Pre-school pupils joined civic dignitaries as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy project at a country house on the north Shropshire border.

Iscoyd Park, near Whitchurch, hosted a ceremonial tree planting ceremony in its grounds to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year in an initiative supported nationally by Historic Houses.

Guest of honour on the day was the Vice Lord Lieutenant of Clwyd, Lloyd Fitzhugh, who was joined by pupils from The Park Pre-School at Iscoyd, with the oak trees donated by the estate’s forestry consultants, Sylvan Resources from Craven Arms.

Iscoyd Park owner Phil Godsal, who is the current Vice Chairman of Historic Houses Wales, said: “As an Association, Historic Houses is keen to promote the Queen’s Green Canopy campaign across our membership, and at Iscoyd Park we are planting five separate groups of trees in all as part of the ‘Plant a tree for the Jubilee’ project. We were delighted to welcome the Vice Lord Lieutenant and the pupils from the local pre-school to our ceremonial planting, and it was fantastic to see how enthusiastic everyone was about the campaign.

“The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative is an exciting and imaginative way to commemorate what may be a unique event in our nation’s history – a Platinum Jubilee – and we were very pleased to play our own small part in creating a true legacy.”

Vice Lord Lieutenant Lloyd FitzHugh said: “It was a pleasure to be part of the ceremonial planting at Iscoyd Park, and such a wonderful sight to see the pre-school youngsters joining in. I hope the oak trees go from strength-to-strength and grow well to make an impressive contribution to the Queen’s canopy.”

The pre-school pupils taking part were aged from two to four years, and they were given smaller transplanted oak trees to plant.

Pre-school Principal Nicci Fiddy said: “Our theme for the coming term is all about growing, so we were very excited to be asked to take part in the planting. We will be doing our own seed planting very soon and talking about trees, growing, the seasons, and the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations, so the ceremony at Iscoyd Park was the perfect opportunity for the children to combine all the themes we’ll be looking at in the next few weeks.”

Iscoyd Park is a private country house wedding and events venue touching the borders of north Wales, Shropshire and Cheshire. It has been in the Godsal family since 1843 and has undergone a complete restoration in the last decade to create a stunning backdrop for bespoke and exclusive events and weddings. Visit www.iscoydpark.com

Pictured: Vice Lord Lieutenant Lloyd FitzHugh (left) and Susie Godsal (right) with Tilda Clarihew, Norah Gardner, Ella Turner, Henry Lowe and Denver Duffort.