VOLUNTEERS handed out more than 300 free trees at Wellington Monument car park on Sunday.

The National Trust hosted the event which was funded by Devon Wildlife Trust, Heritage Fund and the Devon Ash Dieback Resilience Forum.

The Monument Volunteers handed out the trees with advice and stakes - all the trees will be logged on the Queen’s Green Canopy map for the jubilee year.

The last few days have highlighted the need to keep planting where appropriate. On our farm alone we lost eight large Beech trees and in our area many more have succumbed to the strong winds. However, we must be careful not to plant trees on good agricultural land which can be used for food production.

We are hoping more trees will be available before the end of March, so watch this space.

The monument lights were turned on last Wednesday to celebrate the anniversary of the foundation of the Rotary Club in 1905. Wellington Rotary has always been very supportive of the monument and donated the original cannon, now restored.

John Greenshields