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

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, 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 heritage. It has planted over 68 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tru ...

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 Queen Victo ...

. 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, ancient woodland is that which has existed continuously since 1600 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). The practice of planting woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 1600 i ...

and old hedgerows. Situated between the villages of Normanton le Heath, Heather and Ravenstone, and close to

Coalville Coalville is a town in the district of North West Leicestershire in Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. In 2011, it had a population of 34,575. It lies on the A511 road, A511 between Leicester and Burton upon Trent, close to junct ...

and

Ashby de la Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch (), also spelled Ashby de la Zouch, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire borders. Its population at the 2021 census was ...

, it is in the middle of the

National Forest National Forest may refer to: * National forest or state forest, a forest administered or protected by a sovereign state ** National forest (Brazil) ** National forest (France) ** National forest (United States) ** State Forests (Poland) ** The N ...

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 the British monarch, coronation of George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Elizabeth, as King of the United Kingdom, king and List of British royal consorts, queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth realm, ...

. 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 c ...

, 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 hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

, ash, field maple,

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 (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

and

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the family Betulaceae. Its species occur across much of the temperateness, temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names The common English name ''hornbeam'' derives ...

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