Horticultural expert HRH Prince Charles was in his element yesterday (Wednesday) when he visited the National Botanic Garden of Wales where he was presented with an oak sapling to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The sapling is one of five that were grafted from the famous Pontfadog Oak which fell in a storm in 2013. The oak was more than 1,200 years old and grew to a whopping 43 feet in girth which, at the time, was the biggest oak tree in the UK.
“It is such a special occasion to be able to commemorate these monster oaks,” commented Prince Charles after receiving the sapling from Mark Drakeford.
“ I hope they will actually grow and provide extra interest and pleasure to so many people who mind about the difference that trees make to our lives.”
Also attending the event were brother and sister Jo Williams and Chris Morris who grew up at Cilcochwyn Farm, near Chirk, where the oak once stood.
And Jo was delighted to share with the Prince some of her memories of the tree.
“I’ve known it all my life and have photographs of when I was a little toddler with my mum standing in front of it,” she said.
“ Over the years, it attracted the interest of the Guinness Book of Records because of its age and its girth, and the local school has it as it's logo.
“Today has been very emotional. I cried when it fell down and today, when I saw the saplings, I started to cry once again.”
Meanwhile National Botanic Garden’s curator, Alex Summers said it was astonishing to think that the oak was an estimated 1200 years old when it succumbed to the elements in 2013.
“It’s exciting for the Botanic Garden to have the opportunity to be the guardians of these young saplings for their return to Wales,” he said.
“As we develop a national arboretum here at the Botanic Garden, these saplings will connect us to the nation’s natural heritage, along with the others planted across the country”.
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