TL3861 : Cinnabar moth caterpillars, Edwards Woodland
taken 3 years ago, near to Dry Drayton, Cambridgeshire, England
This wood was planted c2005 on a 14 acre field owned by the late Sir Robert Edwards, Nobel prize winner, who with Patrick Steptoe pioneered IVF treatment. Sir Robert, apart from being a remarkable scientist, seemed to appreciate the open air for he was often to be seen planting & pruning shrubs & trees, & cutting grass using an old yellow Ford tractor on other land he owned. He died in 2013.
Early in 2021 the wood was bought by the Towns Land Trust. This is a charity established over 400 years ago to support 'the poor of Dry Drayton' but whose aims have since been widened 'for the general benefits of its inhabitants'. The charity had been endowed with some agricultural land on the edge of the village which provided a varying income. However the recent widening of the A14 meant the land was compulsorily purchased which provided the Trustees with a capital sum sufficient to buy the woodland.
The name 'The Edwards Woodland' has been formally adopted in Sir Robert’s memory.