Page 10 - Eagle Eye Summer 2021

The Glens of Wyton
Where do you put 600 Trees?
By Capt Haslope
So I find myself standing on a boggy patch of grass, on a wet and windy day in November, with the QM and Defence Infrastructure Organisation’s Regional Head Forester. I am trying to explain my vision of a shady copse surrounded by wildflowers to slightly sceptical security staff and reflecting on how this came to be. Sometimes life just throws you an opportunity to get out of the office I muse.
One Thursday afternoon back in Oct, just about to close things out for the day, the email pings with a message from the QM. ‘So that’s a little out of the blue’ I think, and curiosity gets the better of me.
“Andrew. Long story – but I have to plant 600 trees in the next few months around Station – maybe a copse? Interested? sounds like something you want to get involved with?” And so begins a journey. ‘Oh, forgot to mention, the contractor wants to get these planted by November.’
As it happens the 600 trees (60-90cm bare root transplants to be precise) have been provided to offset the environmental impact of the installation of the new perimeter fence. The Contractor, Littlewood Fencing Ltd, have a policy of replacing trees removed. So, sounds
simple enough, just find an open space big enough with no planned development. Well, yes, if you just want to stick them in the ground and forget about them. This was the real ask, can we come up with a way of using this opportunity to provide a facility for the station.
A quick lunchtime recce and sketch on a google map later, the QM convenes a meet with stakeholders to discuss options. At this stage the real challenge becomes clear. Plans to build are everywhere; potential unit moves mean new buildings, accommodation, welfare
facilities, the ground is a web of services, some sites are too remote to be viable, obscured lines of site for the security staff, I could go on. As it happens, with some concessions and guidance from the Station Commander a decision is reached to split the planting over two sights, which from this point forward we shall call the ‘Glens of Wyton.’ The first will provided a shady spot overlooking the nearby rugby pitch and WOSM, the second a picnic area near the old Gym, each of the sites to be sown with wildflowers to encourage wildlife.
A few weeks later, plan agreed and having sourced a couple of cans of line marker and a ball of string, we set about marking out the sites ready for the team from Littlewood
I have to plant 600 trees in the next few months around Station – maybe a copse?
Fencing to get planning. Now in February and a second lockdown again, any excuse to get out of the house is welcome, so It was decided this would be a family outing. Kids happily knocking in posts and rigging up guidelines, we set about marking out the areas. As the snow started to fall, thicker by the minute, I began to question why I had opted for such an elaborate design. What started at a leisurely pace was rapidly finished as the George and Hannah raced to the car to seek shelter. The following week the trees were in and we had what can best be described as an uninspiring site.
Then something quite unexpected happened. A message from Steve Wright, the area supervisor for the Tivoli Grounds Maintenance Team (not the DJ); “I have a sub- contractor (Kings landscapes) that would be interested in helping out, would we be able to meet on Friday”. Expecting the meeting to be a discussion about how much time things will take and how unrealistic we are being, instead we receive extremely generous offers to help.
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