When I enquired about putting up a tree on the small roundabout at the end of Wolf Lane I was advised by a senior officer that he could not support putting a Christmas tree there as it would be contrary to road safety advice from the Department for Transport. A little confusing as it had been placed there for the previous four years, however I feel duty bound to respect the advice and judgement of the RBWM officers when it comes to road safety and started to reflect on alternative plans…
Stuart at Windsor Garden Centre (previously Wyevales) had offered me the use of one of his metal framed “trees” which has hundreds of lights and I figured this would look great set back in a safe space by Sutherland Grange. I got clearance from the officers and started making plans for plugging it in… it looks fabulous darling 😉
One Dedworth resident suggested a place of remembrance for loved ones would be a nice added feature so I built that in to my plans.
Christmas is a time of year which can be particularly hard when there are loved ones who are sadly no longer physically with us. Still in our hearts, we might often speak to them in our heads throughout the year and Christmas gives us the perfect time to give them our focus for a few days…
Some of us may choose to have a toast to every single one of them, maybe two 😉 Some still like to put a message in the local paper.
Memory trees have also become popular as places to capture special memories of loved ones, where family & friends take a card & write their memory or message on the card & tie it to the tree. So we created a celebration or thanksgiving area around our Christmas Tree where people can write a note and peg it to the string we have placed there.
All are welcome to come & enjoy the space at Sutherland Grange, perhaps sing a few carols with your friends and family at a time that suits you and bring the area to life.
On announcing the new location and the reasons why on Facebook there was the usual negative backlash from the trolls which is always disappointing however a number of residents were also genuinely sad that it was no longer in the heart of Dedworth and that didn’t seem fair to me… what could I do?
I thought about the area outside All Saint’s Church and immediately phoned the church office and Nigel answered. As luck would have it, he had used all his trees inside the church and hadn’t had time to work on an external tree… so being very grateful for this solution we agreed to get a tree organised and get it plugged in.
So this year’s twin trees (not identical!) are sponsored by Windsor Garden Centre, Horlers Estate Agents and the award winning Daljit Toor, Dedworth Convenience Store.
They are both lit this evening… residents can enjoy both trees this year and write a little note to a loved one and tie it to the “ribbon” on Sutherland Grange if they wish.
And if you want one of those Christmas necklaces that Daljit is modelling, you’d best get down Windsor Garden Centre while stocks last!
Thank you.
Cllr Jon Davey, Clewer & Dedworth West
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