Welcome to Visitors to Rotary in District 1050

If you are looking for information about Rotary in the general area of South Manchester, East Cheshire, North Staffordshire and parts of the Peak District, etc. please click here. 

Diamond Jubilee tree planting will benefit community and wildlife

Students Megan Poole and Danny McKennan plant the young trees watched by Wistaston Park Ranger Dave O’Hara, Vic Harris from the Rotary Club of Crewe and Nantwich Weaver and Wistaston Parish Councillor, Graham Roberts

Several hundred young trees have been planted to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee on a new rural corridor linking Crewe and Nantwich.

The trees were obtained by The Rotary Club of Crewe & Nantwich Weaver and recently planted by arboriculture students from Reaseheath College on the Crewe-Nantwich Greenway near the A530 Middlewich Road, Wistaston.

It is hoped that the mix of native species, which include hawthorn, blackthorn, field maple, birch and oak, will grow into a wood which will benefit the local community and its wildlife for years to come.

The Rotary Club acquired the trees in a Community Tree Pack from the Woodland Trust, which is giving away free trees as part of its Jubilee Woods project to mark the 60 years which The Queen has served as monarch. The group also plans to plant a Royal Oak sapling - grown from an acorn gathered from a royal estate – in Church Square in Nantwich town centre.

The Rotary Club also wants the tree planting to commemorate a second significant local event – the Great Fire of Nantwich in 1583 – when Queen Elizabeth 1 played a major part in helping to rebuild the town.

Rotary Club Community and Vocational Committee Chair Neil Brown explained: "The main objective of Rotary is service - in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world - so it's great to be able to both mark the Diamond Jubilee and pay tribute to Elizabeth I. There's a great royal tradition in the area and we hope the trees we plant will last hundreds of years."

The trees have been planted on land owned by Cheshire East Council near to the Rising Sun public house. The site is part of the Crewe-to-Nantwich Greenway, a rural corridor linking Nantwich’s riverside walks with Crewe’s historic Queen’s Park along the A530 corridor. The project, which should be completed in Summer this year, is aimed at offering cyclists and walkers a traffic-free link between the two towns.

The Greenway will be added to the 13,000 miles of Sustrans’ National Cycle Network, which is developing new walking and cycling routes across the UK.

The tree planting is being supported by the Wistaston Parish Council and by Wistaston Conservation Group, who are responsible for adjoining public land and take a proactive interest in conserving and establishing woodland and other areas for wildlife.

Final year Level 3 Forestry and Arboriculture students at Reaseheath carried out the planting. Megan Poole, aged 28, said: “It’s been great knowing that if we come back in 20 years we’ll find a woodland community benefitting both the wildlife and the local community.”