Pupils from the STRS Eco Club visited the Hempsted landfill site in Gloucester this week to play a role in creating Gloucester’s newest woodland! The students, who are all from Years 7-9, were working with Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust for a morning of tree planting. The boys and Mr Fullerton learned about history of the landfill site and plans to transform it into an ‘Eco Park’ in the future, producing sustainable energy for Gloucester. To accompany solar panels due to be installed later this year, the site will feature a 30-hectare woodland – equivalent to roughly 30 football pitches.

Our group arrived at a pre-prepared patch, with stakes marking out rows for planting. Experienced Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust guide, Meyrick Brentnall, then produced four large bags containing saplings of various varieties and ages, with some grown by a local community nursery. Meyrick delivered a demonstration of how to plant the trees before the group, armed with spades, set to work.

The students worked swiftly and efficiently in pairs, fanning out across the tennis court-sized plot and clearing holes deep enough to plant a combination of oak, hazel, lime, wild cherry and rowan trees. After 45 minutes the group had planted just over 50 trees, which will form part of a new arboretum for wildlife and humans alike to enjoy for generations to come.