The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Wood (initially known as the Flagship Diamond Wood) is a woodland in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, UK created in 2012. Covering , it is the centrepiece of a wide-ranging Jubilee Project by the

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland Natural heritage, heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972 ...

to mark the 2012

Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II The year 2012 marked the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II being the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. The only diamond jubilee celebration for any of Elizabeth's predecessors was in 1897, for the 60th an ...

. The site incorporates a former opencast coal mine which now has a newly created lake, as well as former arable land and of existing

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

and old hedgerows. Situated between the villages of

Normanton le Heath Normanton le Heath is a village and civil parish situated between the parishes of Packington, Ravenstone and Heather in North West Leicestershire, England. The population of the civil parish was 131 at the 2001 census, rising to 165 at the 201 ...

, Heather and Ravenstone, and close to

Coalville Coalville is an industrial town in the district of North West Leicestershire, Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England, with a population at the 2011 census of 34,575. It lies on the A511 trunk road between Leicester and Burton upon Tr ...

and

Ashby de la Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire ...

, it is in the middle of the National Forest.

Jubilee Project

The Woodland Trust Jubilee project is a UK-wide project to encourage the planting of trees – especially native broadleaved trees – to mark the Diamond Jubilee.Woodland Trust Jubilee Woods
accessed 11 April 2012 The target is to get 6 million trees planted by this process. Many hundreds of individuals and organisations have joined this scheme, and will be recorded in a 'Royal Record' similar to the 1936-37 Royal Record of tree plantings for the

coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The coronation of George VI and his wife, Elizabeth, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and as Emperor and Empress of India took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on Wednesday 12 May 1937. ...

. Amongst these many new trees and woodlands, it is hoped that 60 sites, each of at least 60 acres (24 Hectares), will be found, that will be known as 'Diamond Woods'. Each will get a package of advice and practical help in planting and establishing the new trees.

Flagship Diamond

The only Diamond Wood owned and managed by the Woodland Trust itself is the 'Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Wood' in Leicestershire. The process of acquiring the site was complex, as it could only work if all the landowners could agree on the sale, and all the funding could also be put in place. A key element was the area of former opencast coal mine, which had belonged to

UK Coal UK Coal Production Ltd, formerly UK Coal plc, was the largest coal mining business in the United Kingdom. The company was based in Harworth, in Nottinghamshire. The company was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The successor company that con ...

, who had been in the process of re-instating the land.Fisher German Surveyors News: Diamond Jubilee Wood Gets Go Ahead.
March 2012, accessed 11 April 2012 Over a three-year period from 2007 to 2010 725,000 tons of coal had been extracted from the site known as Long Moor surface mine. The need to juggle sitting tenants, mineral rights, and multiple landowners meant that although the plans had been announced in September 2011 it was March 2012 before the final go-ahead was announced.Broadleaf: biannual magazine of the Woodland Trust, No 78, Spring 2012, p.7 The final designs for the new woodland was unveiled on 1 June 2012 at a celebration picnic on the site. It will include planting 300,000 new native trees.

Oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

field maple ''Acer campestre'', known as the field maple, is a flowering plant species in the family Sapindaceae. It is native to much of continental Europe, Britain, southwest Asia from Turkey to the Caucasus, and north Africa in the Atlas Mountains. It has ...

silver birch ''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found ...

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

and

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Origin of names The common English name ''hornbeam' ...

will be included in the woodland. It became the largest expanse of woodland under a single ownership within the National Forest.Woodland Trust: Our Flagship Wood
accessed 12 April 2012

References

External links

Woodland TrustNational Forest
{{Authority control Forests and woodlands of Leicestershire Tourist attractions in Leicestershire Parks and open spaces in Leicestershire Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II

Jubilee Project

Flagship Diamond

See also

References

External links