ONE of the last trees to be planted as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) was at Lapford on Saturday morning (March 18) on the village Playing Field. 

The bare root tree, an English oak or common oak, Quercus robur, had been bought by Lapford Parish Council.

Lapford Celebration Committee had asked where a good place would be to plant it.  With the Field being agreed upon, its committee prepared the hole.  

Welcoming everyone who had turned out to watch the little ceremony, Peter Heal, parish council chairman, explained why the tree was being planted and that this oak supports 23,000 different species of wildlife.  An oak was the first tree planted by the late Queen and the then Prince Charles (now King Charles III).  

The QGC scheme has been extended to the end of March this year to give people the chance to plant trees in memoriam to honour Her Majesty.  The initiative began to mark her Platinum Jubilee and was due to finish at the end of December, the end of the Jubilee year but was extended to include the full tree planting season. 

The QGC says it is proud to be creating a living legacy with more than one million trees planted in Her Majesty’s name across the nation. 

It added that extending the initiative would build on her legacy and serve as a lasting tribute to Her Majesty’s extraordinary service to her country and her people.  King Charles III is Patron of QGC. 

The interactive QGC map shows where trees have been planted and how to add others planted as part of the scheme.  

Two of Lapford’s senior residents were to have planted the tree, one aged 97, another 88 and a third aged 85 could not be there either.

The planting was done by five-years-old Florence Mills, grand daughter of Roy Andrews, chairman of Lapford Youth Playing Field Trust, with Peter Heal, chairman Lapford Parish Council and Sue Briant-Evans, secretary of Lapford Celebration Committee.