'Living war memorial' event to mark Armistice

People gathered to remember the fallen at a "living war memorial" made of trees which are under threat of felling.

More than 100 people assembled in Western Road, Crookes, for the art-based remembrance event.

The trees were planted on 4 April 1919 to mark the part former pupils of a local school played in World War One.

They are recognised by the War Memorials Trust and Imperial War Museum

Artists spent the day drawing or painting each tree to raise awareness of the "living war memorial", in the Street Trees Art Sheffield event.

Twenty-three of the memorial trees have been earmarked for replacement.

A memorial stone in a wall on the road reads: "The trees in Western Road and Gillott Street were planted in grateful appreciation of the part taken by former pupils of this school in the Great War 1914-1919".

The felling would be part of the £2bn Sheffield-wide maintenance project Streets Ahead to upgrade roads, pavements and bridges.

As part of this, contractor Amey is tasked with maintaining 36,000 roadside trees including replacing any removed.

Sheffield City Council insists trees earmarked for felling are "dangerous, dead, diseased, dying, damaging or discriminatory".

But campaigners say many of the earmarked trees are healthy and should not be cut down just because they interfere with pavements or kerbs.

The artworks created on Saturday will form part of an exhibition to be held from 24 November to 3 December.

Correction 16 November 2017: This report has been amended to make clear that the event was organised separately from the wider protest against tree-felling in Sheffield.