LANGFORD Budville planted trees in Jubilee Wood. In March 2021, Langford Budville received a grant from the Somerset Climate Emergency Fund to cover surveys on energy use, low carbon travel, and biodiversity.

This led to groups being formed to run a pop-up café and shop, carry out conservation tasks, re-furbish signposts, monitor plants and wildlife and establish a wildflower area.

This led to plantation in Jubilee Wood which is a community field with public access.

Nick Hendy supervised the contract with The Woodland Trust which offered 75% of the cost, plus professional advice to plant 800 trees and shrubs on a half hectare site.

A spokesperson from Langford parish Council notified that they had already applied for grants from the National Lottery, Asda, and The Somerset Fund and when all of these came through in Jan 2023.

They needed planting volunteers. Lots of people showed interest  immediately giving hope for a good showing on the day.The chosen weekend in mid-January arrived.

Langford Budville rose to the challenge and others joined from London, Exeter, Bridport, Tiverton, Milverton and Wiveliscombe.

A gazebo gave shelter to kindly-donated goodies and drinks to power the workers. Planters sloshed through muddy puddles. By the end of the first day, 56 people had planted well over half the trees and by Sunday lunchtime, all 600 were in the ground thanks to 77 planters in all.

And the following Thursday, with frost now on the ground, every child in the village school made a chilly start to planting a perimeter hedge, working in older-younger pairs. This, more than anything, represents what the planting was intended to achieve – a whole-village project.

The spokesperson said :"We hope to arrange further planting dates specifically for children who did not manage to come earlier. Public access to the Jubilee Wood will be available very soon."

It will be years before this develops as a flourishing wood but even now, everyone can view it as a significant contribution to the village efforts to becoming carbon neutral.