Caistor eco warriors dig in to plant 300 trees

Organised by the Caistor Go² Environmental group - and led by local Arboricultural Consultant Dan Kendall - the aim of the project was to link-up other areas of trees to create a larger area of habitat.

It was a diverse band of eco-warriors who came together to get the work done.

Dan said: “It was a real Caistor collaboration.

“The school’s head, Mark Midgley, kindly offered the planting site and, when help was needed to prepare the ground, local lads Marcus and Justin Cleave from Abeko Plant Hire pitched-in with some of their magnificent machinery.”

With the stage set, the Go² group put spade to soil on a sunny Saturday morning with help from more than 30 local volunteers.

Native species - including oak, cherry, willow, birch and rowan - were all planted out, with the tree stock supplied thorough the Woodland Trust’s Free Community Trees scheme.

Everything was going well until it became apparent that more than 100 trees had failed to be delivered - another victim of the delivery driver shortage, they were informed.

With the sun setting, time was unfortunately up and Dan was left wondering where to find more volunteers to plant the missing trees when they eventually arrived.

Dan said: “Luckily Mr Midgley was on hand and put out a call to the academy students and a little over a week later 30 spade wielding teenagers turned out to finish the job.

“When asked why they’d volunteered, a few were honest enough to admit they thought it was preferable to lessons. But when pressed, all present clearly appreciated the importance of environmental awareness, with particular importance associated with trees and the vital role they play in fighting climate change. It will be interesting to monitor how the trees develop.”

Photos provided by Dan Kendall