Commemoration plaques

One day in June 1953, in Three Cornered Copse, a commemoration stone to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II was unveiled by the appropriate local dignitaries of the time.

A dozen silver birches were also planted around the stone, and it still sits there, surrounded by most of the trees. The stone was cleaned and renovated in 2009 by the Friends group, with funding from the council.

Another commemorative plaque to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee was installed alongside a copper beech tree in 2012, donated and presented by the Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex. This September a tree to commemorate next year's Platinum Jubilee was planted, with another plaque, again by the Lord Lieutenant. (The Jubilee isn't until next February, but that is a poor time to plant a tree, so September is appropriate.) Three more reasons to visit the copse. as if they were needed.

Work days returned to the copse this summer, with thanks to the Parks Department volunteer team, who spent a day clearing vegetation from the recently planted shrubs at the edge of the green. The weeds, brambles, nettles and thistles have been particularly successful this year and were throttling the new trees trying to establish themselves. Also, the top path had become impassable due to the weeds and the overhanging tree branches. This is the only bridle path through the copse, so with the help of the volunteer group we were able to tackle this as well. Tools and support were provided by the Ranger. For the first time since pandemic restrictions were imposed, we were working as normal, to the relief of everyone. The group is starting to become more active as restrictions have eased. With encouragement from the park rangers we aspire to be more independent from them, and hope to build our own tool collection to keep the copse under control.

The Lord Lieutenant is the monarch's personal representative in each of the administrative counties of the UK. The title is derived from a much older position which had the powers to raise a militia to support the royal cause. It's now largely an administrative role but takes responsibility for a visit from the royal family to the county. It's unlikely Her Majesty will need to visit Three Cornered Copse to see her plaques, but we'll try and keep the paths clear, just in case. Simon Baxendate

Simon Baxendale