Royal Sovereign - Northumberland's new treasure
Last Sunday, over 150 people turned out to plant a tree at Royal Sovereign Wood to commemorate 200 years since the Battle of Trafalgar. HMS Royal Sovereign led the second column attacking the French and Spanish fleets at the battle. The ship was the command vessel for local Northumberland-born Admiral Charles Collingwood during the battle. Collingwood believed in planting trees and kept acorns in his coat pockets – planting them wherever he went.
As a ship of the line, it would have taken about 5,000 oaks to build HMS Royal Sovereign. The new wood will eventually contain around 6,000 trees – more than enough to rebuild the ship.
Paul Bunton of the Woodland Trust says: “This was a great event and a fantastic way to mark the battle of Trafalgar with the planting of the first trees in Royal Sovereign Wood."
