I was pleased to be reminded of the Stratford Park Metasequoia (SNJ, 9th Feb 2024) to which I can add a little local background. Six seeds were obtained in the late 1940s by the noted horticulturist Judge Drysdale Woodcock, of Lypiatt Park.

It was my father, Richard Williams, his Head Gardener, who successfully cultivated one of the seeds. The rare specimen attracted such interest that it was taken for display at the Royal Horticultural Society in London, travelling from Stroud in an eight-inch pot.

The prized sapling was later given to the Stroud Parks and, as Rosalind John describes, planted to commemorate the 1953 coronation.

Susan Harrison

Uplands, Stroud