Beloved ancient Cubbington pear tree felled by HS2 'lives on' through saplings

Saplings created from shavings from a beloved ancient pear tree in Cubbington, which was felled as part of the ongoing HS2 high-speed rail project , have started to flower.

Two of the saplings, planted at sites around the village and further afield in 2019, have flowered in Cubbington Churchyard and at Guys Cliffe Walled Garden in Warwick.

In 2014, horticulture expert Paul Labous (Master of Horticulture RHS) from Shuttleworth Agricultural College started to graft the tree from cuttings given to him by the Cubbington community.

The aim was for the tree to ‘live on’ after it was cut down by HS2 contractors in October 2020 in order to clear away parts of Cubbington Wood to make way for works on the rail line.

After confirming the DNA from the parent tree was ‘true to type’ for grafting onto a young pear seedling, Paul Labous successfully created grafted plants and presented the first one back to the community in 2015.

This lead to a larger-scale project being managed by Crowder’s Nurseries in Lincolnshire on behalf of HS2, which started around 2018.

Other sites at which the pear tree saplings have been planted are Cubbington C of E School, Our Lady and St Teresa’s School, Hill Close Gardens and Priory Park in Warwick and Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve.