Farmer planted oak saplings with romantically themed meadow in the middle that can only be seen from above

This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

An aerial photograph has revealed that thousands of oak trees planted as a labour of love by a farmer as a tribute to his late wife have a heart-shaped meadow at their centre.

Winston Howes, 70, planted the oak saplings after his wife of 33 years, Janet, died suddenly 17 years ago.

He laid out the fledgling trees in a 2.5 hectare (6 acre) field on his farm but left a perfect heart shape in the middle – with the point facing in the direction of her childhood home.

The meadow cannot be seen from the road and remained a family secret until a hot air balloonist took a photograph from the air.

"I came up with the idea of creating a heart in the clearing of the field after Janet died," said Howes.

"I thought it was a great idea – it was a flash on inspiration – and I planted several thousand oak trees."

"Once it was completed we put a seat in the field, overlooking the hill near where she used to live.

"I sometimes go down there, just to sit and think about things. It is a lovely and lasting tribute to her which will be here for years."

Howes, who owns a 45-hectare farm near Wickwar, south Gloucestershire, decided to seed housewife Janet's legacy after she died from heart failure in 1995, aged 50.

He created with the wood using small oak trees next to his farmhouse in the months after her death – marking out an acre-long heart with a large bushy hedge.

The entrance to the secret heart is only accessible from a track leading up to its tip.

Howes said: "We got people in especially to do it – there are several thousand trees.

"We planted large oak trees around the edge of the heart then decided to put a hedge around it too."