School children join the Woodland Trust Scotland to plant a new wood to commemorate the Battle of Trafalgar
Hundreds of local school children will join the Woodland Trust (1) at Easter Fossoway in Carnbo, near Kinross, to plant thousands of native trees, creating the 10-acre ‘Swiftsure Wood’ – one of 33 ‘Trafalgar Woods’ throughout the UK. The wood will be named after the HMS Swiftsure (2), one of the warships of the Trafalgar fleet, which was captained by a Scot, Captain William Rutherford (3).
Event: Local school children planting a new ‘Trafalgar wood’
Venue: Easter Fossoway Farm, Carnbo, near Kinross
When: between 10.30am and 2.30pm on Wednesday 26th October 2005
The new wood will be planted on the farm of the late Tony Wilks, who had a distinguished Naval career. The wood will link two areas of native woodland and will be created from oak, ash, alder and willow. Shrubs will include hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel and grey willow.
The wood will be named after the HMS Swiftsure, which was captained by William Rutherford, a Scotsman who later went on to become Captain of the Greenwich Hospital. The late Captain Tony Wilks, who himself had a long and venerable naval career, was also captain of the Greenwich Hospital.
Scotland has a strong maritime past and contributed significantly to the Battle of Trafalgar. Five of the 27 Captains of the fleet’s warships were Scottish. In addition, Scotland’s industry contributed through timber products, sails from Baxter’s of Dundee, iron cannons from Falkirk and, most importantly, crewmembers, with almost 30% of the 18,000-strong crew hailing from Scottish towns and fishing villages. Nelson’s Doctor and the woman who embalmed his body when he died were Scottish. In addition, children as young as 10 years old served as crew during the Battle – the youngest being a cabin boy from Leith, Edinburgh.
Trees played a vital role in the Battle of Trafalgar. The fleet of 27 warships contained timber from around 50,000 oaks, representing roughly two million years of oak tree growth. Nelson himself acknowledged the importance of trees to the success of the British Navy and, in 1803, wrote to Parliament calling for more trees to be planted to safeguard ship building timber supplies.
Andrew Fairbairn, Development Manager for the Woodland Trust Scotland, said: “Our aim is to highlight the important role timber played in British Naval history. We want to get people thinking about just how pivotal timber was then, and remains today – not only to the navy but also in everyday life. Scotland’s trees are as important now as they were 200 years ago, and we can all do our bit to protect them, and to plant new ones.”
Some 41 local men and boys from Perth and Kinross served alongside Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, including: Thomas Dewar, a 61 year old Quarter Gunner on HMS Leviathan; James Drummond, a 35 year old Ordinary Seaman on HMS Polyphemus; Robert Alexander, a 33 year old Midshipman on HMS Ajax; and George Weatherspoon, a 23 year old Private in the Royal Marines, who served on HMS Colossus. A searchable crew database can be found at: www.treeforall.org.uk/trafalgar/crewlist
The Trafalgar Woods Project is part of the Tree for All campaign, the largest children’s tree planting initiative Scotland has ever seen. The campaign’s vision is that every child should have the chance to plant trees. Two million trees will be planted across Scotland over the next five years as part of the campaign – two for every child under the age of 16.
The tree planting day is being part-sponsored by Norwich Union, who will be holding a staff and community tree planting day on the same site in November this year.
Media contacts:
• Andrew Fairbairn, Development Manager, Woodland Trust Scotland:
Tel: 01764 662554, Mob: 07770 482939, E-mail: andrewfairbairn@woodland-trust.org.uk
• Stan Blackley, Portable PR
Tel: 08700 742449, Mob: 07770 742449, E-mail: stan@portablepr.com
Notes to Editors:
1. The Woodland Trust
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 300,000 members and supporters. Established in 1972, the organisation now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). In 1984, the Trust acquired its first wood in Scotland. Today the Trust owns 80 sites across Scotland covering 8,100 hectares. Further news can be accessed at: www.woodland-trust.org.uk/
2. HMS Swiftsure
HMS Swiftsure was launched in 1804, replacing an earlier HMS Swiftsure, which had been taken by the French in 1801. She took part in the chase of the French to the West Indies before they joined the Spanish to form a single combined fleet, which met the British at the Battle of Trafalgar. She formed part of Admiral Collingwood’s column at Trafalgar, being near the rear between HMS Thunderer and HMS Defence. HMS Swiftsure first engaged the French Achille for 40 minutes, leaving her badly damaged, before other British ships joined the action, and her boats helped rescue the crew of Achille when she caught fire.
Although damaged in both rigging and hull, after the battle, HMS Swiftsure took the badly damaged French Redoubtable in tow, but was forced to abandon this when she began to sink. HMS Swiftsure’s boats rescued 169 of the Redoubtable’s crew before the rising storm made further efforts impossible, Redoubtable sank with some of the crew still aboard while Swiftsure stood by. In the morning a further 50 survivors were rescued from the water and taken to Gibraltar. Swiftsure suffered 17 casualties After repairs at Gibraltar, she was able to join Admiral Collingwood’s squadron blockading Cartagena.
3. Captain William Rutherford
HMS Swiftsure was captained by William Gordon Rutherford, the son of John Rutherford of Bowland Stow, near Edinburgh, and Frances, widow of Gabriel Johnson, Governor of North Carolina. He was born in North Carolina in 1764, educated at Edinburgh and St. Andrew's Universities and entered the service as a boy in 1778. In 1805, he was appointed to HMS Swiftsure, which he commanded at Trafalgar. He received the thanks of Parliament, a gold medal, and a sword of honour from the Patriotic Fund in 1805, and went on to become Captain of the Greenwich Hospital in 1814. He died in Greenwich Hospital in 1818, and was buried in St. Margaret's, Westminster, where a tablet was erected to his memory.
