LONG READ: From training ground to thwart the Nazi's atomic bomb to helping the UK's rarest bug prosper
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Today marks a century since the Glenmore Forest was taken into public ownership. Here with the help of stewards Forestry and Land Scotland the Strathy takes a look back at an eventful 100 years.
Purchased in 1923, only four years after the establishment of the Forestry Commission, Glenmore’s 100-year history of transformation is a history of public forestry in miniature.
It experienced the land acquisition and expansion of the 1930s and 1940s, the benefits of increased mechanisation and, with the presence of Commonwealth foresters and the Women’s Timber Corp in war time, offered a foretaste of the global reach and societal changes that were still to come.
This was in part thanks to continuous research into species, sites and cultivation forestry practice focus over the years, moving from commercial forestry (1950s to 1970s) towards conservation, restoration and adaptation.
But perhaps the biggest change was brought about by an increase in leisure time and the 1968 Countryside Act that drew more people to forests – like Glenmore – that quickly became much-loved leisure destinations.
Campsites and recreational facilities were created, ‘Forest Walk’ leaflets guided visitors along informal trails and forests began to impact on the tourist economy. The trend never stopped growing and more people than ever now visit Glenmore.
The already complex challenge of balancing the many competing demands on one of Scotland’s best known forest has been made even more demanding in the 21st Century with the climate emergency and the biodiversity crisis.
An effective response will require a great deal of pragmatism, more innovation and more change which means that Glenmore’s next 100 years are also set to be interesting, varied and eventful.
Glenmore – the creation of a new forest
In 1923, the newly established Forestry Commission entered negotiations with the Duke of Gordon to purchase 1200 hectares (ha) of plantable land to establish a tree nursery.
As a consequence of needing to pay death duties, the Duke eventually agreed to sell an area four times larger – an area that included 32ha of standing timber left by the Canadian Forestry Corps from WWI.
Almost immediately a decade-long planting programme (augmented in the 1950s, 1960s and 70s) was begun. Tree nurseries on the Black Isle and at Dornoch supplied a variety of species including Scots Pine, Douglas Fir, and varieties of spruce and larch to create new forest began near Badaguish.
In the early years only 65ha of Glenmore was described as pure Scots Pine forest. Promoting natural regeneration was a priority but experimental results (too sparse and too-slow growing) were not encouraging.
However, around 300 ha of this Scots Pine experiment still remain around Loch Morlich.
Research examining pollen samples taken from sediment within Loch Morlich, revealed that 6000 years ago, the main species was Scots pine suggesting that the area was within the area of ancient Caledonian forest.
But the problem of non-regeneration was highlighted when seed trapping on the old forest gave a count of 653,000 seeds per acre, only 0.1 per cent of which survived.
Timber production was a constant and to meet this need, many trees had been planted in open areas between old Scots pines, their scattered presence testament to the lack of natural regeneration over the previous century.
In response to afforestation in the 1930s, including on the lower slopes in Glenmore, conservationists called for the creation of reserves to protect old forest, including one for Glenmore in the Queen’s Forest, as it was then known.
The forest was renamed in 1935 to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George and Queen Mary. In 1948 it became known as Glenmore Forest Park.
But as well as planting in these years, harvesting of standing forest was also carried out – in some places into the 1950s – and it was only thanks to local objections that some large, 200 year-old pines near Glenmore Lodge were saved from being felled.
Major blaze caused by cigarette butt destroys much of forest
Fire was as much an issue then as it is now.
In 1960, a discarded cigarette started a fire that despite the efforts of fire crews from Inverness Dingwall and Fort William – and nearly 200 volunteers – destroyed over 500ha of forest.
The three-day fire was finally put out by rainfall – after £40,000 of damage had been done.
Ten years later, two major fires within the course of 12 months destroyed over 1500ha.
The 1970s brought more acquisitions, more planting and more experimentation – such as the first of several high-elevation (610-650m asl) plantings – and the first of several designations. Glenmore was by now sending 1000 cubic metres of timber to market annually, mostly to the paper mill at Fort William.
Within a decade this had increased four-fold.
Recognising a very special place... Glenmore designations
• Glenmore Forest Park (1948)
• Native Woodland Reserve at Ryvoan (1976)
• Allt Mhor SSSI (1989)
• Caledonian Forest Reserve (the first reserve to be announced in Scotland) (1992)
• Glenmore SSSI (1996)
• Glenmore National Nature Reserve (2007)
Advances in forestry brought a shift in attitudes and policy in the 1980s and 1990s with more emphasis placed on conservation.
Commitments were made to extend the area of the Caledonian pinewoods to more than a third of the forest park area and to remove non-native tree species from the south side of Loch Morlich and other areas.
This effort was enhanced in the new millennium by partnerships such as the Scottish Forestry Alliance project, which with funding from BP, enhanced and expanded restored pinewood.
In 2004, Scots Pine was recorded as being the dominant species in the forest (55 per cent).
The decades long effort to restore the natural habitats of the Caledonian Pinewood – as well as internal bogs and broadleaved woodlands – has allowed many rare species to steadily establish new
homes in Glenmore.
Restoration is a more effective way of managing species than carrying out a lot of small scale interventions.
This approach, in parallel with the creation of more deadwood, removing non-native trees and protecting existing nests and habitats, is the most effective for most species and has already helped some species to expand their range and increase their populations.
However, some ultra-rare species, such as the Pine Hoverfly, do need an additional helping hand and captive-bred Pine Hoverfly larvae have been released into specially designed tree stumps where hopefully they will thrive and begin to build a breeding population.
Long-term careful management of habitats and the restoration of natural processes continues to create a forest environment where species can flourish.
In 2016 the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management recognised the commission’s long-term work to successfully reconcile timber production with capercaillie conservation.
Glenmore has won numerous other awards over the years recognising the work done in a number of areas.
As the judging panel for one such award (the John Kennedy Memorial Trophy) summed up, Glenmore Forest Park is “an outstanding forest where a dramatic scale of change had allowed it to deliver multi-purpose objectives – including biodiversity conservation, timber production and high-quality access - in an impressive way”.
The forest park area is now almost 6000ha, of which – thanks to continuous research and experimentation since 1923 – 374 hectares are natural regeneration pinewood.
Part of the Cairngorm Connect partnership since 2018, the FLS team is contributing to the partnership’s 200-year vision by working on its own 50-year plan vision to transform the forest into
a native pinewood forest.
Some things never seem to change that much…
As well as reflecting in miniature the changes in forestry aims, thinking and practice over the years, Glenmore has also experienced the shifts in public interaction.
Although some things never seem to change that much…..
Access rights didn’t exist in 1923. The number of visitors to Loch Morlich 'whether permitted or not' caused some disquiet, not least because of the number of cars arriving and people 'picnicking and bathing in front of the Lodge, in some cases with little respect for decency' (Aberdeen Journal).
Attempts to block unauthorised access included one instance of a gate being locked that barred access to the Sluggan Road, a locally acknowledged right of way.
Intense discussions with Abernethy Parish Council finally secured public right of way for pedestrian and horse vehicular traffic.
Visitor numbers also exacerbated concerns amongst foresters, shooting tenants, land owners and local communities about the state of some of the surrounding roads (the road from Coylum Bridge
to Loch Morlich being 'very rough for the last mile and a half') and upkeep of the Sluggan Road.
Access remained a hot topic through the 1930s.
Ideas being discussed included: the notion of using unplantable land to establish a national park - provided that plantations were protected from fire, trespass and damage; that Glenmore Lodge, then being let to shooting parties, could be used as an hotel; and that a hostel might be required at some stage.
Recreational use tailed off in the war years but in 1946 plans for the creation of Glenmore Forest Park (established 1948) were announced.
Glenmore Lodge was required for FC personnel and the huts that had housed the Norwegian Commandos during the war was rented by Elgin Academy as a base for school trips – and remained in use until 1970.
Skiing and camping start to boom
With a fast developing reputation for mountaineering and winter sports, recreational access began to pick up in the post war years.
The Scottish Education Department for Outdoor Pursuits rented Glenmore Lodge from the commission and in the course of three years, overnight camping stays leapt from 2588 to 19,200.
In the mid-1950s a chalet and vehicle track were built to save the growing number of skiers from a four mile walk from their accommodation to the slopes.
Camping at Glenmore was charged at 1s per tent night, 5s per week, or for a caravan 2s per night, or 12s per week.
Parking at the east end of Loch Morlich and at the foot of the main Cairngorm path was 3d per day.
Recreation continued to expand in the 1970s. To help meet the demand a hostel – the Norwegian Lodge – was built to cater for youth organisations.
The Highlands and Islands Development Board purchased 2,422 ha in the forest park – including the main ski slopes – and a new information centre opened at Glenmore with a forest exhibition area.
The Glenmore Forest Park Guidebook went into its 5th edition.
By 1980, on a good day, it was not unusual for there to be 1600 people on the shore at Loch Morlich and over 100 boats in the loch.
Within a few years the refurbished visitor centre was welcoming up to 50 000 visitors per year.
Over the next four decades facilities have continued to develop and improve to cater for the huge number of vistors coming to enjoy the 50km of waymarked trails, the orienteering course, the 30km of ski trails, the water based activities and the many other activities on offer.
It is estimated that Glenmore Forest Park welcomes over 300,000 visitors every year, most arriving by car.
Improvements continue to be made across the Forest Park to help visitors get the most out of their experience but for all the changes to recreation and access over the decades, some of the issues of 1923 look familiar today.
Brave Norwegian Commandos thwart Nazi's attempt to build first atomic bomb
As well as being 100th year of public forestry in Glenmore, 2023 is also the 80th anniversary of the Vemork raid and the 50th anniversary of the memorial stone being laid to commemorate the heroism and achievement of the Norwegian Commandoes of Kompani Linge.
Soon after the Nazi invasion of Norway the order is given to increase the production of heavy water five-fold.
Fearing that this will be used in the production of plutonium to build an atomic bomb, it was decided that the factory producing the heavy water at Vermork must be sabotaged.
In preparation for this, the Norwegian section of the SOE set up a training camp in the Cairngorms in 1941.
Housed in Drumintoul Lodge, Glenmore Lodge and Forest Lodge, the commandoes made the most of the landscape and conditions in Glenmore, which was the one part of the UK that most closely resembled Norway.
Trained in the dark arts of sabotage, the secret agents of Norwegian Independent Company 1 (later Kompani Linge, in honour of their commanding officer) left for Norway early in 1943.
In treacherous February conditions, they embarked upon a perilous cross country trek and scaled a 200m rock wall to break into the Vermork factory and lay explosives to destroy the entire supply of heavy water, potentially changing the outcome of the war and the course of history.
Glenmore was used as a training ground until the end of the war and was so highly regarded for its work that the unit was visited by HM King Haakon VII and HRH Crown Prince Olav on several occasions.
In 1973, when it was still possible to find at Loch Morlich fragmentary remnants of training explosions, a memorial stone honouring the commandoes was unveiled at the Glenmore Visitor Centre with surviving members of Kompani Linge present.
Veterans returned regularly including for the installation of a permanent exhibition heralding their exploits, and to mark the 30th anniversary of the unveiling of the memorial stone.
The last of the team that carried out the Vemork raid, Joachim Ronneberg, made his final visit in 2012, at the age of 92 but the site will be a place of commemoration for Norwegians for many years to come.
It looks like rain, dear...
Originally fenced against red deer, the Commission’s forest in Glenmore was (until 1947) managed as both a sporting and a forestry estate with a season’s let promising 25-30 stags and some grouse.
Record’s from 1930 show that the annual bag of red deer was 65 in the Queens Forest and that around 300 red deer (mostly stags) wintered at Badaguish where they were fed hay, a practice that
stopped during WWII.
In Spring of the year after it stopped being a sporting estate, deer fencing at the ‘upper plantation’ was in place and completed in 1949.
Such was the habit of the deer that commission staff had to repair the fence after a break in of deer.
The cull that year was on 12 animals. However, one of Glenmore’s current must-see visitor destinations first brought a new kind of deer to the area in 1953 when 30ha of fenced off ground was put aside for reindeer, and a study led by Mr Mikel Utsi and his wife Dr. Ethel Lindgren, of whether they would cause damage to trees.
After spending 270 days within the Queens Forest, “no damage was done to the forest trees – although the reindeer did have a taste for the leaves of freshly flushed birch”.
It was not long before the reindeer company was leased around 2400ha of open hill for the herd. It was around this time that the famed ‘Utsi’s Bridge’ was built for access to the reindeer herd across the Allt Mhor burn.
Still a must-see attraction for many visitors, the Reindeer Paddocks were first opened in 1989.
Fencing to keep the reindeer in was fast becoming the only deer fencing in Glenmore.
By the turn of the millennium the lack of deer fencing protecting the forest and a growing deer population meant that deer culling had to be stepped up.
The population level was assessed then as being 34 deer per square km. Ongoing management over the years has brought this down to seven per square km, which is much more in balance with the forest and its many habitats.
Looking to the future
Over the past 100 years, the look of the Glenmore landscape has changed, priorities have changed and management practices have changed.
Visitors and resident expectations and requirements have also increased beyond the imagining of those early-days foresters who took ownership of Glenmore and who took the first steps to transforming it into the spectacular place it is today.
With the continuing care of Forestry and Land Scotland and its partners, Glenmore will continue to flourish in the years to come.
The Caledonian pinewood will slowly and steadily expand, species diversity will go from strength to strength and all the while, Glenmore’s magical beauty will continue to indelibly stamp the memories of all who visit.
