The Wallace Arboretum

To view the slide show and see the captions click on one of the pictures and then use the navigation arrows.

The Arboretum - The plot thickens

...During lockdown in 2020 we had another idea.  Heritage Lottery were inviting bids from organisations wishing to develop woodland.  Why not apply?  The worst that can happen is that they say 'No'!

We had the support of all of the local organisations including the Town Council, The Roger Edwards Educational Trust (Who own the land) and lots more.  I am not going to attempt to list all of the wonderful local bodies who have pledged their support, if I miss one I will never live it down.  Their logos are on the notice board, and a photo of that is included on this page.

The land was, many years ago, the old town rubbish tip, and as such its potential for development was limited.  Trees can be planted but breaking the surface for anything else is not allowed.  Ideal for our purposes though.

We were delighted to have our application accepted.  We are most grateful to the Heritage Lottery, The Welsh Assembly Government (who co-organised the grant scheme) and we are particularly grateful to all of those people who buy lottery tickets.  They have made our project possible much quicker than if we had to raise all of the funding locally.

Work began in the Autumn of 2021 and was completed by the Autumn of 2022.  An arboriculturist was engaged to make sure we did things right.  The trees must be native to these islands as part of the conditions for the grant.  We remain eternally grateful for the hard work and support provided by Barry Embling during the development of the Arboretum.

We encouraged the public to sponsor a tree in memory of a lost loved one or to celebrate the arrival of a new family member (or pretty much anything else).  We now have a large number of 'dedicated' trees due to the generous support of many local (and not so local) families.

Update

During November and December 2021 some dead and damaged trees were removed by our consultant tree expert, and members of the Rotary Club joined forces with the Usk Conservation and Environment Group to clear some unsightly undergrowth and make room for the planting of the new trees.

The Arboretum was named The Wallace Arboretum after locally born naturalist Alfred Russel-Wallace, the name chosen with the help of Usk residents and the children from the local school.  Information boards were designed, manufactured and erected shortly before the official opening.