BORTHWOOD Copse is to be dedicated to The Queen in celebration of the Platinum Jubilee.

It has been chosen as part of The Queen's Green Canopy's nationwide network of 70 ancient woodlands and 70 ancient trees which will form part of the ancient canopy to celebrate Her Majesty’s 70 years of service.

Borthwood Copse lies to the east of the Island and was once part of a much larger medieval hunting forest.

It appears among the lands of William son of Azor in the Domesday Book and is associated with Isabella de Fortibus, governor and self-proclaimed Queen of the Island in the 13th century.

Later, Borthwood is mentioned in the diaries of Sir John Oglander, a 17th century English politician who became deputy general of the Isle of Wight in 1624.

Robin Lang, National Trust countryside manager on the Isle of Wight: “Borthwood is an exceptional woodland and a wonderful place to spend time in. It is much loved by local people as a place to walk, horse ride and cycle.

"It’s a relatively small wood, but parts of it are quite dramatic, with ancient, gnarled oaks and majestic beech. It’s full of wildlife too, never more so than in spring when it’s carpeted in native bluebells.

Isle of Wight County Press: Red squirrel. Picture courtesy of National Trust / John Miller.Red squirrel. Picture courtesy of National Trust / John Miller.

"There are beautiful sunny glades, where you might catch a glimpse of a red squirrel, a dragonfly or hear a wood cricket.

“For centuries Borthwood Copse has been a working wood, providing timber for house and boat building.

"Today the National Trust continues that management by coppicing hazel and the introduced sweet chestnut.

"The main benefit is that it keeps the wood dynamic, letting light and warmth in to allow flowers to grow, insects to flourish and fresh coppice growth to provide breeding birds and small mammals such as dormice and rare bat species with habitats and food sources.

The spin-off is that we can supply some of our hedge laying and fencing materials for conservation work on other places on the IW, without transporting these products great distances.”