Forestry Memories

Young Workers — Strathyre Hostel

Young Workers — Strathyre Hostel

Date Added: 16 September 2018 Contributor: Norman Davidson Year of Photo: 1955 Picture No: 4238

Photograph courtesy of William Fleming, Polmont who worked in Strathyre Forest as an apprentice Forest Craftsman and stayed in the Forestry Hostel.

These wooden hostels were used around Scotland’s forests to provide accommodation for additional workers at forests where there was not enough local labour to carry out the forest work. For a weekly rent they had a bed, bed linen that was changed weekly or perhaps longer, fuel for heating and food provided by a resident or often a local cook. At Strathyre, young workers were recruited and trained with the hope the hope that these skilled young workers would then go on and fill the vacancies in forests elsewhere in Scotland.

Here the group of nine young workers are outside the group of buildings used as their accommodation, the attached building immediately behind them being the wood shed where they sawed and chopped the wood for their hut wood stoves. Most names are remembered as follows:

1. Mike Andrews
2. Dave Harrower
3. Titch McLeod
4. Butch Murray
5. M Bell
6. Mike Cairney (Cairnie)
7. Gordon Watson
8. Eric Robertson
9. Kerr Robertson

Any other names and comments as well as stories of hostel life would be very welcome. Please use the comments box below. See large image via the symbol bottom right of picture.

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Groups: Buildings in Forests, Forestry Areas, Groups of people

1 Comment

I was known as Butch ever since starting at Tulliiallan nurseries in 1953 and with the gang moved to Strathyre in 1955. I have a couple of photos of some of us and would like to include them on this website if you can inform me as to how I can do so. Comment left on 15 December 2018 at 17:06 by John Murray
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