Childhood Wood

Society for Mucopolysaccharide Diseases
MPS House, Repton Place, White Lion Road, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, HP7 9LP, UK
Tel: 0845 389 9901 Fax: 0845 389 9902
National Registered Charity No. 287034

The Childhood Wood

What is the Childhood Wood?
In 1993, the Society for Mucopolysaccharide Diseases was given, under licence, an area of Sherwood Forest to create a wood of oak saplings cloned from the Great Oak, as part of the Forestry Commission’s Sherwood Initiative.

Each of the oak trees, planted annually, celebrate the life of a child whose childhood was destroyed by these cruel, degenerative diseases. Families who have lost sons or daughters can remember their loved ones in the tranquility and beauty of the Childhood Wood.

The History of the Childhood Wood
In 1992, as part of the Society’s 10th anniversary celebrations, the Society was asked to propose an idea to commemorate children who had died from an MPS or Related Disease. Out of many ideas, the Childhood Wood was born.

The inaugural planting took place in February 1993. Nearly 150 oak saplings from ancient Sherwood Oaks were planted by MPS families, supported by Sir Andrew Buchanan, Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, local MPs, television personalities and representatives from Nottinghamshire County Council and the Forestry Commission. The Rt. Hon. Michael Howard, who was then Secretary of State for the Environment, planted the first sapling in memory of Simon Lavery who died from Hunter Disease, MPS Type II, in 1982.

The Legacy
‘We are acutely aware of how little time we spend on this planet. What we do now is left as a legacy to our children and their children. We have a responsibility to leave the earth a better place then when we found it. If the Childhood Wood helps a little, then all those children who have been born with MPS will have helped in their own way.’

Recent Developments to the Wood
The trees planted in the Childhood Wood in the early years are now branching out and forming a canopy. Working in collaboration with the Forestry Commission, the Society has put in place new pathways and, over time, wooden animals and a picnic area will be introduced.

With the growth of the trees and the need to uphold the ecological and environmental ethos of the Wood and its surrounding area, the individual plaques that once commemorated each tree, have been replaced by a new Memory Board which is accessible to visitors to the Childhood Wood.

Directions to the Wood
The Childhood Wood is situated in Sherwood Pines and is part of Clipstone Forest, off the B6030 near Old Clipstone. Park in the carpark, walk down to the picnic area, then follow either the blue or the white path. The white path is suitable for wheelchair access.