Update: Friday, July 27 11am
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A council spokesman said the Lady Belmore plaque had been removed years ago for preservation but ended up in storage and was “forgotten.”
The plaque was re-installed on a pillar near the tree on Thursday. An arborist had recommended that no more holes be drilled into the Lady Belmore Oak to attach the plaque.
Meantime, a laurel wreath on the Knowlman Memorial in the centre Belmore Park has also been missing for many years.
The council spokesman said this was continually being damaged, with the tin leaves being pulled off. This was also removed for safe keeping.
“There are records of it in the Belmore Park Plan of Management and there has been discussion about creating a more durable replica to replace this,” he said.
Tuesday, July 24 10am
Keen-eyed observers might have noticed that a plaque on the Lady Belmore tree in Belmore Park has been missing for some time.
Just how long is a mystery.
Questioned on the missing plaque, placed on the tree when it was planted in 1869 to mark the railway’s arrival, a council spokesman said it had been removed to be “cleaned and refreshed.”
He told the Post it would be re-installed this week. But the spokesman could not confirm when it was removed.
In 2011, John Belmore, the great-great nephew of Lady Honoria Belmore, who planted the original oak tree, visited Goulburn. He and wife Mary planted an English Elm, also in Belmore Park, surrounded by council representatives, in a throwback to history.
They couldn’t help but notice the plaque was missing then. At the time, engineering services director Terry Cooper said the mounting mechanism had been damaged and sent for repair. It would be repaired, the plaque cleaned and remounted underneath the oak to minimise tree damage.
The council did not respond to questions on whether it was ever re-installed. Regardless, it will be remounted in time for the city’s 150th railway celebrations next year.
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