Talkin’ ’Bout My Germination: Roger Daltrey And Pete Townshend Plant Tree At Sandringham
The tree-planting endorses Heritage Live’s endeavors to establish a more sustainable way of producing large outdoor events.
Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend marked the occasion of The Who’s performance last night (28) on the Royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk by planting a tree in the Royal Gardens, in support of Heritage Live’s sustainability initiative.
The August Bank Holiday weekend marked the first time that the private country retreat of Their Majesties The King and Queen has been opened up for use as a concert venue. Van Morrison (with guests Squeeze and Del Amitri) and Robbie Williams also did shows, for an estimated total audience of 75,000. The Who were accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the show also featured special guests Richard Ashcroft and the Lightning Seeds.
Sandringham has been the private home to generations of monarchs since 1862, and stands in an area of outstanding natural beauty in 20,000 acres. Heritage Live holds the exclusive contract for staging concerts within its grounds. As its website explains, Sandringham House and Gardens hosted the UK’s first televised Christmas Day speech in 1957, recorded by Queen Elizabeth II.
The tree-planting endorses Heritage Live’s endeavors to establish a more sustainable way of producing large outdoor events and reduce the impact on the environment. The organization plans to discourage single-use plastic and to engage the communities that are local to the venues it works with, which also include historic landmarks and stately homes.
Daltrey said: “I was very pleased to be asked by Heritage Live to plant this tree at Sandringham. I am thrilled that the Laurel Oak has been planted adjacent to the oldest tree in Sandringham Gardens, a 700 year old Veteran Oak.” Added Townshend: “Planting this tree is a great way of acknowledging Heritage Live’s sustainability initiative. I hope this Tilia ‘Winter Orange’ has a happy life in Sandringham Gardens.”
Other recent Heritage Live shows included concerts by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Tom Jones, Soft Cell, Sugababes, and others at Audley End in Essex, and by Ashcroft, Hozier, and more at Englefield Estate in Berkshire.
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CHARLES STIMSON
August 31, 2023 at 7:41 am
1 tree isn’t going to scratch the surface of the environmental damage by causing the 2 hr tail back of hundreds if not 1000s of vehicles on the roads outside Sandringham Estate late afternoon on Monday. The local road system isn’t adequate to sustain the traffic volumes. If further events are planned then something needs to happen to alleviate this situation.
Gary Skinner
August 31, 2023 at 8:24 am
Having attended the events on Friday and Monday at Sandringham and seeing the mass of plastic cups that had been left across the site, I would question the claim that single use plastics were being discouraged. This was further added to by the various pizza boxes and food trays as the mean spirited organisers did not allow ticket holders to bring their own food into the arena. My wife had inadvertently left an apple in her backpack and was told that she had to throw it away before entering. I’m sure that the stall holders were in support of this ruling as it gave the opportunity to charge extortionate prices for their food. My son went to find himself food on Monday evening and returned with a hot dog that had cost him £14.
These issues would certainly discourage us to attend in the future.
David Richardson
August 31, 2023 at 5:43 pm
The show was terrific, but as already mentioned the somewhat insincere tokenism of sustainability by HeritageLive was utterly undone by the 1000’s of stationary vehicles with engines running trying to get in and out of Sandringham. Pretty sure it will take a few decades for those freshly planted trees to soak up that carbon footprint. Even Pete Townsend’s comments (not reported here) gave a cynical response to the tree planting.