Our Project Partners
Sam Chinnery, Designer & Craftsman
We contacted Sam very early in the project, prior to the oaks being felled. A local designer and craftsman, based in Alves near Elgin, he has extensive knowledge of timber and furniture making.
He provided valuable advice on how to fell the oaks and mill the timber, to give us the right size and quality of planks and boards needed to produce fine furniture. He also put us in touch with Logie Timber.
Sam will be producing various items of furniture and homeware for the Mighty Acorns project that will be released over the coming years.
Forres Tree Service
In 2017 and 2018, the trees were surveyed and acoustic decay mapping exercises and tomograms completed. One tree had a basal cavity that showed extensive decay. The other tree had structural issues and a fungus infestation.
We took the difficult decision to fell them and in October half term 2018 it took Forres Tree Services five days to cut them down. It was a sad to see them go, but we got marvel at the real feats of skill, watching Alex and his team at work. You can watch a time-lapse video of the process here.
Forres Tree Services offer a full range of arboricultural and forestry services throughout the Highlands and North East of Scotland.
Logie Timber
We were scratching our heads, wondering who on earth could mill the trees, when Sam Chinnery informed us that, rather fortuitously, Logie Timber, a full-circle timber business, with an emphasis on local hard wood, had just been established up at the Logie Estate near Forres.
Their knowledge, help and enthusiasm for the project has been invaluable and they have also linked us in with a host of local artists and craftsmen. The fact that they are just up the road helps as well!
Since the tree was felled they have milled all 50 tonnes of oak, which has since been stacked and air dried and is now ready for using.
Sandy Thomson
After retirement, Sandy had the opportunity to develop his hobby, and focus on solely delivering hand-crafted, high quality pens initially selling through a local craft shop in his home town of Portsoy, using readily available oak from retired whisky casks.
They proved very popular, and he decided to sell at the numerous Highland Games and other events around the Highlands.
Each pen and pencil is lovingly crafted from Gordonstoun Oak in his small workshop in his back garden.
Land Art Sculpture, Dr Thomas Hawson Ph.D
In March 2019, current parent and award winning visual artist, Tom Hawson agreed to create a land art sculpture in the grounds of Gordonstoun, with help from our Year 10 GCSE art students. He also took the opportunity to teach our Year 8 Design students about traditional methods of working with wood. Tom writes of his inspiration:
“At the end of World War II, Gordonstoun inspired the beginning of an organisation called Round Square. That organisation now brings young people together from all over the world for cultural exchange and the organisation of voluntary service projects. The sculpture, as I see it, can be explained like this: the round is the earth, the spokes are the people and the square represents our shared constructs. The Year 10 Art Students designed and helped make the spokes; celebrating human diversity that supports our precarious constructs (the square) from the earth’s resources (the round). Think I will call it ‘Precarious’!”
Why not visit ‘Precarious’ next time you are on campus? It can be found on Dead Dog Hill, in the woodland at the back of Round Square.
Loch Ness Knitting
After hearing our former Principal speaking about the project in Chapel, parent Dwynwen Hopcroft, offered to team up with Gordonstoun to produce an exclusive line of luxury knitwear, using the oaks to inspire her designs and create the dye.
Dwynwen is the founder of Loch Ness Knitting, based in Drumnadrochit on the shores of Loch Ness. She draws on the Highlands’ knitting, weaving and textile heritage, placing sustainable ways of working at the heart of what she does.
For this project she harvested the acorns, leaves, bark and lichen from our oaks and used traditional techniques to create a variety of natural dyes that she has turned into an exclusive collection of luxury knitwear, using merino wool and Blue Faced Leicester yarn. Visit the Mighty Acorns shop to view the collection.
James Chitty
James is a designer, maker, carpenter and artist based in Moray, and will be producing bespoke items from the oak for sale in the near future.
James works with both dried and green oak, and is responsible for the work currently being undertaken on the time-line cross-sections currently being prepared to display at school.
Quercus by Gordon Lochhead
The Mighty Oaks Project Quercus A sculpture by Gordon Lochhead
Gordon is an OG (W ’67) sculptor who has exhibited across Scotland and throughout Europe and the Far East.
He produced the trophy presented to the winners of the Scottish Open Golf Tournament between 1996 and 2010, and has had high-profile commissions from clients such as Visit Scotland, Johnnie Walker and the Volvo round the world yacht race.
Gordon Lochhead, (Windmill 1963-67) April 2024