Thousands of trees planted at historic site
Hundreds of schoolchildren, residents and Woodland Trust supporters descended on Victory Wood in Kent, to plant more than 3,500 saplings during a two-day mass tree planting event.
The 141-hectare (350-acre) site at Lamberhurst Farm, near Dargate, Canterbury, is the flagship of the Woodland Trust’s Trafalgar Woods project. It will see 33 new woods created to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, each of the ships in Admiral Nelson’s victorious fleet and the thousands of British seamen who fought with him.
A week of schools’ events were delivered in partnership with the Canterbury Environmental Education Centre. They were followed by a special ceremonial tree planting on November 19, led by Keith Ferrin, Trust supporter and Kent County Council cabinet member for environment, highways and waste. He planted a sapling to launch two days of community tree planting.
Afterwards, Trust regional development officer Christine Punter, said she was delighted with the turnout.
She added: “We had perfect tree-planting weather and there was a fantastic response from the local community and our supporters. We simply could not have got this project off the ground without all their help.”
Victory Wood will help create a lasting tribute to the thousands of seamen who fought at the Battle of Trafalgar. As it gets established, it will create a natural link between Kent’s nationally-renowned Blean Woods complex, which was part designated as a national nature reserve in 2001.
The site is already home to series of dramatic eye-catching sculptures and an inventive living interpretation that leads visitors through a re-creation of the Battle of Trafalgar. It sits on a hill and has a panorama of breath-taking views overlooking the Kent coast, River Medway and Isle of Sheppey.
