Shrewsbury school plants trees to mark Queen's jubilee
A school has joined in with a tree-planting initiative to help celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Shrewsbury School planted three new elm trees as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy, which is inviting people across the UK to ‘plant a tree for the jubilee’.
The aim is to create a legacy in honour of Her Majesty’s 70 years of service which will benefit future generations.
Headmaster Leo Winkley said: “With over 1,000 trees on our school site, it is wonderful to add further to the richness of our surroundings by taking part in the Queen’s Green Canopy.
“The Shrewsbury School community is proud of our association with Her Majesty The Queen, who visited early in her reign in 1953.
“We plant these magnificent Elms in a sincere tribute to Her Majesty The Queen in her Platinum Jubilee Year.”
Pupil leaders of the school’s eco committee said they were delighted that the school’s governors, leadership team and eco committee has worked together on the project.
“The school has chosen to plant disease-resistant English elms, which were thought to have been introduced by our Bronze Age ancestors,” they said.
“These trees will provide habitat and food for countless birds, small mammals and insects and by planting them here, we hope to increase the school's overall biodiversity and share our space with different creatures.”
Deputy Lieutenant of Shropshire and estates governor David Stacey, who is also a governor of Shrewsbury School and a tree enthusiast, said it was “a great honour” to be participating in the Queen’s Green Canopy.
“Planting a tree, the shade of which the next generation will enjoy, is a quintessentially civilised act,” he said.
“The pupils and staff of Shrewsbury School are the beneficiaries of some magnificent specimen trees planted in the spectacular school grounds, in many cases, more than a century ago.
“It is wonderful to imagine the elms we are planting today 100 years from now on a beautiful summer’s day.”
