He’s a Creetown stalwart who’s planted and harvested thousands of trees with the Forestry Commission.And Eric Houston is old enough – he admits that himself – to see great logs cut from trees he grew from seed half a century ago being shipped along the A75.
These days Galloway’s vast forests, almost entirely man-made, have become Scotland’s biggest source of supply for its wood products industries.
It’s a matter of some pride to Eric that he’s a dyed-in-the-wool forester. And sitting in his Creetown home we have barely begun his story when his wife Betty comes through from the kitchen.
She sets down a steaming mug of tea and an ashet of cakes, which I offer to Eric. “No thanks mate, they are all for you,” he smiles.
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