stayed on all night.

So out I was thrown but this changed my whole life I became a Museum Taxidermist in Kelvingrove Glasgow and subsequently moved first to Nottingham museum then back to the Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh. I met my wife in Nottingham and in 1977 I fell foul of a new Museum Director, another NORMAN. I resigned to take over a village post office in West Lothian where stayed until I retired and moved to England in 2003.”

More names and correct surname spelling very welcome.

Tulliallan Bothy layout, bothy life and forestry work

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 17:22:59 GMT

Tulliallan Bothy layout, bothy life and forestry work

John (Butch) Murray has drawn the layout of the Forestry Commission Tulliallan Hostel (Bothy) and written an account of his memorable experience in arriving and living there for just over a year or so before being called up.

This content moderator has to apologise to John for the very late (many years!) entry of his story onto the website. Sorry John.

"I left school at the age of 16 and had a desire to work in the Great Outdoors and so thought of the Forestry Commission. I went to HQ in Glasgow for an interview and was told I could get a job at Tulliallan Nursery in Fife. Not far from Kincardine on Forth. The only Tulliallan I could find was a castle and supposed that is where I should report. My parents drove me over to Fife and we found the Head Foresters House and were somewhat gobsmacked when he showed us the Bothy where I was to stay.

My mother was horrified at the prospect and seemingly cried all the way home concerned about her little boy. I then was given a bed space in one of the huts and told that the gang would be home shortly and Dinner would be served at 6 pm after they got cleaned up. What a rowdy mob they turned out to be and the questions flowed back and forth. However they all seemed a real bunch and I was made welcome.

There was another Hut next to ours and our cooks and bottle washers Jock McRae and his wife “Ma” lived there. Jock would wake us up at 06.00 and slam on the radio with loud music. It was a scramble to get washed and dressed ready for breakfast. Always a bowl of Porridge followed by a fry up or kippers. Jock had already made up “chits” (Sandwiches) for us - one of meat and one of cheese. Also two slices of bread and butter. We usually filled these with what breakfast we could or jam which became a universal item of exchange. I always had a supply of homemade which went down well. We all drank tea and as we had left our thermos flasks out overnight they were all topped up to last through the day.

The lorry would turn up at 07.30 to take us the few miles by road to Devilla Forest where we spent most of our working days. Our Head Forester at Tulliallan was Arthur Simpson and his Foreman was Bill Martin. At Devilla our Boss under Forester was Donald McGregor but our Ganger was Alex Smellie and it was he that we saw most of and worked under his supervision. He had been trained at Glentress and told us many stories of what life had been like just after the war there. Most of our work at Devilla was weeding the seed beds in the Nurseries but it was also where we were let loose with brashing saws to hack our way through the pine and Norway spruce plantations. If we were too rowdy and undisciplined we were set to work brashing Sitka Spruce whose needles got everywhere up backsides and tucked into our navels. They were bloody tortuous and we hated them.

Back at Tulliallan we joined forces with the men and spent hours weeding seed beds. We all made wooden boxes with a padded seat on them and then shuffled up and down between the beds pulling out the weeds that sprouted amongst the trees. Our wages were fantastic and on Friday, as pay day, we got the princely sum of 59 shillings a week - just over £2.00 out of which we had to pay 19 shillings a week for board and lodging. If we stayed at the hostel for the weekend we had to pay an extra 5 shillings. I went home as often as I could and after my bus fare I was left with just enough to buy 10 cigarettes. We often got the chance of doing overtime in the evenings weeding seed beds and for this we could get an extra £1.00. So if we had enough energy we could up our wages by working every evening and so make an extra £5.00 a week.

For entertainment we had the radio and played cards but if not working we would walk down to Kincardine and spent the evening in the Merkat Café drinking Coke and playing the Juke box. We were also lucky in being not far from Alloa and Dunfermline where we could go to the cinema or the Swimming baths.

The hostel or Bothy as we called it was a collection of 4 wooden huts joined together in the form of a cross. Two of the huts were our living quarters, 10 lads in each and we had a bed, a locker and a wardrobe with a piece of carpet by the bed. The walls were often soon covered with pinups and our source of heating was a single Stove which was rather inadequate to say the least. If we banked it up full of Coke (always a plentiful supply) for the night we almost died of asphyxiation from the fumes but if we filled it with wood it went out just after midnight. One of the other huts was the kitchen and dining hall while the other was the drying room, always an essential and also the showers. This also housed the boiler which was coke fired while the big black range in the kitchen was coal fired. The small hallway between the huts contained the toilets and wash basins. Looking back now after all these years it seemed like a very Spartan existence. Fights were infrequent as most of the 20 of us got on well together.

Apart from the Nursery work we almost planted the whole of the Tulliallan moor over the next two years mainly with pine, Scots and Lodgepole, but Norway and Sitka Spruce in the wetter parts and at the Rig head end we drained what we called the Okinpinoke Swamp prior to planting. This whole area was ploughed with a crawler tractor. We did the planting as piecework and got paid 1 shilling and sixpence for every hundred trees planted. On good open ground we could plant 1,000 a day but on rough uncleared grounds it was often half that number. Even so at an extra 10 shillings a day this gave us over £5.00 a week extra sometimes even as much as £10.00 per week. This annoyed the men as we worked harder and so they moaned to the Union and we got our pay halved.

If and when the ground was being ploughed, we had tractor men from Lochgilphead. Our caterpillar driver was driver Tam McLennan - one of a family of the dad and three sons from Lochgilphead who all did the ploughing before planting. These tractor men were all nicknamed after the four winds. Some of us got the job of helping by walking beside the tractor and when the big ploughshare on the Ranson Plough hit an immovable boulder we had to replace the Shear pin that coupled the plough to the tractor when it gave way.

During the early winter months we spent the days in the nursery picking seedlings for transplanting. This was sore work and very cold as we spent all day on our knees picking seedlings out of the frozen ground. For this we again did it as piece work and got paid 5 shillings per thousand. We grovelled in the freezing soil with our bare fingers and having picked 50 we then put them in a clump with some earth over the roots and having then picked 50 more the whole bunch was put in a box. We earned good money at this often getting as much as an extra £10 a week. Again this displeased the men and again our rate of pay was halved. So much for Unions, ours was the TGW and in our minds was named “THE GREEDY WASTERS’’.

I stayed at Tulliallan until national service and when I came back after two years in the Royal Navy I found that the boys had all been moved to Strathyre and so I rejoined them there. But that’s another story. I can remember most of the boys that shared my life in Fife. They were Tom Syme, Brian Burrell, John Thompson, Mike Andrews, Joe Meechan, Josie Cullen, John Robb, John Kennet and Dave Harrower. In the other hut were Tommy Lothian, Eric Robertson, Alex Manson, Ian McCrone, Eddie McNeil, David (Pedro) Balfour, John Hynd, and three more.

While living in the bothies there was often a real rumpus when one of the Hurts mob would place a huge divot on the chimney and smoke the other lads out. Of course this was reversed as soon as possible, stupid and dangerous but a lot of fun. The other great diversion were Initiations. These consisted mainly of the new guy being stripped and covered with boot polish and dubbing as well as a coating of ashes from the fires. This was followed by mainly cold showers to get as much all washed off. Okay in summer but not at all pleasant in winter. Apart from this nightly nonsense more could take place at lunch time while at work. My own initiation here was to be debagged and my trousers and pants thrown up a small tree which I had to climb, in bare buttocks, and while doing this the gang cut the tree down, me and all. This was a highly popular method of introduction to Forest working. But was severely frowned on by the Gangers".

John Abernethy Dickson 1915-94 – Director General of Forestry Commission

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 10:18:49 GMT

John Abernethy Dickson 1915-94 – Director General of Forestry Commission

John Abernethy Dickson 1915-94 – was Director General of Forestry Commission and Director Economic Forestry (Scotland), Chairman Forest Thinnings.

The information and photographs were provided by John’s daughter, Anne Dickson, but the main article below was sourced from the ‘Independent’ newspaper archive from 1994 (the year of John’s death) and quotes an obituary written by Tam Dalyell, the prominent Scottish Member of Parliament during those years. The main photograph is the family gathering following the presentation of CB medal at Buckingham Palace. The people are from the left:

Elizabeth Dickson – younger daughter
Helen Dickson
John Dickson
Anne Dickson – elder daughter

“Obituary: John Dickson By Tam Dalyell
Wednesday 04 May 1994 00:02 BST
John Abernethy Dickson, civil servant, conservator of forestry: born Udny, Aberdeenshire 19 September 1915; Director-General and Deputy Chairman, Forestry Commission 1968-76; CB 1970; Director, Economic Forestry (Scotland) 1977-84; director, Forest Thinnings Ltd 1979-86, chairman 1981-86; married 1942 Helen Jardine (two daughters); died Edinburgh 20 March 1994.

OVER THE PAST year widespread dismay, across the political spectrum, and not least in great land-owning circles, has forced the Government to put on ice any proposals to privatise or dismantle the Forestry Commission. That the Forestry Commission has achieved untouchable status, bordering on the institutionally sacred, is largely due to a previous generation of dedicated, professional Tree Men, who devoted their working lives to the commission. Prominent among them was John Dickson, Director-General in the crucial years from 1968 to 1976, when a friendly Labour government was succeeded by a Conservative government asking legitimate questions about a nationalised industry.

Under the energetic chairmanship of John Parker, MP for Dagenham and father of the House of Commons, the forestry group of MPs went on a number of visits to the forests of Britain. Dickson would accompany us himself as guide and forest scholar as well as host. As, perforce, a connoisseur of briefers of politicians, I would put Dickson in the First Class Honours division. There was little, if anything, either about trees or about the rather different subjects of timber production and the timber market that he did not know intimately. Dickson could answer all questions in his precise, authoritative, Buchan-based twang. A handsome man with a twinkle in his eye, he was a superb presenter of fact, an ambassador for forestry.

Dickson was born in Udny, Aberdeenshire, and spent his childhood among the trees of the Dee and the Don with their matchless colours in spring and autumn. He told me that he decided to become a tree man at the advanced age of six. After primary school in Old Meldrum, and secondary school at the rigorous Robert Gordon's College, he went to the local university. Fortunately, Aberdeen at that time was not only a serious science-providing university but also one of the few which offered a postgraduate degree in forestry. Even more fortunate was the fact that Aberdeen benefited from the inspirational presence of Sir John Boyd Orr (later Lord Boyd Orr), and those who surrounded him at the Rowett Research Institute. Three decades later Dickson was to repay his educational debts to Aberdeenshire by giving, as Director General of the Forestry Commission, strong support, justifiably, to the MacAuley Institute of Soil Research. Winning the much-coveted Sutherland Gold Medal in 1938, Dickson joined the Forestry Commission.

On the outbreak of the Second World War, he was ordered to join the Ministry of Supply home-grown timber production department rather than to go into the forces. He told me that he had been embarrassed by this as a fit young man but was told that it was in the British interest to meet wartime needs by providing as much timber as possible from British forests. During his time in the Ministry of Supply he learnt many of the skills which enabled him to deal so effectively with governments when he reached senior position later in life.

In 1946 he left the Civil Service to rejoin the Forestry Commission. Ten years later he was promoted as Conservator of Forests in the north of Scotland, based in Inverness, a position he occupied for seven years. If you travel past Beauly in directions north you will see all around you the mature monuments to Dickson's extraordinary energy in getting planting done 40 years ago. In 1963 he was again promoted to Director of Forestry for Scotland. He took infinite trouble to show me and interest me, a new MP, in the work that he and his colleagues were undertaking to plant huge acreages of trees on seemingly infertile and useless land. I suppose it is a criticism that in those years he was a protagonist of maximum production, which meant the serried rows of conifers. On the other hand he was extremely keen that, where planting took place near industrial communities and run-down mining villages, the people of the villages should regard the plantations as their own and develop a protective attitude towards them. I shall always remember him meeting the representatives of the communities of Fauldhouse and Stoneyburn in my constituency when coalmines were closing, to persuade them of the potential importance of woodland and forest for their young people planted on marshland.

In 1968 he was promoted to succeed the late Sir Henry Beresford Peirse as Director-General after a successful tenure of the new post of Forestry Commissioner with responsibility for timber harvesting and marketing. Dickson displayed a passionate belief in the promotion of the interests of British forestry in general and the efficiency and cost- effectiveness of the Forestry Commission in particular. His colleagues tell me that it was Dickson above all others who transformed a rather do-good organisation into one of the best and financially one of the most tightly managed agencies of government.
He also made it his business, in Scotland and in London, to develop good professional and personal relations with forestry-owning landlords. He co-operated with them in an effort to modernise the somewhat antique British saw-milling industry. He persuaded the commission to change the largely manual methods of wood harvesting into sophisticated mechanisation processes. By doing this he was one of the founders of the prosperous industry which we know today.

Those of us who have been interested in the rain forests have reason to be grateful for Dickson's work as chairman of the Commonwealth Forestry Association. He led the British delegation to the World Forestry Congress in Buenos Aires in 1972 and presided over the Oxford Conference on Forestry in 1974. Between 1968 and 1976, he was chairman of the Standing Committee on Commonwealth Forestry and became Vice-President of the Commonwealth Forestry Association in 1975. His particular contribution stemmed from his expertise in forest thinnings and his realisation that it not only mattered how much rare tropical timber was extracted from a forest, but how much damage was done in the process of that extraction by heavy machinery.

I vividly remember him arguing that, in many parts of South-East Asia and Burma, the best possible machine for timber extraction which had been developed by man was the Asian elephant. Today those with foresight would take the same view. Twenty years ago it was an opinion that was almost derided but then those who heard Dickson state a case knew better than to deride anything that he said on his home ground; he was indeed a world expert.”

To add a little to the above moving and fulsome tribute by Tam Dalyell some additional information on the John Dickson’s early years fills in more of his early life story. John was the youngest of five children born to parents John and Williamina Dickson at Udny in rural Aberdeenshire. John Abernethy Dickson senior served in the Great War joining up with the Princess Louise’s Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. While as a gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery he lost his life in France in August 1918 leaving Williamina to bring up all the children. Being gifted academically young John attended initially Cultercullen (Udny) and then Stoneywood (Dyce area) primary school and was accepted into the prestigious Robert Gordon’s College, Aberdeen, for his secondary education. Thereafter it was on to Aberdeen University where John undertook a forestry degree course and was presented with the John Sutherland Gold Medal for the highest achievement and graduated with MA and BSc degrees. Much later in life (in 1969) Aberdeen University conferred on John an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D) honouring his achievements in forestry administration.

No doubt after graduating John applied to join the Forestry Commission and enrol into the lower ranks of District Officer grade but recruitment was dependent on vacancies and the periodic timing of selection boards. Undaunted John applied for a job as a forest worker in the Gatehouse-of-Fleet forest nursery in south Scotland. While there and being an avid golfer John joined the local golf club and seeking a playing partner met up with Helen Jardine who also played golf and was similarly searching for a playing colleague. On the outbreak of war he was instructed to join the Home Grown Timber Production Department (HGTPD) in Aberdeen, possibly as a junior District Officer, and to assist with the vital supply of timber from local forests for the war effort. There are reports that John was involved in the Grantown-on-Spey area while in Aberdeen. The Aberdeen HGTPD control area may have been divided up into several different zones such as Moray and Speyside and also Deeside and Angus with District Officers responsible for organising all the logistics in each. In Moray and Speyside John would have had the opportunity to study closely at various camps the Canadian Timber Corp’s timber production and sawmilling conversion systems. The Canadians were significantly more advanced and mechanised than their Scottish counterparts at this point in time.

In 1942 John and Helen were married in Dumfries and subsequently set up home in Aberdeen where their first child, Anne, was born. John was also allocated some nightly Home Guard and Warden duties in Aberdeen and much to the concern of Helen was detailed at times to go to Woolmanhill, climb a high tower and sit there, no doubt watching for enemy aircraft or pinpointing burning bomb damage areas in the city.

After the war John was posted as a District Officer to the Forestry Commission district office at Ardross, near Alness, then in 1949 to Munlochy in the Black Isle followed by another move in 1950 into the Conservancy Office in Inverness. Promotion followed in 1953 when he was appointed as one of the two Divisional Officers in Inverness, each covering about half of the Conservancy while a third Divisional Officer covered all the land and building procurement processes. It was in this period that there second daughter, Elizabeth, was born. Just three years later in 1956, following the retirement of James Fraser, he achieved the rank of Conservator of North Scotland Conservancy, a position he held until 1963 and was, according to his daughter Anne, one of the happiest periods of his life.

On retiring from the Forestry Commission in 1976, as described by Tam Dalyell, he held a number of positions as director and chairman in private forestry companies but it seems that he had retired completely by 1987 and focussed on tending to his large garden in Edinburgh growing vegetables and fruit trees. He was very committed to and proud of his Scottish heritage and also possessed good practical skills in painting, decorating, joinery and general maintenance work. He erected a large summer house in the garden and ensured the family home was always very well maintained. John Abernethy Dickson died in Edinburgh on 20 March 1994 aged 78.

Please see the image of the CB medal in the PDF link below.

John Dickson - Honorary LL.D at Aberdeen University 1979

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 10:02:05 GMT

John Dickson - Honorary LL.D at Aberdeen University 1979

John Dickson is standing with his family following the graduation presentation of the Honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D) by Aberdeen University in 1979. The photograph and detail was provided by his daughter Anne.

The family members from the left are:
Anne Dickson (elder daughter)
Elizabeth Dickson (younger daughter)
John Dickson LL.D MA BSc
Jess Dickson (behind - sister of John)
Helen Dickson (wife of John)

Details of John Dicksons life and career are in the next Picture No 6388

Sir John Sutherland Medal won by John Dickson in 1938

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 09:49:12 GMT

Sir John Sutherland Medal won by John Dickson in 1938

The above image is of the Sir John Sutherland Medal won by John Dickson in 1938 on his achievement as most highly awarded student in gaining an MA and BSc in forestry at Aberdeen University. The information and image was provided by Anne Dickson, daughter of John Dickson.

Below is an obituary to John Dickson published by George Holmes who was similarly Director General of the Forestry Commission but at a later date.

Obituary – John Dickson
John Abernethy Dickson, a Scottish forester who was Director General of the Forestry Commission for eight years, 1968-76, has died in Edinburgh. He was 78.
Born at Udny in Aberdeenshire, he graduated MA and BSc (Forestry) at the University of Aberdeen in 1938, where he won the Sutherland Gold Medal. During the war years he served in Scotland with the Timber Production Department, whose task it was to provide us much timber as possible from British forests to meet wartime needs. In 1946 he joined the Forestry Commission, with whom he spent the whole of his professional career. He became Conservator of Forests, North Scotland, in Inverness, 1956-63, and Director of Forestry for Scotland, in Edinburgh, 1963-65. In 1965 he was transferred to Forestry Commission headquarters in London, to the new post of Forestry Commissioner with responsibility for timber harvesting and marketing. In 1968 he succeeded the late Sir Henry Beresford-Peirse as Director General. He retired in 1976.

John Dickson was a fine forester, and he was totally single-minded in his efforts to promote the interests of British forestry in general, and the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the Forestry Commission in particular. His career coincided with a period of unprecedented expansion of the forest area in Britain, as the major post war afforestation programme gathered momentum. He was one of the pioneers of the afforestation techniques which enabled the Forestry Commission to meet the ever increasing planting programmes set by government and to do so cost-effectively. He also had to face up to the demands of rapidly changing times. In the 1970s attitudes towards forestry policy, and in particular the economic environmental and conservation issues involved, became the subject of considerable debate as public perceptions of the role of forests began to change. At the same time, as the forests from the earlier plantings began to yield limber, there had to be very active development of the wood processing industry in Britain, based on the increasing availability of wood grown in this country.

As a solid Aberdonian, John Dickson made the Commission into one of the best and most tightly financially managed agencies in the government service, an achievement in which he took great pride. Ahead of many of his contemporaries he appreciated the fact that without a major commitment by private capital to invest in wood processing industries and modernise British sawmilling there could be no justification for and no prosperity in expanding the forest estate. He saw too that the traditional, largely manual, wood harvesting methods must be modernised and mechanised to cope with the demands that the new industries would bring. The initiatives taken in his era helped establish the foundations of the major industry that exists today.

In the wider sphere, he had carried the voice of British forestry abroad as chairman of the Commonwealth Forestry Association, presiding at the 1974 Oxford conference, and leading the British delegation to the World Forestry Congress in 1972 in Buenos Aires.

John Dickson was awarded an honorary doctorate of LL.D. by the University of Aberdeen in 1969, and he became a CB in 1970.
He is survived by his wife, Helen, and Iwo daughters, Anne and Elizabeth.
George Holmes - DG 1976- 1986

The full details of the Sir John Sutherland medal are not known or when it was first awarded by Aberdeen University. It is believed Sir John was the first Directot Scotland when the Forestry Commission was formed in 1919. Any details would be very welcome.

Please see the large image link below to view the medal in a larger fornmat

Nest Box usage survey – Culbin Forest - 1983 to 1985

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 09:34:46 GMT

Nest Box usage survey – Culbin Forest - 1983 to 1985

These lists were part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

Correspondence and results of the placement and monitoring of over 200 next boxes erected in the forest. Species recorded using the boxes include Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Crested Tit, Tree Creeper and Wren.

Bill Taylor was the surveyor and corresponded with Sandy Cram , Forest District Manager.

Pleasee see the PDF link to view all the files.

Survey of Culbin Forest salt marsh area by Dr Una Urquhart of NCC, Aberdeen

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 09:31:55 GMT

Survey of Culbin Forest salt marsh area by Dr Una Urquhart of NCC, Aberdeen

These lists were part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

This survey by Dr Una Urquhart who worked for the Nature Conservancy Council , lists species within and boundary of the salt marsh area. Una thanks Sandy Watson, Sand Cram (Forest District Manager), Abbie Gordon (Forester) and Mr Forsyth. The third map in the series may be or not be by Dr Una Urquhart.

Please see the PDF link to view all the pages and maps.

Collection of species lists of importance in Culbin Forest 1974 – 1990

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 09:29:50 GMT

Collection of species lists of importance in Culbin Forest 1974 – 1990

These lists were part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

Lists of important species recorded in Culbin Forest over a period of years. The lists are of birds, mammals, invertebrates, rarer flowering plants, lichens, fungi and vegetation communities.

Please see PDF link to view all the pages.

Culbin Forest – List of Lichens as per British Lichen Society 1984

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 09:27:41 GMT

Culbin Forest – List of Lichens as per British Lichen Society 1984

These lists were part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

Please see PDF link to view all the pages.

Culbin Forest – List of Fugii as per British Mycological transactions 1964

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 09:24:47 GMT

Culbin Forest – List of Fugii as per British Mycological transactions 1964

These lists were part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

Please see PDF link to view all the pages.

Investigation of Military Aircraft crash in 1945 into Culbin Forest

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 12:00:09 GMT

Investigation of Military Aircraft crash in 1945 into Culbin Forest

This was part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

A letter to Sandy Cram, Forest District Manager at Moray, the administrative unit now covering all the forests of Laigh of Moray and more, including Culbin Forest.

Aircraft was a Vickers Armstrong, Warwick ASR -1 on a training flight from Kinloss that crashed killing the two crew members.

Please see the PDF link below to view the two pages.

Schoolchild, Jackie Walder, geography project questions and reply by Sandy Watson

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 11:58:04 GMT

Schoolchild, Jackie Walder, geography project questions and reply by Sandy Watson

This was part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

The set of searching, detailed questions by Jackie are fully answered by Sandy Watson, Forester covering Culbin Forest, also in a hand written note.

Please see the PDF link below to view all the pages.

Investigation note into Buckie Loch area on winter flooding, tree nutrition and rooting - Culbin Forest

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 11:50:50 GMT

Investigation note into Buckie Loch area on winter flooding, tree nutrition and rooting - Culbin Forest

This was part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

A detailed investigation into the health of the trees and soil horizon depths and water table depths in the Buckie Loch area by Sandy Watson, Forester at Laigh of Moray.

A table of sand sample results from the Buckie Loch are provided by The Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Ctragiebuckler, Aberdeen. There are images of the effects of sea erosion and winter water levels on the Loch area.

Please the PDF link below to view all the pages.

Investigation into Replanting of felled area Comp No 53 at Culbin Smiddybrae

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 11:47:27 GMT

Investigation into Replanting of felled area Comp No 53 at Culbin Smiddybrae

This was part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

A written up investigation and trial notes by Sandy Watson looking at responses to different ground treatments and improved Scots pine seedlings of seed orchard origin.

Struand Stewart, Chief Forester and Graham Gill, Geneticist at Roslin Forest Research are mentioned.

See PDF link below to view all the pages.

Notes from Moray Field Club on the coastal erosion in Culbin etc

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 11:44:33 GMT

Notes from Moray Field Club on the coastal erosion in Culbin etc

This was part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

Some pages and detailed notes of coastal erosion in the Culbin and Findhorn Village area as written up by an active Moray Field Club of the time. A borehole trial to establish depth of rock head is also described. The departure of Alistair Scott (District Officer) and active club member is noted.

See PDF link below to view all the pages.

Cubin Forest History updated to 1983 by Struan Stewart, Chief Forester

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 11:41:22 GMT

Cubin Forest History updated to 1983 by Struan Stewart, Chief Forester

This was part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

This updated history pages are followed by some notes on preparations for a visit by Forestry Commissioner J N Kennedy, a page on itinerary for Norwegian Foresters visit and a map of route and stops through Culbin plus another page or two of forest history.

See PDF link below to view all the pages

Origin of Scots pine trees planted in 1922 at Culbin and in Altyre Forests

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 08:29:59 GMT

Origin of Scots pine trees planted in 1922 at Culbin and in Altyre Forests

This was part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

Hand written note by G I Forrest of Forest Research in May 1981 of monoterpene analysis of sample of Scots pine sent to him By Mike Phillips, Forester based at Newton, Forest Research. The note lists all the readings and assigns the most likely origins of the trees from Culbin and Altyre Forests that were sampled.
The monoterpene analysis was a breakthrough in determining origins of native Scots pine based on readings determined from all the identifiable native Caledonian pine stands in Scotland. Probably now a process superseded by DNA analysis?

Please see the PDF link below to view the three pages.

Series of documents on nutrition investigations in Culbin Forest

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 08:24:26 GMT

Series of documents on nutrition investigations in Culbin Forest

This was part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.
The documents feature concerns on slow growth of the trees in some areas and the taking of sand and soil samples to determine the levels of nutrients present. There are also some details on a series of fertiliser and herbicide trials plus a survey of areas planted or replanted since 1968 will some very poor results. There is also a tree root profile survey carried out by Sandy Watson and the conclusion the fertilising Scots pine is not cost effective.
Names featured are
A H A Scott, District Officer
A W F Watson (Sandy), Forester
S W R Stewart (Struan), Chief Forester
Dr Hugh G Miller, Macaulay Institute for Soil research
David B Paterson
G J Mayhead, Northern Research Station, Edinburgh

Please see the PDF link below to view all the pages.

Public Leaflet – Culbin Forest - part of Laigh of Moray - circa 1985

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 08:17:32 GMT

Public Leaflet – Culbin Forest - part of Laigh of Moray - circa 1985

This was part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.
The leaflet was produced presumably for the visiting public. It provides a snapshot of the history of the forest and also some details of its timber production capacity and its resident wildlife. It may also have been produced for inclusion in the Cloddymoss class room set up within the forest for visiting school children and their teachers.

Any information on its use would be very welcome.

Please see the PDF link below to view the whole document (four pages).

Map of Culbin with forest areas in 10 year age groups

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 08:15:18 GMT

Map of Culbin with forest areas in 10 year age groups

This was part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

A map prepared at Focabers District Office by ASM in 1975 of Culbin Forest with legend marking the various 10 year age groups from pre 1920 to over 1960.

See large image link to view at larger scale.

Laigh Of Moray – extent of forest areas following amalgamations

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 08:12:41 GMT

Laigh Of Moray – extent of forest areas following amalgamations

This was part of an archived file recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

This is a letter to Jack Frater, Chief Forester at Laigh of Moray Forest (LOM) from the District Office in Fochabers signed by Graham Tuley as probably Assistant District Officer. Doug Yeats (Forester) at LOM requested an area breakdown by former forest areas that comprised the newly merged Laigh of Moray Forest.

The former forest areas of Monaughty, Newton and Roseisle and Culbin are listed with areas in acres and hectares. Monaughty is further broken down by areas named as Quarry Wood, Newtyle, Dallas and Level (Rounding up of differences in total areas?).
David Foot (District Officer) had estimated areas of crops under 20 years and under 10 years and figures provided.

Letter from District Officer A H A Scot and report on Corsican pine in Thetford circa 1970

Fri, 2 Oct 2026 16:00:04 GMT

Letter from District Officer A H A Scot and report on Corsican pine in Thetford circa 1970

This was part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

The letter from A H A Scott (District officer?) to Head Forester Jim Webster in Speyside and Jack Frater in Laigh of Moray regarding work on Corsican pine in Theford to be read before an upcoming visit to Lossie (Roseisle Forest?) Pencil note - for attention of S W R Stewart (Struan). Note that the letter was also seen by A W - forester Sandy Watson at Laigh of Moray.

Please see the PDF link below to view the four pages.

Culbin Tour Notes circa 1970s

Fri, 2 Oct 2026 15:54:30 GMT

Culbin Tour Notes circa 1970s

This was part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

Five pages of tour notes that at one time included a map. The page notes describe the early history of the Barony of Culbin, the storms of 1694 and in later years, attempts by local landlords to plant areas to stabilise the moving sand dunes, in particular by Major Chadwick of Binsness Estate using Corsican pine. The description then covers the Forestry Commission early management using initially marram grass and then thatching with branches.
Tour Stop 1 mentions trees planted in 1969 by PM Harold Wilson and Secretary of State Willie Ross. Tour stops 2 and 3 include a view of the Corsican pine planted in 1888 and the area near Lady Culbin dune and legend of the barony house being covered and later exposed briefly. Later there are stops and mentions of the excavation of a partially buried tree whose stem girth is less in the portion below the sand that that above the sand; the most northerly Corsican pine stand in Europe; a heronry; a fertiliser experiment; market for transmission poles; built wooden groynes on the shoreline; Buckie Loch; a flint knapping site; badger setts; shell middens and the fire tower.

Please see the PDF link below to view the 5 pages.

A history of tree planting in the Culbin Forest area

Fri, 2 Oct 2026 15:49:38 GMT

A history of tree planting in the Culbin Forest area

This was part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.

There are no references to accurately date or reveal authorship of this description of tree planting and exploitation of the forest areas in Culbin. This three page summary may well have been prepared to provide information to parties visiting the forest. The brief details go back as far 1694 and then move forward to 1839 when Mr R Grant of Kincorth first planted 70 acres in an early attempt to protect farm land from further sand encroachment. Sporadic planting continued by several estates until the end of the 19th century when around 3000 acres may have been put under trees. The whole area was logged during the 1914-18 war leaving only some sea erosion defensive strips. In 1922 a large area of the main body of Culbin was purchased by the Forestry Commission and areas added subsequently. By the start of the war in 1939 about half the area had been planted or replanted but then all work came to a halt as the forest was an important battle training ground for the military.
Following the war thatching and planting of the sand dunes recommenced and was completed by the late 1950s. Timber production from thinning and felling operations supplied mines, saw and pulp mills and local farms. Fires were a feature in the early days but fire towers, radio communications and fire fighting vehicles all reduced the damage to very low levels in later years.

Please see the PDF link below to view the three pages.

Notes on Culbin Forest in the 1930s by H M Steven

Fri, 2 Oct 2026 15:44:53 GMT

Notes on Culbin Forest in the 1930s by H M Steven

This was part of an archived file box recovered from old shed store at Newton by Malcolm Hobson and Ruaridh Maxwell of Forestry and Land Scotland.
It seems that R G Cathie (Bob Cathie) as District Officer covering Culbin Forest had sought some details on how the forest was managed in the 1930s pre World War II and contacted H M Steven who was probably at Aberdeen University. H M Steven had been Divisional Officer for Northeast Scotland before the war and wrote a detailed note on the pre war situation and planting progress. Before 1933 large planting programmes had tackled most of the lower lying and more stable areas of forest but some of the planted areas were at risk from being overwhelmed by the moving sand dunes. Marram grass stabilisation had ceased by 1934 when thatching with broom, birch scrub and pine branch wood from pine thicket areas in the forest was trialled in 1934 and was very successful.
H M Steven describes some of the techniques of the time and machines used and also comments on the roe deer browsing and how it was controlled.

Please see the PDF link below to see the three pages.