A memorial with a twist has been unveiled on the banks of the River Tay to remember a man whose generosity helped to protect Perthshire’s trees.
Sydney Draper, a former forester who quantified forestry investment opportunities for the World Bank, died in July 2015 aged 90.
His work took him all over the world including the Himalayas, Afghanistan, India and Nepal but the woodland of Scotland, and Perthshire in particular, remained his first love.
Now a new bench in the grounds of Dunkeld House Hotel commissioned by Woodland Heritage to commemorate Mr Draper, a long-standing supporter of the charity, has been unveiled.
It has been carefully crafted to appear as though it is twisted and made of several different sections of timber, whereas it has actually been crafted from a single piece of native oak by local artist Nigel Ross.
Mr Ross’s creations can be found throughout the UK, from London’s Canary Wharf to the Ness Islands in Inverness.
It was through Mr Draper’s generous support of Woodland Heritage that the charity was able to support the renovation of Dunkeld’s Big Tree Trail in partnership with the National Tree Collections of Scotland and the Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust.
Woodland Heritage Trustees felt it was a fitting memorial to Mr Draper, who lived near Dumfries, to commission the new piece by Mr Ross to sit on the banks of the Tay.
Tom Christian, a trustee of Woodland Heritage, said: “Sydney loved Dunkeld and returned here on his 90th birthday to plant a commemorative tree.
“Environmental education was very important to him, which is why he made his generous gift to help support the costs of a new tree trail here at Dunkeld, to tell visitors the amazing stories of the trees around us, the landscape they sit in, and how vital trees and healthy forests are to life on earth.
“We are enormously grateful to Sydney, and to Dunkeld House Hotel and Land Rover Experience Scotland for their help in making this fitting memorial possible.”
Visitors to Dunkeld will now be able to sit and rest a while, courtesy of Mr Draper, as they enjoy the wooded riverside walks.
