 | 566 |
 | Mairi Stewart |
 | 2000 |
 |
The Late George McBeth hard at work
George McBeth beloved colleague, hard at work, c2000. Is that a rutter, or is the blade too small?
Does anyone remember George from the Dunkeld office?
Picture Added on 22 February 2010.
Comments
The photo was probably taken between 1977 and 1987; George retired in 1987.He worked for the Commission from 1968 to 1987, in Errochty forest, then Tummel.He learned his trade at Meggernie Estate, Glenlyon, in 1936, aged 14.George was one of the great characters, with so many stories and experiences(not all printable!)Stoical, with a pithy sense of humour, he, like many others who worked out on the hill, was completely at home there, knew so much about the area and wildlife.George died on April 17th 2009.A lifetime of knowledge and experience now gone, but with so many people who can still tell his stories.
Added by Moira MacBeth on 26 April 2010.
Added by Moira MacBeth on 26 April 2010.
I have very fond memories of working with George in Tummel Forest in the mid-1970s. With a separate chainsaw squad, we were on the "everything else" one.
George was always great company - a gentle man, with subtle humour, great stories and a deep love of nature. I especially remember being on jobs with just the two of us. A couple of recollections...
Cutting a road line with bushmen saws & snedding axes, & learning the craft of carborundum stone sharpening - and sharing the rhythm of hand tool based work in tune with the forest, that was disappearing then, and now sadly gone.
Being rained off under a hap (tarpaulin) on some windswept hillside (FC wouldn't get away with that now under Health & Safety!) - feeling colder in the knowledge of the chainsaw squad in the Transit van with heater on, but warmed by George's vivid re-collections.
I have other equally clear social time memories, of George's excellent home brew, birch sap wine and Hogmanys.
I caught up with him by chance some years back in Fishers pub in Pitlochry...still very much the same great George. He was a privilege to know and is sadly missed.
Alan Drever
Added by Alan Drever on 28 May 2010.
George was always great company - a gentle man, with subtle humour, great stories and a deep love of nature. I especially remember being on jobs with just the two of us. A couple of recollections...
Cutting a road line with bushmen saws & snedding axes, & learning the craft of carborundum stone sharpening - and sharing the rhythm of hand tool based work in tune with the forest, that was disappearing then, and now sadly gone.
Being rained off under a hap (tarpaulin) on some windswept hillside (FC wouldn't get away with that now under Health & Safety!) - feeling colder in the knowledge of the chainsaw squad in the Transit van with heater on, but warmed by George's vivid re-collections.
I have other equally clear social time memories, of George's excellent home brew, birch sap wine and Hogmanys.
I caught up with him by chance some years back in Fishers pub in Pitlochry...still very much the same great George. He was a privilege to know and is sadly missed.
Alan Drever
Added by Alan Drever on 28 May 2010.
New Wester Echt Bothy
Dunecht
Westhill
Aberdeenshire
AB32 7DR
14.6.10
My name is Michael Mathers and I worked with George and stayed in "digs" with his family at Queens View, Loch Tummel for a few years in the mid 70s.
I would describe George as a real Gem - a rough diamond with a heart of gold. One of my many fond memories of him was one evening after work when he often settled down to paint. He was a talented artist. He often accompanied painting with a pint or two of his home-brewed beer. I often used to be treated to a few pints of this very distinctive tasting drink.
Usually he would go out to his shed, where the beer was, and return with pint glasses full to the brim. On this particular evening, for some reason, I went out with him to carry the glasses indoors. As George poured the home-brew out of large plastic containers into the glasses, I recognised, with absolute horror, the plastic container he stored the brew in. It was definitely a container that used to hold "Gramoxone" - a very powerful and dangerous paraquat weedkiller. I had used it often in the past when chemical spraying young plantations. There was no mistake!! George must have picked it up at work.
As George poured the drink into the glasses I said, "For God's Sake, George, that's a Gramoxone bottle", to which he calmly replied, noticing my agitated state, "Ach! It's a'right! I rinsed it out before I used it."
One of George's classic replies! I'll never forget it. Did I drink that pint he had poured? You bet I did, and many others. George's calm off-hand re-assurance did it for me when all else said "don't drink the stuff, NO!! I still have a quiet laugh about it today 35 years later, WHAT A MAN!!
Yours truthfully,
Michael M.
Added by Michael Mathers on 17 June 2010.
Dunecht
Westhill
Aberdeenshire
AB32 7DR
14.6.10
My name is Michael Mathers and I worked with George and stayed in "digs" with his family at Queens View, Loch Tummel for a few years in the mid 70s.
I would describe George as a real Gem - a rough diamond with a heart of gold. One of my many fond memories of him was one evening after work when he often settled down to paint. He was a talented artist. He often accompanied painting with a pint or two of his home-brewed beer. I often used to be treated to a few pints of this very distinctive tasting drink.
Usually he would go out to his shed, where the beer was, and return with pint glasses full to the brim. On this particular evening, for some reason, I went out with him to carry the glasses indoors. As George poured the home-brew out of large plastic containers into the glasses, I recognised, with absolute horror, the plastic container he stored the brew in. It was definitely a container that used to hold "Gramoxone" - a very powerful and dangerous paraquat weedkiller. I had used it often in the past when chemical spraying young plantations. There was no mistake!! George must have picked it up at work.
As George poured the drink into the glasses I said, "For God's Sake, George, that's a Gramoxone bottle", to which he calmly replied, noticing my agitated state, "Ach! It's a'right! I rinsed it out before I used it."
One of George's classic replies! I'll never forget it. Did I drink that pint he had poured? You bet I did, and many others. George's calm off-hand re-assurance did it for me when all else said "don't drink the stuff, NO!! I still have a quiet laugh about it today 35 years later, WHAT A MAN!!
Yours truthfully,
Michael M.
Added by Michael Mathers on 17 June 2010.
If you found this interesting, have a look at the following groups of pictures.
Forestry Areas
Forestry in Action
Tools and clothing
The handle is that of a rutter but it is hard to see from the photograph whether it is a rutter spade or a cross cut spade. The rutter has an extended cutting wing above one side of the blade (which side depended on whether it was a left hand or right hand rutter). The cross cutter had a slightly smaller blade and no extended wings and was used to cross cut the turfs from between the two parallel lines cut by the rutters. I see that George is working on erecting a rabbit proof fence and is likely cross cutting turfs to lay on top of the part of the rabbit net which would have been turned out and laid on top of the ground to form an apron to prevent rabbits starting to burrow under the wire.
In fact to the right of Georges head it is just possible to see some turfs lying close to the bottom of the fence holding down the netting apron on the rough ground.
Added by Norman on 23 February 2010.