Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother 4th August 1900 - 30th March 2002
Trees for Thanet finished planting a hedgerow in Park Road on Saturday 16th March and two weeks later the Queen Mother died. It was decided to commemorate her life in a simple way by calling the hedge The Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hedge.
In autumn of 2001, the Group removed 1,500 tubex shelters from earlier planting for re-use in January 2002. The photograph above shows the view in Park Road towards the grain storage shed at Woodchurch Farm. A filled gap section of the 'Millenium Hedge', planted in 1997, can be seen on the left of the lane and the edge of the field on the right was the site for the new hedge.
1075 hawthorns ( sponsored by Quex Park) were planted with 5 wild cherry trees from Saturday 19th January - Saturday 16th March 2002. Trees for Thanet was joined by 3 scouts from Garlinge Scouts and altogether 28 young people worked on the hedge. The picture above showing the view of Park Road to the junction with Shottendane Road gives a clear idea of the organisation of the planting: stakes spaced; diggers in the foreground; planters and staking in the background! The planting was started at the Bridle Way that runs from Park Road to the Manston Road because the field on the left beside the Shottendane Road was to be leased by Quex Park to Two Chimneys Caravan Park and a 'bund' or earth screening bank was made around the 20 acre field that summer.
The 'diggers' at work!
Pairs of planters at work. Those kneeling are supporting the 60 cm 'whips' and tubex shelter while earth is then shovelled carefully back into the hole around the roots.
The hedge was planted as a single row to match the earlier planting on the opposite side of the lane (the Millenium Hedgerow).
Miss R Quested, author of 'The Isle of Thanet Farming Community' and who knew Woodchurch Farm intimately, contacted the Group to say how delighted she was to see hedgerows being put back on both sides of the lane and remembered how it had been prior to World War II.
When the owners of the modern 'Woodchurch House', opposite the farm-yard saw the work going on, they approached the Group and asked if it could assist them with a hedge around their 'prospective tennis court'. On the basis that it would complement the new hedge, screen the site and met the Group's unofficial motto " Trees for Thanet will happily plant your money", an extra Saturday morning was spent putting 250 hawthorns in around their site and 1 x wild cherry(Project 7A on Projects Map). In addition, the Group planted a commemerative small leaved lime by the side of the Bridle Path sponsored by a family in remembrance of their grandmother.
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