A SPECIAL mulberry tree commemorating the playwright George Bernard Shaw was officially planted in Priory Park, Malvern, over the weekend.

The tree is a descendant of the mulberry tree that Shaw, founder of the Malvern Festival, planted in the park in 1936 to celebrate his 80th birthday.

Although Shaw's original tree was blown down in a storm in 2000, a cutting had been taken from it some years earlier and donated to the town of Malvern in Australia, where it had flourished.

Recently six cuttings from the tree in Australia were sent back to the UK, and one of them was chosen to be planted in Priory Park.

The planting was carried out by Di Foster, from Malvern, Australia, on Saturday and former mayor Julian I'Anson told onlookers the history of the tree and its place in the heritage of the two towns.

Historian Cora Weaver, one of the organisers of the event, along with Bruce Osborne of Friends of Malvern Springs and Wells, said: "The audience was then delighted and surprised when 93-year-old Joan Fowler took the microphone and related how, as a 13-year-old girl, she went to Priory Park with her mother in 1936 and watched Shaw plant his mulberry tree."

A commemorative plaque made by sculptor Catherine James was also unveiled. Also attending was Jim Fox of Coca Cola, formerly bottlers of Malvern Water, which has funded the project from start to finish.

The event was followed by a reception at the Mount Pleasant Hotel, and in the evening, the hotel was once again the venue for a supper celebrating the friendship between the Malverns, during which presents and messages of goodwill were exchanged.

Mrs Weaver said: "We are thrilled that the seven-year project had reached fruition and we are both looking forward to the newly-planted tree also reaching fruition. Meanwhile, we have already begun a new project to link all the Malverns around the world in a union of friendship."

Malvern Museum is currently hosting an exhibition about Shaw's tree, and about Malverns around the world.