Charlie Bagot Jewitt, chief executive of the National Memorial Arboretum, said: "Just like the first major service of a new motor car, a period of closure has been planned and is necessary one year after the Memorial's completion. We fully recognise the special significance of the Memorial to many people, however the Arboretum's 150 acres and numerous other memorials and gardens of remembrance will remain fully open during this period.
"The stonemasons and gardeners aim to complete the maintenance work as quickly as possible and this may well be before August 30th. We recommend therefore that visitors phone or go online to check progress."
The idea for a National Memorial Arboretum was conceived by the Director, David Childs, during a visit to Washington in 1988. He felt that we should plant a living tribute to the war-time generations of the twentieth century in such way that it would be a gift in their memory for future generations to reflect upon and enjoy. How this idea developed into the Arboretum as can be seen today is described on the History page. For more information about the Friends of the Arboretum visit the friends page (link on left).
There are a number of single pages which do not have links on the left. These are mainly articles and pictures about visits made by members of the Royal Family and other special events. Please click here to go to the menu page of these events.
*Stop Press* Restricted access to the Armed Forces Memorial
during routine maintenance in late August
Visitors are urged to check www.thenma.org.uk
or phone 01283 792333 before travelling The magnificent Armed Forces Memorial, which forms part of the National Memorial Arboretum near Lichfield, is to undergo routine maintenance from 18 to 30 August. To avoid any risk of injury to visitors, the Memorial will be completely closed to the public during this time.
*Stop Press 2* The Friends' are organising a photographic competition. Click here to find out more.
Welcome to the Website of the Friends of the National Memorial Arboretum. We hope the following pages will give you a taster as to what you can see at the Arboretum and hopefully encourage you to visit us in the future. On most of the pages you will see a number of pictures - like the 'Shot at Dawn' picture on the right. If you would like to see a larger version of any picture just click on it. The links on the left will take you to the various pages. A list of new items added and single pages can be found at the bottom below.
Last updated May 29th 2008 with the Princess Royal unveiling a number of memorials on May 20th.
Pages last updated on July 1st 2008.
1: Latest Friends' Newsletter (Summer 2008) now online. This gives you up to date information. All the recent newsletters can be accessed from the Friends page.
2: The Forthcoming Events page was updated and now includes a full list of events for July 2008 and main dedications until the end of September.
This page has been viewed
times since 12/09/2006.
The pictures and information on these pages are used by courtesy of:
"Staffordshire Life"
"The National Memorial Arboretum"
"The Express and Star"
"The Lichfield Mercury"
"The Lichfield Post"
"The Daily Telegraph"
"Rosemary Clarke"
