3-074-606 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Dedication of Burnham Beeches to the public, 1883. '1. Arrival at Slough: Presenting Address of the Local Board. 2. The Duke of Buckingham declaring Burnham Beeches Free. 3. The Duke Planting a Tree. 4. Three Cheers for Her Majesty. 5. The Civic Procession leaving on their road to Eton...The celebrated piece of ancient woodland wilderness..., where a remnant of the Chiltern "forest primeval"...still exists in the old pollarded beeches described by Gray in 1737, has been "dedicated" to the public enjoyment...It was raining, unhappily, all the time...the Duke and the Lord Mayor were greeted with cheers by a crowd of people standing under dripping umbrellas...The Lord Mayor...invited the noble Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire to declare this piece of ground freely open to the public for ever...His Grace then declared the formal opening to all her Majesty's subjects...of the site of Burnham Beeches, which announcement was hailed with cordial acclamations...The Duke was then presented with an elegant spade, and used [it] to plant a young beech-tree, on the spot where the ceremonial had taken place, which was marked by flags...Our Illustrations of these proceedings conclude with the departure of the civic procession for Eton'. From "Illustrated London News", 1883.