Post by Noisette on Mar 26, 2015 18:27:37 GMT
Attachment: nma.kmz (32.91 KB)
The idea for a national memorial arboretum came from retired Royal Navy Commander David Childs and ex-RAF pilot Group Captain Leonard Cheshire. They wanted to find a way to commemorate all those who had lost their lives in conflicts in the 20th century. During a visit to Arlington Cemetery and the National Arboretum in Washington DC in 1988 Commander Childs conceived the idea of creating a memorial arboretum.
An appeal was launched by Prime Minister John Major in 1994. The land, near Alrewas in Staffordshire, former sand and gravel pits, was donated by Lafarge Aggregates. They are still working alongside the arboretum, and will be providing more land in the future. Funding has come from the National Forest and the Millennium Commission.
Planting started in March 1997 and the Arboretum was officially opened by the Duchess of Kent on the 16th May 2001. The Armed Forces Memorial was inaugurated by the Queeen in October 2007.
Memorials are sponsored by various organisations and individuals. The arboretum is not purely military, there are also, for example, memorials to stillborn children and victims of road traffic accidents. There is an Anglo-German Grove and an Anglo-Japanese Grove created in the spirit of reconciliation.
The arboretum is now run by the Royal British Legion. It is staffed largely by volunteers, and admission is free, though donations are always welcome. A guidebook and complete map is available at the visitor centre. Commander Childs has written a book about the story of the arboretum: Growing Remembrance (Pen and Sword Books -- amazon.co.uk).
A full list of the memorials can be found here. Information about the trees is here.
This presentation does not set out to placemark all the memorials, but picks out some of them and tries to give more information about the people and stories behind them.
National Memorial Arboretum
Friends of the National Memorial Arboretum
Photos
More photos on flickr
See also the photos in the Panoramio layer
YouTube: biki128 -- PatrioticandProud73 -- Thingumyjig
The idea for a national memorial arboretum came from retired Royal Navy Commander David Childs and ex-RAF pilot Group Captain Leonard Cheshire. They wanted to find a way to commemorate all those who had lost their lives in conflicts in the 20th century. During a visit to Arlington Cemetery and the National Arboretum in Washington DC in 1988 Commander Childs conceived the idea of creating a memorial arboretum.
An appeal was launched by Prime Minister John Major in 1994. The land, near Alrewas in Staffordshire, former sand and gravel pits, was donated by Lafarge Aggregates. They are still working alongside the arboretum, and will be providing more land in the future. Funding has come from the National Forest and the Millennium Commission.
Planting started in March 1997 and the Arboretum was officially opened by the Duchess of Kent on the 16th May 2001. The Armed Forces Memorial was inaugurated by the Queeen in October 2007.
Memorials are sponsored by various organisations and individuals. The arboretum is not purely military, there are also, for example, memorials to stillborn children and victims of road traffic accidents. There is an Anglo-German Grove and an Anglo-Japanese Grove created in the spirit of reconciliation.
The arboretum is now run by the Royal British Legion. It is staffed largely by volunteers, and admission is free, though donations are always welcome. A guidebook and complete map is available at the visitor centre. Commander Childs has written a book about the story of the arboretum: Growing Remembrance (Pen and Sword Books -- amazon.co.uk).
A full list of the memorials can be found here. Information about the trees is here.
This presentation does not set out to placemark all the memorials, but picks out some of them and tries to give more information about the people and stories behind them.
National Memorial Arboretum
Friends of the National Memorial Arboretum
Photos
More photos on flickr
See also the photos in the Panoramio layer
YouTube: biki128 -- PatrioticandProud73 -- Thingumyjig
