Romford Quakers plant seeds for Hiroshima Day
The tree ‘survived and recovered, as a testimony of hope in the modern world.’
Romford Friends marked Hiroshima Day by planting seeds from a ginkgo biloba tree that survived the atomic bomb blast in 1945.
Quaker Tim Landsman said that the tree came from Shukkeien Garden, one mile from the epicentre of the explosion. The tree ‘survived and recovered, as a testimony of hope in the modern world’, he told the Friend. ‘This ginkgo tree is more than 200 years old and is slanting now toward the hypocentre, because after the blast pushed everything outward from the city centre, the air gushed back in. The trunk of the tree is about four meters in circumference and about seventeen metres tall.’
Alongside the planting, the Quakers ran a peace crane origami session, a labyrinth and children’s games as part of an in-person open day, as well as providing information on peace campaigns and other initiatives.
The seeds were supplied by the Green Legacy Hiroshima project. Hiroshima Day was on 6 August.
