THE rotary clubs across Furness have come together to honour a life-long friend to the Rotarians - the late Duke of Edinburgh - with a tree planting.
The clubs' combined effort saw the English oak tree planted in the Coronation Gardens in memory of his royal highness Prince Philip.
Rotary Club of Barrow in Furness, Rotary Club of Furness and the Rotary Club of Furness Peninsula have been supported in this by local businesses who have donated time or money to enable the tree to be planted.
HONOURED: Plaque for Duke of Edinburgh
"Upon the death of the Duke of Edinburgh in April, aged 99, Rotary lost a true friend. Prince Philip was an honorary Rotarian of the London, Edinburgh and King’s Lynn clubs - the latter for when he was staying at Sandringham," Geoffrey James said prior to the tree being planted on December 7.
"The tree guard was made by Ronnie Jackson, a local blacksmith based in Great Urswick, and BAE Systems, Submarines donated the materials for the guard. The stone for the memorial plaque was donated by Burlington Stone and the engraving and shaping was done by The Stone Workshop in Ulverston."
The representative from BAE was an apprentice to Ronnie Jackson in 1977. Ronnie was the sheet-metal instructor in the shipyard training school at the time and Mr James believes it is ironic that Ray is now the sheet-metal instructor in the training school some 44 years later.
VALUED: HRH Prince Philip
This special tree planting came after the rotary clubs worked together to plant 250 trees on the open ground between Lesh Lane and Bridgegate Avenue.
"On a windless, cold but clear Thursday morning with spades at the ready we sallied forth and planted 250 trees," a spokesman for Furness Rotary said previously.
"No mean feat in the area which has been growing wild for many years and consists of tussocks of grass and bog. providing clear positions made the planting much easier, locate the bare patch, plop your spade in, make a hole and slip a sapling in, heeling it in securely and then marking the site with a stout cane and slipping a protective shield over the young plant.
"The job went like clockwork and very soon planting was complete, all we have to do now is seek out the next site to tackle.
"We planted Oak, Hazel, Dogwood in the format of our rotary badge and then in the surrounding area a random planting of cherry, dogwood and hazel."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here