THREE OAKS TO REMEMBER

th
10 November 2018
A Commemoration to Mark
The Centenary of the
End of World War One

REPORT
Event Sponsored by:

And The Community of Mansfield Woodhouse

Mansfield Woodhouse Millennium Green Trust

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Mansfield Woodhouse Millennium Green Trust
M W M G

Three Oaks to Remember

Report
In The Beginning

The idea grew out of informal conversations

towards the end of 2016 about how the Trust could
make a meaningful contribution to the various
commemorative events planned to mark the end of
World War One. The only real restriction that we
placed on ourselves was that it should be in keeping
with the overall management aims of the Trust i.e. to
manage the Green for the benefit of wildlife & the
community. Also, in late 2016 we held a Drop-In event
to gauge public opinion and tap into local people’s ideas
about the general future of the Green. One of the ideas
that came from that session was that of planting more
trees on the Green.
So that is what we decided to do and by early 2017
we had a firm idea to plant three English Oaks; we had
chosen a suitable area in which to plant them; we had
also decided that we should organise a public planting
event and that it should happen on Saturday 10th
November 2018, the day before Armistice Day.

Developments & Refinements

During 2017 and early 2018 we made a number of

decisions that had an impact on how the eventual event
looked. They were:
 An aspect of our event which was different
from many such commemorations was that we
felt that ours should be a more inclusive and
remember all members of the community who A closer inspection
experienced that time. Photo: Malcolm Hackett

Every Armistice Day we remember the people who’ve died fighting for our
country and this year, 100 years after the end of the First World War the
commemoration will perhaps have more significance.
As a community we don’t forget those who fought and died and rightly so, but
perhaps we could also remember those who fought, survived, but came
home with terrible injuries. Those who carried the physical scars of conflict for
the rest of their lives; and those who came back mentally and emotionally
damaged in an age when conditions like PTSD weren’t recognised let alone
treated. Perhaps we ought to remember the wives & mothers, brothers,
sisters, sons & daughters who also suffered through losing a relative, a loved
one or a friend. The “war to end all wars” impacted on all parts of society.

Extract from an information leaflet, Dec 2017

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Developments & Refinements continued:

 Continuing the theme of inclusivity, we felt that the event should not be either too militaristic or
have religion at its core.
 We also decided that we would like to involve one of the youth groups in the area and asked the
local Woodhouse Scout Group to be involved. Our idea was that they could carry the trees from the
Main Gates up to the planting area and could use the task as a team building/initiative exercise. The
local Scout’s Senior Leadership team was approached late in 2017 and agreed to help.
 As we were planting three trees we had an opportunity to involve three different people, each to
actually plant one tree.
 We approached the Woodhouse based Mansfield District Corps of Drums to see if they would play at
the event and also talked to one of our Volunteers who we knew played the bagpipes.
 In the Summer of 2018 we approached the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust and they eventually
supplied us with a number of transparent acrylic silhouettes from the “There But Not There”
initiative.

384 Squadron RAF Air Cadets lead the procession up to the planting site

Fundraising

The 2017 Community Christmas Fair was the first time that we shared the idea with the public and it
received a good response and our first donations - amounting to £10.00. Fund raising continued in 2018 and
the fund slowly grew with many small donations from local people & organisations. In April we applied for a
grant from Notts County Council’s Communities Commemoration Fund. While we were waiting for a
decision from NCC, Park Hall Financial Services decided that they would like to help and made an approach
to Yorkshire Building Society on our behalf.

In the end, both these bids were successful and by September we had achieved our target of £1000.00.

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The Planters

Once we had decided to have three people planting

the trees, the next question was “who?” We felt that
we should ask one of the senior members of the
community to plant one tree and word went out in mid
2018 to the various organisations in Woodhouse for
nominations. Eventually Margaret Davy, an
octogenarian member of the WI stepped forward to
take on the role of Planter.
Moving to the other end of the age scale we
approached St Edmunds Primary School with the idea of
running a creative writing competition for its Year 5 or 6
pupils with the winning child being our second Planter.
This they did and Dylan Coupe won the opportunity to
plant the second tree. He also recited his winning work
at the planting ceremony on the 10th November. The
third Planter was Sir Alan Meale, who for a number of
years has been our Patron.

Preparing the planting area

Preparations and Build-Up

We identified where the Trees would be best located - at the top of the Green - and we started preparing
the ground in early September. The area was expanded and cleared of brambles & shrubs and the long grass
strimmed. The area where the Corps of Drums would march was also cleared and both areas were mowed a
number of times during September and October. Late in October, the actual location of the trees was
finalised and the holes partially dug.
The only serious problem we had in the final months
leading up to November was that in October we realised
that the Scouts were not going to be able to help in the
way we had envisaged. However we were fortunate that
Cadets from 384 (Mansfield) Squadron RAF Air Cadets
were happy to help on the day, but due to other
commitments did not have time to create a means of
carrying the Trees up the slope. Luckily, MRS Training &
Rescue literally came to the rescue and loaned as a
rescue stretcher which did the job admirably.
On 9th November, the day before the Planting
Ceremony the three Oaks Trees were delivered. These
were “Extra Heavy Standard” trees which we were
reliably informed was the largest tree able to be planted
by hand. They came with the soil they had been growing
in still around their roots and weighed around 100kg.
The plan was to take two trees up the hill, position them
in their respective holes and tie them in position. All
that had to be done at the ceremony the following day
was to fill the hole with soil and firm it down around the
roots.
continued-
Partially planting one of the Oaks

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 Musicians from the Mansfield
District Corps of Drums join
Pipers from the Seaforth
Highlanders Association
Photo: Malcolm Hackett

Preparations and Build-Up - continued

A small team of Volunteers set about finalising the planting area, and carrying out the work described
above along with positioning the stone with the information plaque. This latter task proved quite a challenge
as we had deliberately chosen a piece of limestone that would not be moved easily, which of course gave
the Volunteers the problem of manoeuvring it into place.
The team returned early on the day of the ceremony and augmented by other Volunteers erected the
Marques, laid out the refreshment area and started organising the food. The final part of the preparations
was the positioning of a number of acrylic silhouettes donated by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund as part
of their “There, But Not There” initiative. These transparent cut-outs of a World War One soldier were a
poignant reminder of those who fought, but are no longer with us.
In the week preceding the Armistice Weekend the silhouettes were used at other locations in the village
including the War Memorial, St Edmund’s Church and the Library. We hope that they will be used in future
years at the time of Remembrance.

Margret Davy plants one

of the Oaks
Photo: Malcolm Hackett

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 The marker stone & plaque

The Ceremony.

The day dawned bright and sunny, a perfect autumn day. We were lucky!
Spectators and participants started to arrive on the Green from around 10am and by 1030am around 120
people had assembled in the area near the main gates, entertained by the Mansfield District Corps of Drums
playing music from the war time era. At 1030 the whole party, headed by the Air Cadets carrying the third
Oak tree on the rescue stretcher, walked slowly up to the planting site. Pipers from the Seaforth Highlanders
Association played a musical accompaniment as the party wound its way up the path, until all had arrived in
the planting area.
Celebrant, Andrea Garlick gave an address paying homage to the people of Woodhouse who had
experienced the war, those who bravely fought as well as those who kept the “home fires burning”. She also
pointed out the great social changes that the war produced not least the change in attitudes towards the
rights of women and the roles that they could play in society. She ended with the moving words of Rupert
Brooks poem “The Soldier”.
Following this came the actual planting
with each Planter being helped by one of the
Trusts Volunteers. Dylan Coupe, the winner of
the writing competition then read out his
winning entry which set the scene for a short
period of personal reflection.
During this silence one of the Pipers
played the lament “Flowers of the Forest”
followed by the more up-beat tune: “The
Battle is Over” to send us all down the hill.
Refreshments of tea, coffee, juice,
dripping sandwiches, “Trench” cake and mince
pies were served by the Volunteers and
enjoyed by all.

There But Not There…..

A silhouette of a British “Tommy”
looks out over Woodhouse
Photo: Bob Moss

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Finance

From early in the planning phase the Trustees agreed that the event would go ahead irrespective of how
much funding they managed to raise. We estimated that to do everything we had planned we would need a
fund of £1000.00, but if this wasn’t achieved we would modify our plans or use the Trusts reserves to meet
the short fall. In the end we raised £1095 from a combination of individual donations and grants. We also
received donations in kind which further stretched the budget.

Summary
Income £ £
Individual donations 325.00
NCC Communities Commemoration Fund 300.00
Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation 500.00
Total Raised 1125.00

Expenditure
Trees & planting supplies, strapping, stakes etc 461.36
Plaque, stone work & fixing 163.95
Ground preparation costs, use of strimmer, fuel, etc 57.02
Publicity & report printing 78.00
Materials & hire of equipment for Ceremony 47.29
Food for Ceremony 73.89
Donation to Corps of Drums 60.00
Gift for A Garlick & prize for D Coupe 47.00
Total spend 988.51

Surplus £136.49

It is the intention that any surplus will be used to care for the Three Oaks and other trees on the
Green.

All down for a cuppa and a piece of cake

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Acknowledgements

The Trust wish to thank all the individuals & organisations who donated to the Three Oaks Fund
and to those who contributed by giving practical support. It was this community effort that made the
Planting Ceremony possible.

Armed Forces Covenant Trust Councillor Ann Norman

Irene Bacon & Family Mr & Mrs D Norman
Rachel Barradas Nottinghamshire County Council
Alasdair Barton Old Mansfield Woodhouse Soc.
Robert Bowring, Butchers Park Hall Financial Services
Dylan Coupe Park Road Resource Centre
Margaret Davy Lucy Presdee
Friends of Yeoman Hill Park Seaforth Highlanders Assoc,
Andrea Garlick, Celebrant Pipes& Drums
Greenwood Community Forest St Edmunds Primary School
Les & Joan Hobson 384 (Mansfield) Squadron,
Mansfield District Corps of Drums Royal Air Force Air Cadets
Mansfield D.C., Parks Dept Amy Smissen
Garry & Carol Marsh Mrs Stephenson
Sir Alan Meale Jill Usher
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc Ann Walter
MRS Training & Rescue Yorkshire Building Society
& The Millennium Green Volunteers

Anyone for a Dripping Sandwich?

Photo credits: All un-credited photos: MWMG Trust

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------- a green space for all the community -------

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