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Maitlandfield House Hotel «Haddington» 2007  Tour no. 109Members & spouses attending:- 86Quote £75 Din. sB&B. 20th May - An informal reception held at the Maitlandfield Hotel, sponsored by Alba trees Ltd, for members old and new to relax after their journey and catch up on the news. 21st May - Berwickshire in the east; to the edge of the Pentland Hills, south of Edinburgh, in the west to visit the Whittinghame Estate of Mr Brander to see his arboretum and his woodland management; followed by Pressmennan House woodland belonging to Mr Robert Morgan to see broadleaf management and then to Mr John Kinnaird's Meiklerigg, studying farm woodland management and restocking by under planting. Then Garvald Village Hall for the ABM. Annual Society Dinner at Maitlandfield House Hotel, Haddington. 22nd May - Travel south from Haddington through attractive country then to Abbey St Bathans, Berwickshire in the Lammermuir Hills, to see Mr Willie Dobie's use of local timber in house building. Then to view wind energy development farm. 23rd May - The Pentland Hills to see Sir Robert Clerk's Penicuik Estate, an example of an 18   The Priory Hotel «Beauly» 2008 Tour no. 110Members & spouses attending:- 73Quote £48.84 Din. sB&B. 25th May - Cocktail reception at Priory Hotel, Beauly. 26th May - Reelig Glen (Forest Enterprise) SSSI, mixed broadleaved and conifers. Aim is towards markets for small round wood for firewood, charcoal, green woodwork and mushroom culture, and compatibility with access to the public. Visit to Abriachan Forest Trust, the first successful community bid for Forestry Commission land in Britain. Aim is to enhance the biodiversity and landscape value of the area by reforestation with mixed native woodland, allowing recreational and educational activities. ABM at Abriachan Village Hall. Annual Society Dinner at Priory Hotel. 27th May - Darnaway Estate, previously visited by the RSFS in 1988. Fine quality Scots Pine and Spruce is produced, which is sold to local sawmills while small round wood is processed in Norbord's OSB factory. Visit to Culbin Forest consisting mainly of SP & CP, planted on shifting sand and now firmly established high forest. Popular with visitors. Also visited by the RSFS in 1988. 28th May - Glen Affric - primary objective in the current management plan is the restoration of the native pinewood ecosystem, under the principle of primacy of nature, balanced with increasing popularity with visitors. Education of visitors is an important secondary objective, as is the genetic purity of the pine. 29th May - Rothiemurchus Estate - the second largest area of Ancient Caledonian forest in the Scottish Pinewoods Inventory, amounting to 3500 ha. (36% of the total estate land area). Cattle farming and growing of crops for silage, also trout farming are performed on the estate. The estate has a farm shop where food products, including venison, can be purchased. Large numbers of tourists visit annually. The Grant Arms Hotel «Monymusk» 2009 Tour no. 111Members & spouses attending:- 76Quote £75.00 sB&B. 31st May - Evening reception, House of Monymusk, by kind invitation of Sir Archie Grant of Monymusk, followed by tour of the house (not normally open to the public). Sir Archie talks about the Monymusk estate in general. 1st June - am: Visit Monymusk Estate woodlands including Paradise Wood, a SSSI. Lunch at Monymusk Village Hall. pm: Annual General Meeting (Monymusk Village Hall), then to Bennachie to meet with the Forestry Commission to look at the challenges of managing for timber production, public access, mountain bikes, heritage and conservation. Evening: 2009 Annual Dinner at Monymusk Village Hall. Guest speaker: Stephen Robertson, Rector of Aberdeen University. 2nd June - am: Visit private woods around the village of Insch, including a Nordman Fir Christmas tree project with high diversity inputs. As well as christmas trees, branchlets and foliage are sold for trade in decoration material. pm: Visit Logie Woodlands, a small forestry estate of keen local RSFS members Carl and Priscilla Poster, who will show us what a love of trees and hard work can achieve. 3rd June - am: Visit Castle Forbes near Alford by kind invitation of the Master of Forbes. Walk up Cothiemuir Hill where the Estate has recently established a natural burial ground and view the magnificent Neolithic recumbent stone circle, unique to NE Scotland. pm: Lunch at Torphins. Then visit Learney Estate to meet Estate owner Maureen Grant and her sporting tenant at Learney House, Alf Sorensen, to hear about the challenges of managing deer for sport and tree protection. Finally visit River Dee Board, where manager Mark Bilsby describes the excellent riparian work carried out by the Board to enhance the habitat for salmon. 4th June - Visit Invercauld Estate on Thursday morning for a walk around Craig Leek to look at recent work to encourage regeneration, public access and balance the needs of shooting sport and forestry. Murray Arms Hotel «Gatehouse of Fleet» 2010 Tour no. 112Members & spouses attending:- t/b/aQuote £t/b/a sB&B. 23rd May18:30 - Evening reception, Murray Arms Hotel, Gatehouse of Fleet. Introduction to Forestry in Galloway. Guests: Rob Soutar, FDM Galloway Forest District and John Dougan, Conservator, South Scotland. 24th May - am: Visit Cally Woods. FCS.Broadleaved woods with amenity value and productive potential. Lunch at Murray Arms Hotel, Gatehouse of Fleet. 13:00 Annual Business Meeting Murray Arms Hotel, Gatehouse of Fleet.. Visit Castramon Wood, SWT. 19:30: Annual Dinner at Murray Arms Hotel, Gatehouse of Fleet. Guest speaker: Hamish MacLeod, MD Howie Forest Products and Forestry Commissioner. 25th May - A day in the Galloway Forest Park. FCS. Look at general map of the forest and timber routesand briefly outline the role of the 'Roads Accord'. Examine various problems and opportunities in a large commercial forest. Clatteringshaws Visitor to look at the history of the area. Clatteringshaws, Bennan, Craigenbae and Loch Dee to look at combining large coniferous forest with environmental projects and tourist facilities. Visit Red Deer Range and Wild Goat Park. 26th May - Visit Howie's Sawmill, Dalbeattie. (Now part of BSW Group). 13:00 - Lunch at New Abbey Village Hall sponsored by Kingan's Sawmill. Visit Shambellie Estate woods to see some old plantations and ancient trees. or visit Shambellie House and Costume Museum for the less athletic. At 18:00 drinks reception at Cally Palace Hotel 27th May - Visit the Queensberry Estate at Drumlanrig. View of the largest Scheduled Designed Landscape in Scotland. Visit areas of Continuous Cover Forestry. Inspect 14 Ha. of recently machine-planted VP Sitka. Inspect Douglas Fir seed stand and visit first Douglas Fir planted in the UK and the Great Drumlanrig and Sycamore in the Castle policies. Killihevlin Hotel «Enniskillen» 2011 Tour no. 113Members & spouses attending:- 44Quote £120 B&B. 15th May - 12:00 Ferry, Stranraer to Belfast. 18:30: Evening reception, Killyhevlin Hotel, Enniskillen. Introduction to Forestry in Western Ireland by Neil Melanaphy, Area Manager, DARDNI. 16th May - VISITS:- Lough Navar viewpoint  Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark Correl Glen Nature Reserve (Ancient Woodland Site) Garrison Lough Melvin Florencecourt Forest Park and Florencecourt House, owned by the National Trust the original Florencecourt Yew. Also a Guided tour of Marble Arch Show Caves.19:00 - Reception hosted by Brites and Annual Dinner at Killyhevlin Hotel, Enniskillen. Guest speaker: John MacLoughlin, President, Society of Irish Foresters 17th May - Journey northwards along the border to Londonderry/Derry. Commentary on passing features of interest by Catriona Maclennan from the Forest Service. Rural Generation to see willow plantations, chip production and boiler installations. Visit Barons Court to examine and discuss continuous cover management. Lunch & Annual Business Meeting at The Stables, Barons Court at the invitation of the Duke of Abercorn. Visit Balcas pellet manufacture and Combined Heat & Power plant. 18th May - Milltown Community Centre, Near Belturbet, Co. Cavan. Welcome from John McLoughlin, President, Society of Irish Foresters Introduction to Coillte, PJ Fitzpatrick, District manager, Coillte. Introduction to the Forest Service, Noel Foley, Region Manager, Forest Service. Visit Justin Good's Farm Forest. Introduction to farm forestry, Pauric Nolan, Private Forestry Manager, Coillte. Introduction to Coillte's Farm Partnership, Kevin Hutchison, Business Development Manager, Coillte. Visit mature Sitka Spruce in Gartnanoul forest, part of the Killykeen Forest Park. At Killyhevlin Hotel 17:30-19:30 Boat trip around islands on Lower Loch Erne. 19th May - Visit Oxford Island visitor centre and nature reserve on Lough Neigh. 13:30 Ferry Belfast-Stranraer. |
