The National Memorial Arboretum was founded in 1997 and covers an area in excess of 150 acres. It consists of trees and memorials all devoted to the act of remembrance. The Arboretum is located in the New National Forest of Staffordshire, between Lichfield and Burton-upon-Trent. The grounds were former sand and gravel quarries and were restored to their original grassland state by the quarry company, Lafarge-Aggregates, when they'd finished quarrying activity. They then gifted the land for use by the Memorial Arboretum Charity, charging only a peppercorn rent.

The Memorial Arboretum

The Arboretum is now the home of the new Armed Services Memorial and was officially opened in October 2007. It is a magnificent monument and is now gaining national significance. Its purpose is to give recognition and thanks for those servicemen and women who have been killed while on duty or from terrorist actions since the Second World War. It commemorates and gives thanks to the sacrifice of those who have lost loved ones and who still mourn their loss.

The range of people and services covered by the numerous memorials across the site fall into several categories:

• The Armed/Military Services
• Civil Services
• The Police Service
• The Fire and Rescue Service
• The Ambulance Service
• Registered Charities
• National and Local Volunteer Organisations
• Overseas Volunteer Organisations

Armed Forces Memorial

The Armed Forces Memorial has the names of over 16,000 servicemen and servicewomen who lost their lives since the Second World War. Their names are engraved on the white stone walls that make up the circular monument.

The design and layout of the structure was carried out by Liam O'Connor and is an awe-inspiring piece of architecture in its own right. There are several sculptures within the walls of the monument, done by sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley. The whole thing gives out an air of peace with space for families and friends to spend time remembering their loved ones.

One other unique feature in the design is the central wreath sculpture. It has been placed in such a position that, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the sun will shine directly onto it.

The site is laid out with paths through areas that are given a colour code; each coloured area consists of memorials to specific services. For example, the Yellow Walk has, among others, memorials to the Ambulance Service, the Army Cadets Garden and the Berlin Airlift. There are three other coloured walks called the Blue Walk, the Pink Walk and the Orange Walk.

A dedication ceremony was held on Friday 12 October, 2007 in a service led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and attended by Her Majesty the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

Trees used as Living Memorials

As the site for the National Memorial Arboretum is situated in the New National Forest, it's appropriate that trees are used as living memorials. There are in excess of 50,000 trees throughout the site each representing the various services and their memorials.

The first example of how trees are used is at the main entrance to the site. There is an avenue of 39 saplings that lead away from a plinth that marks the Berlin Airlift. The 39 trees represent the 39 lives lost during this epic event.

There is another avenue of young chestnut trees called The Beat, which was funded by every police force in the country. The first police truncheons were made from wood from chestnut trees. Some of the trees have been grown from conkers collected from Drayton Manor in Tamworth, Staffordshire, which was the former home of Sir Robert Peel, founder of the modern-day police service.

On each of the coloured walks around the site there is a plaque that explains the choice of trees used for a particular memorial or for a particular service or group.

The Millennium Chapel of Peace and Forgiveness

The Millennium Chapel is a wooden building, built in the style of early churches found in Britain some 1,700 years ago. The entire building is built and supported on a frame of 12 trunks of Douglas Fir trees. Each one represents one of the 12 apostles by having a carving of each apostle on the trunk. A statue of St Peter stands at the entrance to the Chapel.

The font is made from a block of limestone supplied by a local stonemason and stands in a shallow pool. This is done to represent the biblical references to streams of living water. In keeping with this tradition the water flows from the top of the font as though fed from a spring.

A dedication service for the Chapel was held on 2 November, 2000 by the Bishop of Lichfield, The Rt Rev Keith Sutton. The Chapel is unique in that it is the only place in the UK where the Act of Remembrance is carried out every day of the year. Visitors are asked to stop and stand in silence at 11am to remember those whose lives were lost in conflict. Prior to the silence starting an introduction is played, recorded by the BBC newsreader Peter Donaldson, and recordings of the 'Last Post' and 'Reveille' are played. These are played by the band of the Royal Marines.

The reason for the Millennium name becomes clear when you enter the Chapel. On display in the entrance there is the Millennium Prayer which was written by Anna Crompton. She was the winner in a nationwide competition run by Lord Lloyd Webber to find a suitable modern prayer.

More unique features in the Chapel are the altar, pulpit and lectern. These were all carved by the inmates at the Swinfen Young Offenders Institution located just a few miles south of the memorial site. In recognition of this the altar has two texts carved in it. One is the phrase, "When I was in prison ye visited me" and the other "What they doest in private thy Father will reward thee openly".

The Royal British Legion, Women's Section, were commissioned to design the altar cloth and the finished design was based on a theme taken from the Book of Revelation: "The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations". This fitted in with the overall aspect of the site in which trees are used as symbols of remembrance.

The Far East Prisoners of War Building

This building has a certain poignancy in that it was partly funded by the Children of the Far East Prisoners of War and was opened on 15 August, 2005 - the 60th Anniversary of VJ Day. It commemorates and remembers the contribution their parents made during the Second World War. Other contributions came from The Millennium Commission, the Veterans' Challenge Fund and the The Foyle Foundation.

Inside the Memorial Building there is an exhibition which graphically shows the life and experiences of these prisoners. It also includes archive newsreels and interviews.

One of the exhibits is an interactive projector that projects some 55,000 names of prisoners onto a large screen and there is the facility to be able to select a particular name which is then displayed and highlighted.

There are two stained-glass windows in this building. These are copies of originals which were made by a Lt Cdr Upton, RNVR, for the church of St George at Tandjong Priok, Java. This church was built by prisoners of war after the Japanese invasion.

The original stained-glass windows were saved after the war and can be found at the Anglican Church of All Saints in Jakarta.

Ongoing Development

Development of the site is ongoing with additional memorials being added for different groups. In May 2008 three more memorials were opened, one being for the Porton Down victims, which was a government science research centre where experiments were carried out on human 'guinea pigs', many of whom later died. There was also a new memorial to those who lost their lives during the Yugoslavia/Bosnian war in 1992. The third new memorial was one for the Fire and Rescue Services.

All in all, the National Memorial Arboretum is well worth a visit. Plan for a whole day if you want to see the entire site. There are excellent facilities and good access for the disabled. The Arboretum is run by volunteers and costs are met through public donations. Admission is free, though there is a car-parking charge (£2.00 a day as of May 2008). Parking is free for Disabled Parking Blue Badge holders.

The best way to get to the site is by car or coach. It lies approximately half a mile off the main A38 between Lichfield and Burton-upon-Trent. Come off the A38 onto the A513 and head in the direction signposted Tamworth. At the first traffic island take the first exit and the Arboretum is 100yds or so on the right. The nearest railway station is either Lichfield or Burton, and an hourly bus link to the Arboretum runs Monday to Saturday, with Sunday services also operating. The bus - route 112 - begins at Burton Railway Station and calls at Burton on Trent, New Street, Branston, Barton under Needwood, Alrewas, the Arboretum, Lichfield, Hill Hook, Sutton Coldfield, Erdington and Birmingham.