The Ancient Pinewoods of Scotland E-Book

Clifton Bain

• Herausgeber: Sandstone Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 151

Beschreibung

Scattered across the Scottish Highlands are the last surviving remnants of the Caledonian forest which have survived, naturally seeding and growing since the last ice age. Visiting these ancient woods provides an emotional connection to the past with visible traces of the people who lived and worked there over the centuries. There is also a chance to look forward, after one of the greatest conservation success stories means a new future for the pinewoods and their spectacular wildlife. This journey to the pinewoods introduces a natural wonder alongside a rich cultural heritage.

Leseprobe

THE

ANCIENT PINEWOODS

OF SCOTLAND

A COMPANION GUIDE

CLIFTON BAIN

With drawings by Darren Rees

THE ANCIENT PINEWOODS OF SCOTLAND: A Companion Guide

CLIFTON BAIN with drawings by Darren Rees

First published in Great Britain and Ireland in 2016.

Sandstone Press Ltd

PO Box 5725

One High Street

Dingwall

Ross-shire

IV15 9WJ

Scotland

www.sandstonepress.com

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without the

express written permission of the publisher.

© Clifton Bain 2016

© All drawings Darren Rees 2013

© Images as ascribed

© All maps RSPB 2013. Contain Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database

right 2012 and using data from the Caledonian Pinewood Inventory, Forestry Commission

Scotland 1998.

Editor: Robert Davidson

The moral right of Clifton Bain to be recognised as the author of this work has been asserted

in accordance with the Copyright, Design, and Patent Act, 1988.

The publisher acknowledges support from Creative Scotland towards publication of this

volume.

ISBN: 978-1-910124-92-5

Book design and cover by Heather Macpherson at Raspberry Creative Type, Edinburgh

Printed and bound by Bell and Bain Ltd, Glasgow

3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank again all those individuals who helped make this

project happen. My colleagues and friends at RSPB, Scottish Natural

Heritage, Forestry Commission Scotland and the Scottish Wildlife

Trust have been a constant support and share my desire to introduce

a wider audience to the joy of these ancient woodlands.

Thank you to Robert Davidson at Sandstone Press, Heather

Macpherson (Raspberry Creative Type) for design and Darren Rees

for artwork.

Gaelic translations were made with the help of Jacob King, Ainmean

Àite na h-Alba and Gavin Parsons, University of the Highlands and

Islands.

Photo Credits: Photography by the author except for the following:

Lorne Gill/SNH – page 14 (red squirrel),

page 62 (Loch Maree),

page 86 (Glen Affric), page 88 (Glen Affric)

Desmond Dugan – page 21 (red deer), page 29 (Abernethy)

Laurie Campbell – page 7 (Capercaille), page 82 (Glen Cannich),

page 180 (Loch Tulla)

Jon Mercer – page 118 (Glen Loy)

Paul Chapman – page 174 (Glen Ferrick), page 176 (the Finlets)

Syd House – page 194 (Glen Falloch)

Richard Johnstone – endpiece (the author in Ballochbuie)

4

5

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

3

Contents

5

Introduction

9

The Ancient Pinewoods

9

of Scotland

Wildlife

12

Early history of the pinewoods 16

Prehistoric Pines

17

The Medieval Forests

18

The 17th century

18

Survivors of the

19

Jacobite Uprising

The enemy within

20

Pinewoods from the

22

middle 20

th

century to the

present day

Climate Change

24

Looking to the future

25

Visiting the woods

27

Using this guide

32

Key to maps

32

The Northern Group

35

1

Rhidorroch

36

2

Glen Einig

40

3

Amat

44

4

Strath Vaich

48

The Western Group

53

5

Shieldaig

54

6

Loch Maree

58

7

Coulin

64

8

Achnashellach

68

9

Coir’ a’ Ghamhna

72

Strathglass Group

77

10

Glen Strathfarrar

78

11

Glen Cannich

82

12

Glen Affric

86

13

Guisachan and Cougie

90

Great Glen Group

95

14

Glen Moriston

96

15

Barisdale

102

16

Glen Loyne

106

17

Glen Garry

110

18

Loch Arkaig and

114

Glen Mallie

19

Glen Loy – Coille

118

Phuiteachain

20

Glen Nevis

122

21

Ardgour

126

6

Strathspey Group

131

22

Glen Avon

132

23

Dulnain

136

24

Abernethy

140

25

Glenmore

144

26

Rothiemurchus

148

27

Invereshie and Inshriach 152

28

Glen Feshie

156

Deeside Group

161

29

Mar

162

30

Ballochbuie

166

31

Glen Tanar

170

32

Glen Ferrick and

174

the Finlets

Southern Group

179

33

Black Mount

180

34

Glen Orchy

184

35

Tyndrum

188

36

Glen Falloch

192

37

Black Wood of Rannoch 196

38

Meggernie

200

Safety and access

204

Bibliography

205

Useful websites

206

Male capercaillie displaying in Abernethy Forest Reserve

7

8

9

INTRODUCTION

It is surprising how few people are aware of the ancient pinewood

remnants, tucked away in the far corners of Scotland’s remote glens;

survivors of woodland that cloaked much of the land several thousand

years ago. They have not gone completely unnoticed however. Queen

Victoria mentioned the splendid beauty of the ‘ancient fir woods’ in

her Highland Journal and in present times, pine trees adorn tourist

brochures as iconic images of Scotland.

An essential characteristic of these ancient pinewoods is that the trees

have naturally seeded and grown to maturity, repeating the cycle of

life and death over thousands of years. Spectacular wildlife has found

refuge in this diverse and mature habitat. Past changes in climate and

human activity have taken their toll on the original tree cover. Most

notable over the last 200 years has been the huge increase in managed

herds of sheep and deer grazing on young trees. In some places the

oldest trees are nearing the end of their life without a single sapling

having survived to replace them. Fortunately, dedicated effort has led

to great improvements in the management and legal protection of the

Caledonian pinewoods (as they are officially named under wildlife

law) helping turn their fate around. This is one of the great success

stories in nature conservation but there is still a challenge ahead in

managing this vulnerable and important habitat.

The Ancient Pinewoods of Scotland

Scots pine is the common name for a species of tree (

Pinus sylvestris

L.) which is characterised by its flaky, reddish brown bark and widely

found around the world from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The natural

range of this magnificent plant stretches latitudinally from Norway

to Spain and in longitude from west coast Scotland across Europe

and Asia to Siberia and north east China. Scots pine has survived in

Europe for at least 1.6 million years. In Scotland, the pines are of a

unique variety (

Pinus sylvestris

var

scotica

) which has adapted to live

in more wet and windy conditions.

Pinewood regeneration, Abernethy Forest

10

Individual trees can live for as long as 600 years but most survive for

around 250. Some of the oldest recorded living pines in Scotland are

in remote Glen Loyne where, in the late 1990s, scientists estimated

one to be 550 years old; having started its life in medieval times,

when Scotland’s King James II was crowned and King Richard III of

England was born. Ancient specimens can also be found in more

accessible sites such as Ballochbuie and Rothiemurchus. Although

slightly younger at around 350 years, these spectacular trees were

seedlings when Oliver Cromwell invaded Scotland.

In Scotland today, the terms

ancient

and

natural

are used to describe

woodlands which have originated before 1750, without human

planting or influence from cultural activities such as timber felling

and livestock grazing. Since most woods in Britain have had at least

some human impact the term ‘ancient semi-natural’ is sometimes

used. Scots pine woods are also described as ‘native’, as they

support typical British species of trees which have grown here since

the last Ice Age and which were not introduced by humans. Today,

new native pinewoods are being established to help recover some of

the past losses. If managed sensitively, these will become the ancient

pinewoods of the future.

Within Britain, the natural distribution of Scots pinewoods is restricted

to the Scottish Highlands. Of the surviving ancient pinewoods, the

southernmost is a sparse group of trees in Glen Falloch, near the

north end of Loch Lomond. At the western edge of the Scots pines’

entire world range sits Shieldaig, near the Atlantic coast, beyond the

remote Torridon mountains. The Deeside forests of Glen Tanar and

Birse are at the eastern limit in Scotland and at the northern edge is

Glen Einig in Sutherland, although small groups of pine to the south

of Ben Hope may be the most northerly individual trees. It is also worth

mentioning that in England and Ireland there are a few individuals

growing in remote peatlands, which local naturalists passionately

believe to be descendants of the long gone pinewoods.

One of the most compelling features of the ancient pinewoods,

compared to commercial plantations, is their great diversity of

structure, with irregular spaced trees of all shapes and sizes reflecting

11

the different soils, slopes

and water levels. This

rich mosaic of ground

conditions is one of

the

consequences

of

Scotland’s

climate

and geology. On well-

drained

sandy

soils,

tight groups of naturally

occurring, straight, tall

trees can grow to twenty

five metres whereas on

wet patches of boggy

ground, stunted, twisted

trees often grow no

higher than two metres,

even after a hundred

years. Scots pines are

able to survive in the

thinnest of soils on rocky

crags and steep riverside

gorges,

where

their

exposed roots and stems

wind round boulders like

the wiry, strong limbs of

a rock climber. All of this diversity contrasts with the timber plantations,

where ground conditions are made more uniform by ploughing before

the trees are planted.

Individual Scots pine trees come in different forms including wide and

bushy types, straight stemmed with an umbrella-like crown and others

whose branches decrease in size up the tree to create a conical shape.

Within the forks of some multiple stemmed trees it is common to find

plants, and even other small trees growing. Pine can survive in the

harshest of conditions from the salt-laden sea winds at Shieldaig to

the steep mountain slopes of the Cairngorms, where stunted pines

grow at 900 m.

Scots Pine (

Pinus sylvestris

)

12

Broadleaved trees are an important part of Scotland’s native forests with

birch (

Betula

species) most often found mixed with the pines, along with

oak (

Quercus

species), rowan (

Sorbus aucuparia

), juniper (

Juniperus

communis

) bushes and other shrubs. Aspen (

Populus tremula

), which is

commonly found in Scandinavian pinewoods is not as abundant in the

Scottish woods but small groups can be found in the north and west,

their distinctive trembling leaves turning brilliant yellow in autumn.

Wildlife

The wildlife to be found in a pinewood includes some rare and

unusual species found nowhere else. The mixture of habitats around

the woods also adds to the wildlife spectacle, with lochs and rivers

among the trees, and adjacent moors and mountains stretching

across the landscape. Out of the long list of species which may be

encountered I have highlighted a few which are typically associated

with pinewoods.

In a native pinewood, the forest floor is usually dominated by lush

green carpets of bilberry, or to use its Scottish name, blaeberry

Birchwood with pine on Loch Garry

13

(

Vaccinium myrtillus

), a medicinal plant with edible, sweet, blue-black

fruit. Alongside this is heather (

Calluna vulgaris

) which creates a sea of

purple when it flowers. Glittering wood moss (

Hylocomium splendens

)

fills the shady areas, its yellowy green fronds cloaking the ground,

covering boulders and the stems of trees; one of a number of mosses

known to have anti-bacterial properties. A characteristic pinewood

species is the plume moss (

Ptilium crista-castrensis

), whose long fronds

look like the plume in a knight’s helmet. Wavy hair grass (

Deschampsia

flexuosa

) is a common feature in open areas. In summer its tall

slender stems and delicate flower heads can look like a cloud of silver,

hovering just above the ground. Creeping ladies tresses (

Goodyera

repens

) is a rare orchid, which in the UK is only found in Scottish

pinewoods. It has evergreen leaves and in summer bears small white

flowers on short stems. Another plant species which is an indicator of

ancient woodland is the twinflower (

Linnaea borealis

), mainly found in

Deeside and Speyside. This delicate, low, creeping plant has paired,

downturned, flowers that look like tiny white wall lamps. This was the

favourite plant of the 18

th

century Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus,

who developed the scientific naming system for plants and animals,

and likened this flower to himself, ‘lowly, insignificant, disregarded,

flowering but for a brief time’.

The pinewoods hold a wealth of insect species and scientists are finding

new relationships to other wildlife which are still not fully understood.

Blaeberry pollination, for example depends on a rare bumblebee

species (

Bombus monticola

). Wood ants are a key part of the insect

life of pinewoods, but most notable are their nests. The Scottish wood

ant (

Formica aquilonia

) nests consist of large soil domes covered in

pine needles, and are up to 1.5 m tall. Within the nest, over 100,000

individual ants make up a colony and their paths can be seen worn

into the leaf litter between the trees, as they travel around looking

for other insects to eat. The ants are harmless to humans, their main

defence being to squirt formic acid across a range of up to 5 cm.

Close up, the colony smells like salt and vinegar crisps. It is important

not to disturb the nests as these are a threatened species.

The pinewoods are natural refuges for some of Britain’s most

charismatic mammals, several of which, including red squirrels and

14

Scottish wildcat, are now rare and threatened. A number of former

inhabitants, such as the elk and brown bear, have long gone.

Red squirrels (

Sciurus vulgaris

) are a typical pinewood species and a

large part of their diet is pine cone seeds. It is possible to see them

during the day but, failing that, the tell-tale signs of nibbled cones can

often be found lying on the ground.

The Scottish wildcat (

Felis silvestris silvestris

), sometimes referred to as

the ‘Highland Tiger’, is an elusive creature whose numbers have been

reduced by habitat loss, persecution and cross breeding with domestic

cats. Occasionally, the distinctive broad footprints of the wildcat can be

seen, especially on snow covered ground. For those who don’t mind

seeing wildlife in zoos, Scottish wildcats and other pinewood creatures can

be viewed at close quarters at the Highland Wildlife Park near Kingussie.

The pine marten (

Martes martes

) is another of the forest hunters. An

agile climber, it eats mainly voles and birds as well as occasional

squirrels. It is also keen on fruit and honey and one of the best ways

of seeing this timid and stealthy predator is when it is lured into the

gardens of people living near the forest, with treats such as jam tarts.

The much loved red squirrel is an endangered species

15

There is something comical about watching one of nature’s finest

hunters bouncing in view to pounce upon an unsuspecting cake.

Red deer (

Cervus elaphus

) and roe deer (

Capreolus capreolus

) are

a natural part of the pinewood environment but numbers have been

artificially increased over the centuries, not only for sport shooting but

also because of a lack of natural predators, such as wolf (Canis lupus)

and lynx (

Lynx lynx

). It is not clear when the lynx disappeared but recent

evidence suggests they were present in parts of Britain until the 7

th

century.

Wolves remained longer, the last being killed around 350 years ago.

Large herds of red deer now roam the hills and glens, descending into

the woods for shelter and to feed on the young pines. In many places the

density of deer is several times greater than a natural forest can support.

Deer, however, are an integral part of a forest’s wildlife experience and

there is nothing more dramatic than seeing a grand stag perched on

a rocky outcrop. The autumn rutting season, when males compete for

females, is a noisy affair. The stags’ liquid-roar can be heard for miles

and the smell of deer musk fills the glens. The smaller roe deer are more

solitary and spend most of their time in the forest. Roe deer numbers are

also very high through lack of natural predators and they can cause

considerable damage to young trees.

Wild boar (

Sus scrofa

), which became extinct in Britain around the

end of the 13

th

century, have been reintroduced in a number of fenced

enclosures at pinewood sites such as Guisachan and Alladale. Boar

can fulfil an important role in the forest’s ecology, breaking up the

ground as they dig for food, improving germination conditions for

pine and other tree seedlings.

Pinewoods support some of Britain’s largest and smallest birds. The

golden eagle (

Aquila chrysaetos

) with its wingspan of over two metres

can occasionally be seen soaring over the forest and hunting in the

more open areas. The forests’ other giant bird is the capercaillie

(

Tetrao urogallus

), a large grouse the size of a turkey. The males

perform dramatic displays to attract females on traditional sites known

as leks.

At the other end of the size scale is the crested tit (Parus cristatus),

only 8 cm from beak to tail. They feed on small insects and pine cone

16

seeds and nest in the holes formed when branches and stems are torn

off in storms.

Britain’s only endemic bird (this means it is found nowhere else in the

world) is the Scottish crossbill (

Loxia scotica

). A close relative of the

common crossbills found across Europe whose bills allow them to extract

seeds from various conifer cones, the Scottish crossbill has a strong,

deep bill specifically adapted for feeding on tough Scots pine cones.

Early history of the pinewoods

For many people the ancient pinewoods convey the atmosphere of a

primeval forest, but scientists and historians have cautioned against

viewing these as untouched remnants. Even the most natural of woods

in Scotland has had some human influence over thousands of years.

Pinewoods are also dynamic, with the woodland boundaries slowly

shifting across the landscape in waves of tree death and new growth

on the margins. A few, but certainly not all, woods may well have

moved several miles from their original location over the centuries.

However, with the youngest sites at least several centuries old there is

no doubt that, in the words of Steven and Carlisle:

’to stand in them is to feel the past’.