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Salutations Hotel «Perth» 1987 Tour no. 90
Members & spouses attending:- 48Quote £30.00 Din. sB&B. pkd Lunch 11 May - Monatreathmont Forest (F.C.), recently-felled S.P. in connection with Telegraph-Pole project. Afternoon at Camperdown Park (City of Dundee D.C.) to see parkland trees, then Templeton Wood, area for rural recreation. 12 May - Atholl Estates at Dunkeld to see Oak plantation and discuss pressure of visual impact of forestry development on locality. Also visit estate nursery, Dunkeld Larches, National Trust “the Hermitage” and Craigvinean Forest (F.C.). 13 May - Scone Estate to see D.F. planted P86 in Colin Wood after site was clearfelled and ripped. Visit Jeaniebank nursery and then AGM inside Perth Racecourse upstairs room. Caledonian Hotel «Inverness» 1988 Tour no. 91 Members & spouses attending:- 42Quote £46.50 Din. sB&B. pkd Lunch 09 May - Shin Forest, Lairg (F.C.) bordering the “flow country” to see the SSSI at Crask, where moorland and forestland are tended in a policy of peat-bog preservation. 10 May - Rothiemurchus Estate to see old Caledonian Pine forest and a mixed plantation set up with amenity consideration. Visit to deer farm in afternoon. Joint Annual Dinner at Technical College. 11 May - Culbin Forest (F.C.) to see sand-dune plantations of C.P.and problems of windblow and shifting sand, after establishment of high forest. Visit to 1746 Culloden battlefield, near to which RSFS AGM was held in the open. Harvesting operations in Culloden Forest in afternoon. 12 May - Darnaway Forest. Fine crop of D.F. P15 by Findhorn River. Discussion re Roe Deer and Grey Squirrel control. Visit to Cawdor Estate, P1830 E.L., P1792 S.P. (some of which used to repair the roof of the House of Lords in 1982) and "Core Oakwood" which failed to naturally regenerate. 13 May - Visit Elite-Trees-Bogallen-nursery. Then to Glen Affric Forest (F.C.). Old Caledonian Forest managed as wildlife habitat and tourist attraction. Tontine Hotel «Peebles» 1989 Tour no. 92 Members & spouses attending:- 50Quote £35.45 Din. sB&B. pkd Lunch 15 May - Craik Forest (F.C.) and Craik Forest Walk (popular with visitors from Hawick). Crooked Loch, conservation site. Visit Meerlees and W. Buccleuch Estate to see Winter Moth damage, also thinning and extraction demonstrations. Evening visit to Neidpath Castle. 16 May - Visit to Megger Dam in the Tweed, which contributes much to the water demands of Edinburgh and environs. Visit to Blackhouse Estate, consists newly planted areas with the Muttonhall property therein being newly purchased by a City man for investment purposes. Some competition with farming and shooting interests. Annual Dinner in TONTINE HOTEL. 17 May - Open Day at Dawyck and AGM in Stobo Village Hall. «Lochgilphead» 1990 Tour no. 93 back to the top Imperial Hotel «Harrogate» 1991 Tour no. 94 Members & spouses attending:- 28Quote £40.00 Din. sB&B. 13 May - Bolton Abbey Estate(12,000 hectares in Wharfdale, near Skipton). Formerly Bolton Priory, but owned by Dukes of Devonshire since 1539(Dissolution of the Monastries) - 70 farms on land good enough for dairy stuff & 450 ha. under woodland - Oak, Sycamore, Beech, Ash, SP,EL,NS,SS & DF. 14 May - Washburn Valley, Yorkshire Water - catchment for three reservoirs. Planted in 1906 with water conservation in mind. Amenity pressures qualified area for site of outstanding natural beauty but forestry blamed for slight colouration of water supplies. Extraction therefore is expensive. SP, NS, SS and some Oak, Beech & Sycamore. 15 May - Chevin Forest Park, Otley. Wholesale felling of good hardwoods in World War 2. Now aim is for mixed plantation, with accent on hardwoods. 16 May - Bolton Estate, Wensley. The main feature of interest was the growing of Sycamore in over 404 ha. for the veneer trade and small turnery stuff since 1890. Aim was for rotary and slice cut veneers with "fiddle back" figure. Huntly Arms Hotel «Aboyne» 1992 Tour no. 95
Members & spouses attending:- 59Quote £29.75 Din. sB&B. pkd Lunch
(This hotel was also used by the Society in 1985)18 May - Glenmuick Estate (formerly FC, now private). This 121.6 ha. of FC P50 Scots Pine, Pinus Contorta, Japanese Larch, Norway Spruce & Sitka Spruce has to be felled and restocked with Scots Pine, Japanese Larch, Sitka Spruce and some broadleaved species. Also, visit to Cambus o' May, a SSSI consisting mainly Scots Pine ancient and new. 19 May - Muir of Dinnet Nature Reserve. Old Pine and old Oak with previously cleared Rhodendron, which is now reappearing. Also in evidence was a mixture of broadleaved species. On the edge of the Glen Tanar Estate where mature Douglas Fir had been felled, a promising mixed collecltion of broadleaveds had regenerated naturally. Afternoon at James Jones's Sawmill at Burnfoot - a modern sawmill running a steady business with conversion of green logs into "rough useage" timbers. Annual Dinner at the Hotel. 20 May - The Balmoral Estates purchased by Queen Victoria in 1842, in which Prince Albert had the castle constructed on German Baronial lines. Trees were only felled for sylvicultural reasons. The Queen's policy was to own trees for beauty, not for money! AGM in Crathie Village Hall. The Lockerbie Manor «Lockerbie» 1993 Tour no. 96 Members & spouses attending:- 68Quote £43.00 Din. B&B. (This excursion was Friday to Monday)14 May - Mabie Forest (FC) 1033 ha. planted with the usual conifers the FC chose for a West of Scotland site. These had been regularly thinned and with broadleaved species present made a very attractive forest with Dumfries, 4 miles away. Estimated 60,000 visitors a year. Also Robert Howie sawmill near Dalbeattie, a productive softwood mill. 15 May - Forest of Ae (FC) 4000 ha. prolific regeneration of SS. The area is subject to windthrow. In the past NPK fertilizer had been applied but no longer used. Oak was recorded in past history and some remained. The aim was to underplant Oak in the future in suitably thinned SS. Afternoon at local Agricultural Show with AGM in RSFS tent. 16 May - Drumnlanrig & Queensferry Estate, areas of fine Pines, Larch, Hemlock, Firs and various broadleaved species - inheritance from the era of the "planting Dukes". Also Castlemilk Estate with one of the earliest plantings of improved SS. This had been mixed with SP for self-thinning purposes. Also P59 Oak from acorns taken from Bérce, in France. Atholl Palace Hotel «Pitlochry» 1994 Tour no. 97 Members & spouses attending:- 73Quote £54.00 Din. sB&B. (This was another Friday to Monday Excursion)13 May - Blackwood of Rannoch, the largest remnant of the Old Caledonian Forest, designated by FC in 1975 as a Forest Nature Reserve to be maintained as such for the future. 14 May - Craigvinean Forest (FC) 1943 ha. has an award for landscaping. Much of its area has trees of even age, becoming now due for felling and restocking. AGM in Aberfeldy Village Hall. Visit later to Bolfracks, a medium sized private estate. Annual Dinner in the Hotel. 15 May - Choice of visit to Blair Castle or Branklyn Gardens or the Pass of Killicrankie. 16 May - Griffin and Moness Forests both large, privately-owned forests with large areas being newly planted. Barony Castle Hotel «Lothian» 1995 Tour no. 98 Members & spouses attending:- 57Quote £57.50 Din. sB&B. pkd Lunch 10 May - Bowhill Estate, one of the Buccleuch estates and has a rich management history. The policy is to maintain where possible an uneven-aged forest with amenity as a major consideration. 11 May - Glentress Forest (FC) more of an even-aged forest where aim has been to maintain continuous tree cover. There are amenity pressures here too. 12 May - City of Edinburgh suburban development tree planting considerations - Birdiehouse and Meadowfield - going back 20 years, City staff discussed their future plans with RSFS. Afternoon at Northern Research station, Roslin, to view experiments. Annual Dinner at Hotel. 13 May - Dalmeny Estate - 310 ha. woods + 1040 ha. of farmland. Maintenance of broadleaved trees both for landscaping and future timber production after damage in 1968 gales. The estate had suffered badly from Dutch Elm disease. AGM in the estate cafeteria. Royal Hotel «Oban» 1996 Tour no. 99 Members & spouses attending:- 90Quote £37.00 Din. sB&B. pkd Lunch (The Columba Hotel was also booked for members.)10 May - Blackmount Estate (Scottish Woodlands Ltd) to see Pinewoods. Afternoon at Glen Nant (FC) and later a visit to Bonawe Iron works. Annual Dinner in Royal Hotel. 11 May - Ledghrianach and Barr Woods, privately owned estates to see extraction techniques and machinery, including the Glenfinnan Log Chute (kind permission of Mr Alistair Gibson, who was the inventor). Much of the ground has still to be newly planted. AGM in Appin Village Hall. Palace & Thistle Hotels «Inverness» 1997 Tour no. 100 Members & spouses attending:- 135Quote £50.00 Din. B&B. 13 May - Glenmore Forest (FC) - some old Caledonian Pine specimens, around which some non-native trees had been removed to create a Caledonian Forest Reserve. But separate areas nurtured SS and Contorta. This is a well-used recreation area. Afternoon visit to Abernethy Forest Nature Reserve. 14 May - Novar Estate (Munro-Ferguson) afforested area well maintained for some 2 Centuries. A walk through large EL, DF & AbGr. See management of two-tier forest. Visit to Novar Windfarm where 34,500 kW wind turbines were being built. AGM in Novar Courtyard building. 15 May - Scottish School of Forestry Inverness. Utilisation of local hardwoods shown by Highland Birchwoods Co. Visit Cawdor Estate 5000 ha. woodland, 1500 ha. arable farmland. Afternoon at Brackla Distillery. |
