Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Wood facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Wood |
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View across the site before the tree planting began
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| Type | Woodland |
| Location | Normanton le Heath, Leicestershire, England |
| OS grid | SK3812 |
| Area | 186 hectares (460 acres) |
| Operated by | Woodland Trust |
| Website | woodland trust |
The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Wood is a special forest in Leicestershire, UK. It was created in 2012 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. This means it marked 60 years since she became Queen.
This large woodland covers about 186 hectares (460 acres). It is the main part of a big project by the Woodland Trust. The area used to be an opencast coal mine, where coal was dug from the surface. Now, it has a new lake, old farmland, and 7 hectares (17 acres) of existing ancient woodland with old hedgerows. The wood is located near the villages of Normanton le Heath, Heather, and Ravenstone. It is also close to Coalville and Ashby de la Zouch, right in the middle of The National Forest.
What is the Jubilee Project?
The Woodland Trust Jubilee Project is a huge effort across the UK. Its goal was to encourage people to plant trees, especially native trees like oak and ash. The aim was to plant 6 million trees to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. Many people and groups joined this project. All their tree plantings will be recorded in a special 'Royal Record'. This is similar to a record made for King George VI's coronation in 1937.
As part of this project, 60 special places were chosen. Each of these 'Diamond Woods' is at least 24 hectares (60 acres) in size. They received advice and help to plant and grow new trees.
The Flagship Diamond Wood
The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Wood in Leicestershire is very special. It is the only Diamond Wood that the Woodland Trust owns and manages itself. Getting the land for this wood was a bit tricky. All the landowners had to agree to sell, and enough money had to be found.
A big part of the site was a former opencast coal mine. This area, about 188 acres (76 hectares), belonged to a company called UK Coal. They had been working to restore the land after digging up coal. Between 2007 and 2010, over 725,000 tons of coal were taken from this mine, known as Long Moor. Because of different land owners and mineral rights, it took time to get everything ready. Even though plans were announced in September 2011, the final go-ahead was not given until March 2012.
The final plans for the new woodland were shown on June 1, 2012. This happened at a celebration picnic held at the site. The plan included planting 300,000 new native trees. Trees like Oak, ash, field maple, silver birch, beech, and hornbeam were chosen. This new woodland became the largest forest area under one owner within The National Forest.
Images for kids
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View across the site before the tree planting began
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The distant hedgerow is one of a number of ancient hedges and trackways that cross the new woodland site.
