The Rotary Glade at Westonbirt Arboretum
As part of the Rotary Centennial celebrations, the Rotary club of the South Cotswolds spearheaded an ambitious project to plant 100 Maple trees in the National Arboretum at Westonbirt, near Tetbury in Gloucestershire. The Arboretum already had an impressive collection of Maples, started by the Holford family way back in 1870 but, now it has, almost certainly, the biggest and best collection in the whole of Europe. 2006 also marks the 50th anniversary of the Forestry Commission taking responsibility for the management of the Arboretum, so it was a joint celebration.
The Arboretum has some of the rarest trees in the world and is recognised as an internationally important gene bank. In recent years it has identified and catalogued all of its trees and has established a management programme that will ensure that the Arboretum will thrive for many hundreds of years. As a measure of the importance of the Rotary Glade, it was opened by HRH The Prince of Wales who planted the final tree on the 30th January 2006. He was accompanied by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall who is a Patron of The Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum.
The Rotary Club of the South Cotswolds was joined in this venture by a number of other Rotary Clubs and by individuals who wished to provide a memorial to loved ones. The trees will be cared for and maintained in perpetuity which is of great comfort to families and friends. The names of all donors are recorded in a book which can be seen in the Great Oak Hall at Westonbirt.
The Glade cost about £30,000 to construct and involved the felling and removal of a large number of Larches, construction of a winding path through the existing plantation, assembling a collection of 100 Maples from around the world and planting them in an informal and attractive way each side of the new path.
The Royal opening took place in the morning.
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The afternoon belonged to Rotary. Members of RCSC and their spouses and friends and a number of 'Tree Sponsors' gathered for the second ' official' opening, but without the royal Couple. This was quite an informal affair and was a celebration shared by Rotary and Arboretum staff who had worked so hard to bring the project to fruition. President Doug Hughes led the proceedings and we were honoured by the presence of a number of senior Rotary representatives, including Tony de St Dalmas, a Director of Rotary International. Approximately 150 members and friends met in the courtyard of the Maples restaurant and then walked to the Rotary glade where president Doug unveiled the new Rotary Glade sign. Tony de St Dalma then unveiled a seat dedicated to the victims of the Asian Tsunami of the 26 December 2004.
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