School pupils were joined by members of the Wivenhoe community to plant 55 memorial trees on the site of a proposed Taylor Wimpey housing development.
Local resident Phil Long wanted to create a living memorial to honour the 55 men of Wivenhoe who lost their lives during the First and Second World Wars. He secured the trees from The Woodland Trust as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy project, but needed somewhere to plant them.
Taylor Wimpey has submitted plans for 120 new homes, along with land for new sports fields, a play area and open space, on land off Richard Avenue and was happy to set aside an area for planting.
Children from Broomgrove Junior School were invited to help plant the trees during a ceremony on 11th November 2022. In addition to the trees, plaques of English oak were installed, stating the name of each serviceman being honoured and the name of the child who planted the tree.
The memorial plaques were produced by local firm Huberts workshop, and speeches during the ceremony were made by Taylor Wimpey, the Rev Erwin Lammens and the Royal British Legion.
Karen Wright, Interim Headteacher of Broomgrove Junior School said, “This is such a wonderful opportunity for our pupils to be involved in a very special community event to celebrate remembrance of local people who lost their lives for our country.
“At our school, we value the outdoor environment and therefore we were very excited for our children to be planting trees in the village. We feel honoured to be part of this event and having our pupils’ names alongside names of the fallen shows how important remembrance is for all
generations. We hope that members of our local community will enjoy visiting this area for years to come.”
Organiser Phil Long said: “I think that this project will help to connect a new generation to the act of remembrance which is summed up in the words ‘We will remember them’ and I am proud to have been involved.”
David Pelle, Land and Planning Director for Taylor Wimpey London, said: “When Phil approached us with the idea of the remembrance avenue we thought it was a great way for local residents to honour the fallen whilst adding more greenery to our site. We were more than happy to set aside some land.
“It’s wonderful that local children have been involved in the planting and will be able to keep coming back as both they and the trees grow. The passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth has made this all the more poignant and we hope that lots of local residents will find peace and solace walking through the trees for many years to come.”
