Farmer's secret field tribute to late wife

• Tweet

WICKWAR, England, July 14 (UPI) -- An English farmer created a heart-shaped meadow surrounded by oak trees in memory of his dead wife that was unknown to the world until a balloonist spotted it.

Winston Howes, 70, said he was clearing a field on his farm in Wickwar, Gloucestershire, after his wife, Janet, died 17 years ago when the plan came to him, the Daily Mirror reported.

"I thought it was a great idea -- it was a flash of inspiration -- and I planted several thousand oak trees," he said.

Howes spent a week planting 6,000 oak saplings and also planted a hedge for added privacy. He designed the monument so the point of the heart is toward Wotton Hill, where his wife was born.

The hidden meadow was a family secret until Andy Collet of Wotton-under-Edge flew over.

"I have my own balloon and am quite a regular flyer, but this was the most amazing sight I have ever seen from the sky," Collet said. "It was a perfect heart hidden away from view -- you would not know it was there. You can just imagine the love story."

Winston and Janet were married in 1962. She died in 1995 of heart failure at the age of 50.