Sycamore Gap tree’s legacy to live on with saplings to be planted across UK

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Louise Thomas

Editor

Its destruction triggered outcry and sadness across the nation – but now, 12 months on from the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree, saplings of it are to be planted across the UK.

Custodians of the much-photographed and visited sycamore say they hope the venture, which comes exactly a year after the tree was chopped down, will create a new chapter of hope in its legacy.

The Trees of Hope project will see a total of 49 saplings, each representing a foot of the height of the tree, gifted to communities across the country for planting in publicly accessible spaces.

Groups are being invited to apply for the saplings by the National Trust and Northumberland national park.

It begins a new era for the Sycamore Gap tree, which was a longstanding feature above Hadrian’s Wall before it was illegally felled on the night of 27 September last year.

Early reports at the time suggested it had been brought down by a storm, but it quickly emerged that the iconic tree had been chopped down.

Two men charged with criminal damage over the felling of the tree will face trial in December. They have denied the charges.

Andrew Poad, general manager for the National Trust’s Hadrian’s Wall properties, said: “The last 12 months have been a real rollercoaster of emotions, from the hopelessness and grief we felt when we discovered that the tree had been illegally felled, to experiencing the stories shared with us about just what the tree meant to so many.”

Mr Poad said saplings had been created from some of the seeds collected from the stricken tree. They were looked after at the Trust’s Plant Conservation Centre in Devon, where a team has successfully propagated more than 100 seedlings.

He said: “In announcing our Trees of Hope initiative today, we aim to find new homes in community settings across the UK so people can have the opportunity to engage with the Sycamore Gap tree and its legacy, so that more people everywhere can feel that they are part of this story – that they are a part of this tree’s wonderful legacy, helping to create a new chapter in the life of this legendary tree.”

Already selected to receive saplings as part of the initiative are Henshaw Church of England Primary School, which is the school closest to Sycamore Gap, and all 15 national parks in the UK.

An exhibition – Sycamore Gap: One Year On – is also being officially opened at The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre in Hexham on Friday, when 240 children from 13 local schools will take part in a celebration of the tree’s life ahead of the public being allowed in on Saturday.

The Sycamore Gap tree is thought to have been planted by Newcastle philanthropist and lawyer John Clayton in the second half of the 19th century.

Over the years, its popularity has seen countless marriage proposals, birthday celebrations and scatterings of ashes take place beneath its canopy, and it even appeared in the Hollywood film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.