THIS YEAR will see the launch of new community project to renovate ancient woodland near Dymock and create a lasting memorial to peace, one hundred years on from the ending of the First World War.

The woodland will also become a reserve for native hardwood species, for future generations.

The lottery-funded Dymock Forest Rural Action (DyFRA) group hopes the project will create a permanent legacy to the momentous year 1919: which saw the signing of the sale of the Beauchamp estates in the Dymock area, the creation of the Forestry Commission and the signing of the Versailles peace treaty.

Chris Bligh, the DyFRA programme director, writing in Dymock's latest parish magazine, said: "In 2018 we will launch the new Woodland Meadow project, to renovate a section of the ancient woodland habitat in Queen's Wood and provide an amenity that will be enjoyed for many generations to come.

"In March, we will start recruiting people to sponsor tree planting, propagate native seedlings and help with some of the groundwork clearance."

He added: "The location, at the heart of our wild daffodil area, the Golden Triangle, will provide an exemplar of how commercial forestry, eco-resources and conservation can operate with community commitment.

"It is a vision we can all share, and 200 years hence, a mix of native hardwood species will still prevail under a new canopy of forest trees."

Mr Bligh said that, in this way, the renovated woodland would serve as "a permanent legacy".

The Golden Triangle area, that includes the communities of Dymock, Kempley and Oxenhall, is already a major tourist attraction, drawing visitors from far and wide for the daffodil weekends each spring.