Media call - High Sheriffs honoured with Shrieval Trees
11 January 2010
10.30am on Thursday 14 January 2010
On 14 January the High Sheriffs of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire will visit the National Memorial Arboretum in full court dress for the official dedication of their Shrieval trees.
Shrievalty Avenue comprises an avenue of limes (Tilia cordata), cloned from what is thought to be a 2,000 year old lime tree, set either side of the Millennium Avenue roadway.
Dating back more than 1,000 years, High Sheriffs hold the oldest continuous secular office after the Crown and are offered the opportunity of such a tree to mark their year of office.
Sir Henry Every Bt DL (Derbyshire), Michael Rowen (Nottinghamshire) and Dick Haszard (Staffordshire) will attend the special service adjacent to the lime trees, which were planted in 2000, each bearing a plaque for the respective sheriffs.
Before visiting their trees, the Sheriffs, accompanied by their wives, will attend a short talk and service in the Chapel and observe a Silence to pay respects to those who have given their lives in the service of their country.
The event will also include a tour of the Arboretum, which is part of The Royal British Legion, taking in the recently unveiled Polish Armed Forces Memorial, the Merchant Navy Wood and the Far East Prisoners of War museum. It will be followed by lunch in the restaurant with the Arboretum's chief executive, Charlie Bagot Jewitt.
For more information:
Andrew Baud, Royal British Legion, 07775 715775, andrew.baud@talapr.co.uk
