Arbor Day

Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation (LGCHF) is partnering with St Thomas More Catholic School and a team of creatives to bring back Arbor Day, a unique piece of Letchworth’s heritage.

Arbor Day, which celebrates tree planting and care, first occurred in Letchworth in 1908. In the past, school children joined a procession through the town to plant their trees. Accompanying the planting, the groups would perform their Garden City ‘Tree Planting Song’ and poetry while wearing wreaths and carrying the town banners, which can now be found in the Garden City Collection.

While fond memories can be found in news articles in the Collection and there have been attempts at revivals (including Plant a tree in ’73), the town has slowly forgotten this early tradition.

This term, the Year 4 and 5 classes from St Thomas More have participated in a variety of history, music, and art workshops with Musical Director Robert Hyman and the LGCHF team to revive Arbor Day once and for all. The classes have learnt about the history of the event and reflected on its significance now, informing the writing of their own song. Youth voice has been valued at the heart of the project, with all the lyrics generated by the students.

The classes will be participating in the Arbor Day ceremony on Wednesday 13th March 2024 at the community orchard on Hillbrow. The school will be planting trees at the same site as the 2008 centenary event. On the 13th March, students will plant their apple trees, perform their co-authored song for their families and be presented with certificates.

Generously funded by the Peter Sowerby Foundation and SHARE Museums East, the Arbor Day project is being developed through co-creation between teachers, local musicians and artists, students and the Arts, Culture and Heritage team at LGCHF.

The project was piloted at Garden City Academy in 2023 and has been further developed this year with St Thomas More to create teaching resources and creative training sessions to be rolled out to wider Letchworth schools later this year.