Mayor plants tree to mark 25th anniversary of town woodland

THE Mayor of Henley planted a tree in Gillotts Corner Field to mark the 25th anniversary of the planting of a wood.

More than a dozen people gathered near the entrance gate on Saturday morning,
25 years after 2,000 trees were planted on the field to mark the millennium.

Tree warden Andrew Hawkins helped the Mayor plant a mountain ash whip near the entrance of the wood.

Mr Hawkins addressed the group and later led a guided walk through the wood. He said: “Two thousand bare rooted trees and shrubs were planted on four Saturday mornings, two in February and two in November to mark the millennium.

“They started in seven rows, with tall trees in the middle and shrubs on the outside. We marked the planting spots the day before with paint about two metres apart so when people came, they knew where to put them.”

He said that volunteers from schools, churches, sports teams, the town council and fire brigade all assisted in the effort.

Twenty-three different local species had been selected to ensure the best chance of survival, with the main species being oak, ash, lime, silver birch and cherry.

Mr Hawkins said that 90 per cent had survived to date.

Councillor Tom Buckley said he had decided to organise an anniversary for the occasion after meeting Mr Hawkins and his wife Wendy on an official trip to twin town Leichlingen.

He said: “Andrew had said about when they planted the trees up here to commemorate the year 2,000, so I suggested we should have a 25-year anniversary.

“There are a lot of people who might be new to the town and they might not know that the field exists, or the fact it’s a town green and it has been kept for the people of Henley by the activities of certain people who have been around the town for a long time.”

Councillor Gill Dodds said the celebration had reminded her of when the field first came into community ownership in the Nineties after a planning application for a housing development on the field was turned down.

She said: “It got turned down and the town council stepped in and it was bought and protected and that was wonderful.”

In 2009, the council had the land registered as a town green.