More information on significant trees in Wingham and the Upper Manning area is hoped to be unearthed by an initiative of the Heritage Advisory Committee.

The committee intends to identify and research trees in the area with heritage value, and needs community members to help in the quest. The main aim is to explore the significance of trees recognised, and if appropriate, record or preserve them.

An example of the need to recognise and record trees in Wingham is the Aleppo pine planted on the Isabella Street corner of Central Park which grew from a seed from the original Lone Pine in Gallipoli.

The tree was grown in the jubilee year of 1965, planted in memory of departed comrades.

Now 47 years later, the tree looks in bad health, cementing the need to record the presence of the living monument before it is too late.

Similarly, another tree growing on the outskirts of Central Park was presented in 1995 by Women’s RSL Auxiliary to commemorate the 50th anniversary of victory in the pacific, 1945 and 1995.

Member of the Manning Historical Society, Eric Richardson, outlined a number of roles trees have played in the Manning Valley. Trees were often brought by pioneers and planted around their houses to remind them of their homeland. This is how many exotic and pest species came to exist in the area like camphor laurel trees.

Exotic trees with different looking leaves that stood out from natives were also used as navigational markers for people riding on horseback.

In the case of many old buildings in the Manning, the building no longer exists but the trees still remain marking its place. This is the applicable to Mount George railway station. The station building is no longer there, yet is marked by the trees that surrounded it.

In the past, especially on properties, a tree was sometimes used to mark a grave if the family could not afford a headstone, Eric informed. This was in the era when childbirth was dangerous and sometimes fatal for mother, baby or sadly both.