A tree has been planted in Thorngumbald Cemetery to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The elder statesman of the village, Steve Robinson, 91, a former parish council chairman and lifelong resident, shovelled in the first life-giving soil to nourish the mountain ash sapling.
The Queen’s Green Canopy is a UK-wide tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, by inviting people to “Plant a tree for the Jubilee.”
It was in response to this initiative that Thorngumbald Parish Council decided to plant a Jubilee tree on March 11. The day was chosen because it was the 70th day of the year in which the Queen marks the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne.
The Thorngumbald Jubilee tree was donated by villager Denise Hardy. She said: “In September 1993, my daughter Eleanor Alice Piercy was born at Hedon Road Maternity Hospital. At that time Hull City Council gave every child born in the city either a silver birch tree or a mountain ash (rowan) tree. I chose a mountain ash as it has lovely green leaves, little white flowers and bright red berries.
“The original tree grew well and healthy and a new sapling seeded itself in a large bucket of soil in another part of the garden. Over the years the trees provided berries for the birds, and shade for our garden, as Eleanor went through preschool, Thorngumbald school and then South Holderness school.
“She eventually left the village to go to Birmingham University, where she got a degree in media. I have now sold the house where the tree was planted but kept the sapling in the bucket. This tree I gladly donate to the Queen’s Green Canopy for the Jubilee and hope that it feeds the birds and gives shade down at the cemetery.”
