Barrie’s Jubilee gift

Canal enthusiast, nature lover and local resident Barrie Barrett left an incredibly generous gift in his Will to care for Jubilee Wood in years to come.

Over the last twelve years, Barrie, born and bred in the nearby village of Rowde, looked on with pride as 30,000 native oak, birch hornbeam, chestnut, cherry, crab apple and ash trees have gently grown and matured after our charity planted it to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

Barrie’s friend, neighbour and Will executor, Di Buckland, remembers: “Barrie and I have known each other for most of my life. When my husband died forty years ago, you could almost say Barrie and his wife adopted me. They looked after me so well.”

“I’d describe Barrie as a real country chap. When he was a little boy, he used to play on the lane leading down to the canal. He loved wildlife and everything to do with the canal. When the wood was established, we went down and helped to plant some trees. Later, Barrie would go down there to see the deer, foxes and rabbits. He even gave guided walks along the canal.”

That’s where many of our Canal & River Trust colleagues got to know Barrie, too, like ecologist Laura Mullholland.

She says: “I remember going round to Barrie’s house to see his collection of canal photos, documents and archive with our heritage adviser at the time. And he was clearly really, really enthusiastic about the canal and tree planting.”

“A few years later, after his wife passed away, he got in touch again, and we said to him, why don’t you come down to the woods with us, and we’ll plant another tree in her memory. I think he was very pleased with that.”

And Di feels that’s the only tribute Barrie would now want too: “He wouldn’t want money wasting on anything that’s not practical. He would have been happy with an English tree next to his wife.”

Thanks to Barrie’s generosity, there’s plenty of room for growth at Jubilee Woods. The mix of broadleaf, native deciduous and fruit trees is now taking shape. Yet there’s a constant need for replanting every few years as some trees die or others fall victim to diseases like ash dieback.

A dynamic group of volunteers will also benefit from Barrie’s support. Every year, they help to clear tree guards as trunks grow stouter, remove competing brambles from around the roots and mow back pathways through the wood so local people can explore and look for woodland wildlife that’s now making a home here.

“We’ve got harvest mice that make nests within the tree guards,” says Laura. “And amazing wasp spiders that have this lovely yellow and black stripe on their abdomen and make huge webs between the grass tussocks.”

“There are badgers, hedgehogs, slow worms and grass snakes. And lots of frogs, toads, smooth newts and dragonflies. It’s a few years off yet, but there’s a colony of barbastelle bats nearby that could roost here eventually, as they are only found in woodland.”

With willow sculptures, a bandstand, room for forest schools and picnic benches, the wood is already a big part of the local community. And now, just as Barrie would have wanted, it will continue to grow and welcome the next generation to the canalside.