Probably the most important place in the British Isles, along side Whitehall London, to remember and reflect, all those who have given all in the service of their country. This is a magnificent memorial and educational site.
I attended the Dedication Service for the Queens Royal Lancers (myself a former member of 16th/5th The Queens Royal Lancers)

I went thinking it would be a really morbid place but I was wrong. A fantastic place to see the gardens.

this is a place that is truly amazing very close to Lichfield you could spend many hours in the most beautiful area of remembrance that i have ever visited and each time i visit it is different and is still changing

Service of Remembrance at 10.50 and 2 minute silence at 11am.
'Shot at Dawn' memorial on most Eastern point where sunrise first touches the Arboretum.
The marble walls inscribed with the names of those who gave their today for our tomorrow's. Took a moment to mourn for those names yet to be inscribed on the empty marble walls - their future will also be cut short as they pay the ultimate sacrifice.

The national Memorial Arboretum is a landscaped area that homes over 300 different memorials within it's grounds. The memorial honours those service personnel who have died in conflicts around the world up until the present day.

My personal highlight was the memorial to the 306 young men who were 'Shot at Dawn' for so called desertion during the First World war, although I think the memorial could be improved by telling more of their moving individual stories.

I was also surprised to learn just how big a part Poland, particularly the underground and Polish Intelligence, played in the successful outcome to WWII.

This is an amazing place and can move you to tears in a heart beat. I found the name of a cousin who was killed in Malaya. I didn't really expect to find his name but when I did the reaction was instant. It took me right back to when I was 4 and watched the young women in our family completely desolated at his passing. Suddenly all that emotion hit me and I burst into tears. When this site is mature it will be wonderful. It's pretty amazing now.

This is a beautiful and moving place to visit So much thought must have been put into the various individual memorials and the artwork is stunning. The central memorial is a masterpiece with the names engraved on it. We took the train which moved very slowly around most of the memorials identifying each one. The commentary was very informative but the delivery was a bit twee in places! Put this on your bucket list what ever your age!

Beautifully maintained place. Have been a number of times, different memorials put up all of the time so it never gets boring, beautiful memorials, not graves. It's a huge place and due to get bigger I understand. I think it should be part of school curriculum for children to visit, so that they understand what people have done and how many have died because of war. The central huge memorial is stunning, the names engraved on it and even more thought provoking are the names not yet engraved on it, of those who will die in future for their country.
The shop and cafe area are fine, usual stuff. They don't detract from the place or make it tacky.
As for people moaning about paying £3 to park. You pay more than that to park at a shopping centre and don't moan.... How can you moan when you have free entry to the arboretum? the £3 is just a contribution, a tiny tiny one.
The volunteers are great too by the way, we asked one where the 'shot at dawn' memorial was and he told us and chatted about stuff too, very interesting gentleman.
Will be visiting again at Easter when I have more time as only had 4 hrs today. Brilliant place, def recommend.

For anyone with friends, family or ancestors from any of the Armed Forces, or simply an interest in military history the Memorial is worth visiting. That said it also has memorials to civilians as well, but as my interest was in family history I mainly spent time in the military areas.

A £3 charge for parking is fair and the car park well kept, entry is 'free' but a donation is suggested (and personally recommended) and a map or guide book is needed t make sense of the 150 acre site.

The entire site is immaculately kept, peaceful and thought provoking, memorials, plaques and statues mark and honour many regiments, countries and services from the UK and Commonwealth as well as the incredibly moving Japanese section dedicated to the British and Japanese veterans who have become friends.

With this year marking the centenary of the onset of the First World War, for me, there was nothing more meaningful than the poppy field.

A lovely, relaxed walk round. Very quiet and peaceful. There is always a quiet spot to stop and take your thoughts.
Then there is a small restaurant serving some lovely food and a gift shop to take home memories of your visit.

Far too much to see and absorb in the first visit! Beautifully maintained and "manicured" gardens and lawns. I will be taking more than one additional visits in the future and I will use the little road train in order to give me a grand introduction into the places I wish to visit. There is no entrance fee but voluntary personal donations are requested although there is a £3 per day car parking fee. Even though I live only ten miles away, this was the very first time that I had been there and will certainly be returning in the near future.

Immaculate, amazing and has to be experienced. Very moving and hard to describe the feeling. Lovely staff. Nothing to dislike.

My second visit, the first not long after the Arboretum opened. This visit was unplanned, but as I was travelling back from the North East, it is not much of a detour. Personally, I prefer to visit places like this than the Motorway Services . Well signposted, with good car parking, £3 for a day. Entry is free, but a Map is useful. As it costs £3, it is a better option to purchase the informative guide book for £5, that also has a map included. There are plenty of staff at reception, more than happy to help. Entry is free to the Arboretum, with car parking, guides, maps etc being used to help finance the project.
At the entrance, you can purchase poppy crosses, if you want to place one at a memorial. The material the crosses are made from, can be difficult to write on with some pens, so I would take a fine nibbed marker. In the entrance/ reception area is a cafe, shop and toilets.
The 150 acre site, is pathed, but with so muc planted /grassed areas it can get muddy in places. I normally take a pair of walking boots and change before going back to the car. Plenty of benches, to sit on and reflect. Take into consideration the weather because pretty exposed if raining. Some new memorials, I haven't seen before, particularly liked the Airborne forces one. Also researching WW1 Soldiers Shot at Dawn, (SAD) , so revisted to get some new photos. Very emotive, especially as the statue is based on 17 year old H. Burden who was shot. Have a look at his fingers , behind his back, gripping in fear.
The main Memorial is very moving with so many names, that have found a fitting place to be remembered. Will return soon. Staff are excellent.

A wonderful time very moving and respectful. The staff were very knowledgeable and helpful. I could have spent all day wondering about but the weather was too windy. Wrap up well. All in all a great time and I will be returning on a regular basis

I have wanted to visit this memorial for years and was finally in Lichfield on a nice enough day to properly appreciate it. This really is a beautiful memorial in lovely surroundings. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the Lichfield area. All of the staff were really friendly too.

We went to see the pow memorial essentially which was excellent. The whole place was a credit to its founders.

I have paid two visits the Arboretum they sight is so big we could not all in one visit, I would only go on a day with good weather as there is not a lot of shelter. We our time visiting the memorials one by one of groups and conflicts long forgotten by me. The thing that struck me most is there is only one year since 1945 that a British service man has not been killed on active service. The site is kept in good order and is very peaceful. I will return as we have not finnished viewing the compleat site

The layout and design of this site is excellent. The place has real atmosphere without being too sombre or depressing. It was pleasing to see that those remembered include not only the well known military units but also lesser known units such as Catering Corps and Armed Merchantmen, together with Police, Emergency workers, RNLI etc. The small Chapel is beautiful - constructed of light coloured woods and with a lot of natural daylight.
Entrance is free (donations invited) and car parking is only £3 (for as long as you like).

Remembrance has always been important to me and I have wanted to visit the National Arboretum for a while. I finally got the opportunity earlier this month when I visited with my partner on a wet, windy Sunday afternoon.

I checked out the website first (www.thenma.org.uk) and was glad I did because it contains a lot of useful information including the fact that, while admission is free, parking on site is pay and display (£3). The machines only take coins so make sure you have some with you – the money earned goes to support the Arboretum. We were also able to download a voucher from the site for a discount on lunch (offer now closed).

Access to the site is via the visitor centre, although people using mobility scooters should note that (for reasons that are unclear) they won’t be able to take their scooters inside. Manual wheelchairs are available to borrow, although if you are travelling alone and are unable to propel yourself along, I’m not sure what you are supposed to do.

That aside, inside the centre you are greeted by friendly staff who give you an overview of what there is to see plus a site map – useful as the site is large and there are many different memorials. We decided to have lunch in the restaurant before heading off outside – a good decision as, being a Sunday lunchtime, the place was filling up and there weren’t many free tables.

The restaurant offered a good choice of food, from snacks to cooked meals, and we opted for the roast turkey lunch. Without our discount voucher this would have cost us £7.50 each which seemed like decent value to me. Helpings were generous and the food tasted very good. We were too full to have puddings.

Outside, there are 150 acres of landscaped walkways, gardens and memorials to explore. Access is mainly via level paths, although to reach the centrepiece Armed Forces memorial you will need to climb a set of steps or follow a gently sloping pathway. The site is quite exposed and, although there are benches all the way round, there aren’t many shelters, so take a brolly if you’re visiting on a showery day.

There are many memorials to see, all different, all impressive in their own way. We found the Shot at Dawn memorial particularly moving as it commemorates those men who were shot for ‘cowardice’ (and recently pardoned) during the first world war. Many were teenagers when they died. Also impressive was the Parachute Regiment memorial, with its clever parachutist sculpture.

I would suggest you given yourself half a day to do the Arboretum justice and to give yourself time to reflect. We only managed two hours, including lunch, due to the wet and windy weather conditions and felt we needed to come back on a warmer day to take it all in properly. Also, it would be great to see the gardens in full bloom – when we visited the trees and plants were only just coming into bud. I have a feeling that they will look very beautiful in summer.

The National Arboretum is maturing and evolving and, having got off to what seems to be a very good start, I think it can only get better.

In my view this is an important place because it forces you to think about the cost of human conflict. It’s also a beautiful, peaceful place, somewhere in this busy, troubled world of ours to stop, stand and stare.

A very large, 150 acres, setting for a huge number of memorials to a very wide range of regiments, associations and civilian bodies. Includes the imposing and thought provoking National Monument. Quite a large number of people there with us, but it is so big there is no sense of crowds and plenty of space for quiet and contemplation. We found the memorial to the First World War soldiers who were shot at dawn (and pardoned in 2007) especially moving.
We found it was too big to see everything in a day and if you have any trouble walking well worth taking the train tour.
It is also worth visiting the chapel and if you are there at the right time taking in the 15 minute introductory talk.
Again a place that we hope to return to.

Hot food is not brilliant but edible. A little pricey for the portions and when you collect your food, it is rapidly going cold whilst you queue to pay and then find a table. During our visit, finding a clean table was another issue which spoilt eating depleting "hot" food.

I visited the Arboretum on my own when I had a few hours spare. I was overwhelmed by how peaceful and thought provoking this open space was. The memorials and gardens are well maintained and the staff are informative and ever so helpful. I attended the service of remembrance at 11am followed by the welcome talk which gave meaning and information about why particular materials and products were used. I will definitely be visiting again as I took a lot away from my visit on a cold and wet Monday.

The centre has easy access and the staff were all so helpful, friendly, enthusiastic and knowledgeable.
The gardens are more than 150 acres and impossible to visit all the memorials in one day, but even the one day we had was very moving. We were 4 ex-military men and had good time to visit all the memorials of special significance to us.
One of us had limited walking ability so we started with a tour on the 'land train' which gave an excellent overview with a good broadcast commentary. After that one of the kind and knowledgeable volunteers took us around in an electric buggy to the memorials which were of special significance, asking only that we be kind enough to make a donation to the memorial.
The crowning moment was a walk up the main memorial, which is a very moving place. I especially liked the two gaps in the inner and outer walls which are only perfectly lined up to allow the sun to shine through on the eleventh hour, if the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
A memorable day at a memorable location to which I plan to return

Lovely setting maturing all the time.whether you have lost someone in wars you cannot fail to feel the sense of loss.If you are in the area it should be a must on your tour.

I have been here a number of times and every time there has been more memorials added.
The main memorial with all the names is a lesson to us all on the unnecessary loss of life and great expense wars cause.

A wonder round the grass and look at all the other memorials is a fine tribute to all those men and women that died so we can live. I hope we do appreciate their sacrifice for us.

The whole site is very well kept and the volunteers are great and so knowledgeable.The food in the cafe is well presented and a reasonable price. The staff are very friendly.

A fine weather activity but so rewarding.