Old Photograph Children Making Sphagnum Moss Dressings Orkney Islands Scotland

Old photograph of children making Sphagnum Moss Dressings on the Orkney Islands, Scotland. Millions of wound dressings made from Sphagnum, or bog moss, were used during World War I. Europe has a long history of the exploitation of peatlands. The Netherlands, for example, once had large areas of peatland, both fen and bog. Between 100 AD and the present, they were drained and converted to agricultural land. The English broad lands have small lakes that originated as peat mines. More than 90% of the bogs in England have been damaged or destroyed. A handful of bogs have been preserved through government buyouts of peat mining interests. Over longer time scales, however, some parts of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales have seen expansion of bogs, particularly blanket bogs, in response to deforestation and abandonment of agricultural land.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.