Last updated at 11:30, Thursday, 28 June 2012

Four pupils from West Cumbria filled in for the Duke of Gloucester by planting the first tree in Cumbria’s Diamond Wood.

The Duke was scheduled to plant the first tree in the 1,050-acre Derwent Forest site at Broughton Moor, near Maryport, but the bad weather meant his helicopter wasn’t able to land in Kendal after his engagement in Carlisle.

However, two pupils from Broughton Moor Primary School and two from Broughton Primary School stepped into the breach and planted the first of 42,000 mixed native trees to go into the 60-acre Woodland Trust scheme.Nigel Catterson, consortium chairman, said: “It feels like the first step on a new journey.”

Aaron Lawson, nine, of Broughton Primary School, was one of the four tree planters.

He said: “It was awesome. I was excited to find out I was planting the tree but disappointed not to meet the Duke.”

First published at 11:28, Thursday, 28 June 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk