Welcome Week Trip 19 September 2025

Two venues: the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire, and Packwood House gardens, Warwickshire, We were introduced to the arboretum by Ryan Sudall (Fira landscapes). It is the British site for national remembrance, 60 hectares (150 acres) of former gravel-workings in the valley of the River Trent, showcasing 400 memorials and 25000 trees. The importance of the evolving masterplan was emphasised, that and the variety of high quality construction and materials. The site is prone to flooding but we were blessed with good walking conditions and fine weather.

The second site visited was Packwood House and gardens, owned by the National Trust. The timber-framed Tudor house is grade 1 listed but we were mainly concerned with viewing the gardens, especially the renowned yew garden. The clipped yews are supposed to represent “The Sermon on the Mount”. A tight spiral path lined with box hedges climbs a hummock named “The Mount”.

Also noteworthy were the various sundials both in the garden and on the sides of buildings. The motto below one, Orimur, Morimur translates as We rise up, We die – reminding us of the deliberately-aligned gap left in the wall of the Armed Forces memorial through which the sun shines at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month, the date Armistice went into effect, the end of World War 1.