Atomic bomb seeds for Norwich Chapelfield Gardens tree | Eastern Daily Press

2022-06-18 17:45:45 By : Mr. Russell zheng

Chapelfield Gardens in Norwich - Credit: Antony Kelly

Seeds from a tree which survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Japan, will be used to grow a tree for a Norwich park.

Trees which survived the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War are known as hibaku-jumoku or 'survivor' trees.

As part of the international Mayors for Peace programme, seeds from those trees are being given to cities around the world - and Norwich is one of them.

Working with its lead arboricultural officer, Ed Bolton, Norwich City Council asked horticulture students at Easton College to germinate the Gingko seeds.

Norwich's Lord Mayor Kevin Maguire and Sheriff Caroline Jarrold, (centre) meet staff and students at Easton College. - Credit: Norwich City Council

One of the Ginkgo trees will be planted in the city's Chapelfield Gardens, with another at Easton College, to serve as a lasting symbol for peace.

Dr Kevin Maguire, Lord Mayor of Norwich, said: "Norwich prides itself on being a diverse city and a welcoming city, where people have lived together in harmony – from the ‘strangers’ who arrived here in the sixteenth century, to those fleeing conflict in more recent years."