| Administrative History | George Dey was a former Aberdeen University student |
| Description | Interview with George Dey recorded on 16 May 2002 by John Hargreaves.
Transcript of interview :
[Owing to technical failure the interview was not recorded. This is a transcript of the interview as recorded in longhand by Professor Hargreaves and edited by Mr Dey.]
H When did you begin your studies at Aberdeen University, Mr Dey?
D In 1942-3 I was a student of Engineering. I remember it as a happy year. I joined the STC. WE had good exercises in Strathdon and Glenbuchat; and I also remember how we taunted the King's groundsman on our drill parades. But after experience of forestry work at Ballater, I decided to change courses. So I was no longer in reserved occupation. I joined the RAF as a radar mechanic, served in Sri Lanka, and returned to the Forestry Department in 1947.
H What are your memories of your teachers?
D Professor Steven was an admirable head of department; his lectures were clear and interesting, and he was accessible to students at all times. So were his colleagues: Dr E V Laing taught Forest Botany, Dr MacNeill Mensuration, and Myles Crook was the entomologist. We had good field trips, including one to France. We studied Soil Science at Ballater. I think Professor Steven was instrumental in establishing an independent department under Dr Williamson. Professor R V Jones, sympathetic to all servicemen, was a friend of the department. He gave a lecture on radar, which had been my trade in the RAF, and I had a chat with him afterwards.
H What about your fellow classmates?
D The classes seemed large. All three years joined in the Forestry Society, which met for a lecture once a month. Twenty students graduated in my year, but only one took Honours. He went on to work at the Macaulay. We were mostly ex-servicemen, and anxious to be out and earning. There were no overseas students in my time. I had two big advantages, I was able to work from my home in Aberdeen; and having already passed Chemistry and Physics, I did not need to re-take those exams (though I attended the classes).
H What did you do on graduation?
D I joined the Forestry Commission as an ADO. I had already done surveying for them on Bennachie during vacations. I stayed with the Commission for the next thirty-five years, mostly in Scotland, but with six years in South Wales - a district with a quarter of a million inhabitants. It covered the coalfields; subsidence was one problem we had to deal with, another was fires started by children. My first appointment was in Buchan, seconded to a survey of the Spey Valley. In 1951-4 I took over in Kincardine and Angus, based in Laurencekirk, where I married. Then from 1954-64 I was in the Loch Awe district of Argyll.
H A lovely posting?
D Indeed. Inverliever had been bought by the state in 1908 as an experiment in Highland Forestry. When the Forestry Commission was established in the 1920s it took this over, under Roy L (later Lord) Robinson. He was a great figure, twice life-size! I wish we had him today. He had a profound belief in the forestry industry, especially in the importance of Sitka Spruce. Like Professor Steven, he foresaw a serious shortage of timber about 2020. But from 1971 onwards successive governments slashed the programmes. I hold the Thatcher government chiefly responsible; they were too much influenced by environmentalists. [Mr Dey produced a graph of the decline of planting since 1971] I had a long controversy with Adam Watson about this in the Leopard until the editor shut down our correspondence. I retired in 1985 - no great hardship at 61, but I was frustrated with the way forestry policy had gone.
H In the long run, a large proportion of Forestry graduates worked abroad. Was this true of your class?
D No. Eight out of twenty went into the Forestry Commission, and others had business careers at home. One went to Northern Ireland, and one to Canada, as an entomologist. The intake of African students had not yet begun.
H Were you ever tempted to work abroad?
D I would have liked to go to India to work in the Himalayas, but I never applied.
H I meant to ask you whether there were women students in the department?
D Unheard of in my day; but there are some now. No reason why this should not be so.
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