Church service to give thanks for forest

A campaign has raged for months to save the Mortimer Forest from development.

Forest Holidays wanted to build a number of holiday lodges deep within the forest, which straddles the Shropshire/Herefordshire border.

The campaign, spearheaded by the Friends of Mortimer Forest, attracted support from luminaries including Sir David Attenborough, Alan Titchmarsh, Sir Paul McCartney, Jo Brand and the Bishops of Hereford and St Albans and in the end the controversial plans, proposed by the holiday company and the Forestry Commission, were shelved.

On March 17, a service of thanksgiving will be held at 11am at St Laurence Church in Ludlow.

It will be a multi faith and environmental celebration and a recognition of how important the woodlands are to so many people.

Colin Richards, spokesman for the Friends said: "In an era when we see massive deforestation across the world, safeguarding our very own corner of the wild woods of England and Wales has become a passion and commitment for those rallying to the cause of forest conservation."

The service will be addressed by leading environmentalist Bishop James Jones, former Bishop of Liverpool and chair of the Independent Forestry Panel that considered the future of the UK’s state-owned forests after the government announced plans to sell-off the British state forests.

The service welcomes all-comers and will feature video clips from key public figures, music, photographic slides and poetry readings from local schoolchildren.

Colin added: "It is a genuine opportunity for a public coming together and statement of support to the Forestry Commission to help conserve and safeguard this tract of the Wild Marches today in our own time so that we can hand on to future generations our precious inheritance.

"This woodland has had a turbulent history with soldiers creating encampments amongst the lofty trees from Norman times through the forays of Owain Glyndwr to the Lancastrian surge during the War of the Roses.

"Today it is a refuge of peace, calm and contemplation for the many visitors that ply its tracks and open fields, enchanting copses and mixed plantations. It is an area where ancient woodland crafts and industries are revealed by old charcoal burning platforms, remnants of Hazel coppicing stands and dry stone field enclosures. For it to endure and survive in our own time and for future generations we must all cherish, safeguard and celebrate this precious inheritance."

Organisers of the service say it is a 'coming together, a joyous acknowledgement of nature and nurture that exists amongst the oaks, the pines and the abundant thickets of this fair woodland grove'.