Why , just why would someone do this [Cut down the Sycamore Gap tree]

[Andrew_C]

without taking the wood?

 

Long walk anywhere with several tonnes of wood over your shoulder!

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.0036028,-2.37918,4575m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu

[speakercon]

For me the whole thing reminded me of that Simpsons episode where Bart cuts off the head of the town hero's statue after hearing how cool 2 school bullies thought it would be, but that turned out to be "cloud talk" and everyone hated him for it.

But really who would do this? did they know it was a protected tree: if not why just cut it down and leave it there without taking the wood? My friend has a wood burner and finds it far easier to take trees that are already "on their way out"

 

The Simpsons episode crossed my mind as well.

[6Foot2]

Link: Sycamore Gap tree removed from Hadrian’s Wall to be seasoned and reused | Northumberland | The Guardian

 

As National Trust draws line under criminal act, members of public suggest future uses for timber

 

Some saw the day as a chance to say farewell. One person described the event as a “full stop” to the saga. But as the criminally felled, world-famous Sycamore Gap tree was carefully removed from its home on Hadrian’s Wall, people also spoke of hope, optimism and rebirth.

 

“The irony of this criminal act is that we have reset the clock on this tree now,” said Andrew Poad, the National Trust’s general manager of the site. “In forestry terms, it has been coppiced and it will regrow.”

 

A crane from Manchester arrived on Thursday morning for the challenging job of removing the tree. After days of withering winds, rain and gloomy skies, this thrillingly beautiful part of rural Northumberland enjoyed warm sun, blue skies and barely a breath of breeze.

 

Poad regarded the day as a funeral, but also as “the point where we can draw a line under what has happened and start thinking about the future”.

 

The Sycamore Gap tree was regarded by many as an integral part of north-east England. Its felling two weeks ago prompted an outpouring of distress, mixed with fury at the pointlessness of the vandalism.

 

Throughout Thursday, a team worked with chainsaws to cut the tree into manageable sections that could be transported to a truck.

 

Because the site is an ancient monument, a national park and a world heritage site, the work was slow and careful. The felling of the 50ft tree also caused damage to the wall on which it has been balancing precariously, slowing things down further.

 

The tree is timber now. Before it can be used to create something new – a memorial bench, a sculpture or something completely different – the wood will need to season and will be taken to an undisclosed location where that can happen naturally.

 

The expectation is that the stump will regrow and the National Trust said it would figure out a way to prevent the cattle and sheep who graze nearby from getting at it.

 

Few people expect anything as wonderful as the one felled, “but most of us will see a small tree there in our lifetime”, said Poad.

 

The Sycamore Gap tree was planted about 130 years ago by the landowner John Clayton. “He was an incredibly visionary man,” said Poad. “A real unsung hero. He planted it as a landscape feature in the full knowledge he wouldn’t see it in his lifetime. He took the long-term view and that is what we are here to do, we are planning for future generations.”

 

The National Trust has been inundated with suggestions on what should happen to the tree and the site, particularly over the last few days. As landowner, the final decision will be taken by the trust but that will take months. “Emotions are running really high at the moment, I think it would be a good thing to let things calm down a bit so we are all thinking a bit more rationally,” said Poad.

 

A partner in the process is Northumberland national park authority. Its chief executive, Tony Gates, said the day brought mixed emotions of sadness and hope. “I think we have reached a sort of full stop because this landscape is going to change forever today. But I’m feeling optimistic because of the public reaction to the felling of the tree.

 

“My hope is that from one negative and selfish act we get 1,000 positive ones.”

 

The Sycamore Gap tree has been the site of countless marriage proposals, scatterings of ashes, birthday celebrations and more.

 

On Thursday, the public were asked to stay away but a few felt they had no choice but to see it for one last time. “It is a momentous day,” said Maggie McColl, a charity worker, visiting with her partner and three Northern Inuit dogs.

 

Like many she remembers her emotions when hearing the news. “I was incredulous, just so angry … I was very sweary. I think I felt a kind of grief and an inability to comprehend how someone could do it. If you are cutting down something like that then you’ve lost all hope.”

 

There have been hundreds, maybe thousands, of tributes, memories and suggestions about what happens next sent to the National Trust.

 

McColl thinks a piece of the tree should be given to the UK’s four nations who should make something that comes back together as one. “Tragedies like these unite the country, so something that represents that would be really powerful.”

 

Northumbria police arrested a boy, 16, and a man in his 60s after the tree was felled. They have been released on bail pending further inquiries.

[6Foot2]

Link: Felled Sycamore Gap tree to go on public display in Northumberland | Northumberland | The Guardian

 

The largest section of the Sycamore Gap tree unlawfully cut down last December is to go on public display, Northumberland national park has announced.

 

The tree, which stood in a dip next to Hadrian’s Wall, will be exhibited at the Sill, a tourist attraction in Hexham, not far from where it once stood.

 

The national park said it had received 2,000 “heartfelt” messages from people from all around the world expressing sorrow after the tree’s toppling, labelled by Northumbrian police as a “deliberate act of vandalism”.

 

Though a man in his 60s and a 16-year-old boy were arrested in connection with the incident, no further action was taken.

 

The felling provoked an outpouring of shock and anger.

 

Hexham Conservative MP Guy Opperman described locals as “devastated” by the destruction of what he called a “symbol of the north-east”. Hairy Biker celebrity chef Si King, who grew up in County Durham, described the incident on social media as the “murder” of a “sentinel of time and the elemental spirit of Northumberland”. Historic England said a section of Hadrian’s Wall – constructed between AD122 and AD130 – was damaged when the tree came down.

 

The authority said it was mulling over various options aimed at preserving the tree’s legacy for future generations. One option under consideration is to leave the stump alone in the hope that it will regrow. Other ideas involve creating art installations from parts of the felled section and making the site a place of reflection.

 

Chief executive officer Tony Gates said: “The felling of the Sycamore Gap tree has shown just how much nature and landscape mean to people and to their very wellbeing. As stewards of the legacy of Sycamore Gap, the partners have been humbled by the outpouring of love and emotion for the tree.

 

“We understand the diversity of opinions surrounding a future legacy and are committed to navigating this journey with the utmost care and respect. We are grateful for everyone’s patience and understanding.”

 

A fence has been placed around the remaining stump so that it remains protected but can still be seen. “We are looking to see how nature responds at the site,” said a spokesperson.

 

Standing near the village of Once Brewed, the tree marked a significant spot along the 135km Hadrian’s Wall route between Wallsend, North Tyneside and Bowness-on-Solway, Cumbria.

 

Believed to have been planted in the late 1800s by one-time landowner John Clayton, and intended to be “a feature of the landscape”, the tree was long a popular location for walkers and photographers on account of its unusual and scenic setting.

 

It gained further renown when it was featured in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, garnering the nickname the “Robin Hood Tree”, despite being 273km from Sherwood Forest.

[6Foot2]

3 minute read, > 1,000 words.

 

Link: Sycamore Gap: New life springs from rescued tree - BBC News

 

New life has sprung from the rescued seeds and twigs of the Sycamore Gap tree mysteriously cut down last year, giving hope that the iconic tree has a future.

 

BBC News saw the new shoots on a rare visit to the secret National Trust centre protecting the seedlings.

 

Millions once visited the sycamore tree nestled in a gap in Hadrian's Wall.

 

A national outpouring of shock and dismay followed its felling in September.

 

Police are still investigating what happened in what they call a "deliberate act of vandalism". Two men remain on bail.

 

Just a stump is now left - if it is healthy, a new tree could eventually grow there.

 

Young twigs and seeds thrown to the ground when the tree toppled were salvaged by the National Trust, which cares for the site with the Northumberland National Park Authority.

 

When we inquired about what happened to those specimens, they invited us to see for ourselves.

 

We can't disclose the exact location of the high security greenhouse, except that it is somewhere in Devon ...

[Dos_Box]

2 Men charged - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-68931202

[6Foot2]

Link: Sycamore Gap: Man pleads not guilty to cutting down tree - BBC News

 

A man has pleaded not guilty to chopping down the world-famous Sycamore Gap tree.

 

Daniel Graham, 38, and Adam Carruthers, 31, were charged with criminal damage both to the tree and to Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland.

 

Mr Graham, of Carlisle, entered pleas of not guilty to both charges at Newcastle Crown Court. Mr Carruthers, of Wigton, Cumbria, entered no plea.

 

The tree was cut down in September and the men were arrested in October.

 

The criminal damage caused by the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree has been valued at more than £620,000, according to court documents.

 

Harm to the tree has been valued at £622,191, with £1,144 for the wall.

 

Both offences were alleged to have been committed on 28 September last year.

 

The much-photographed tree, which has stood next to the Roman wall since the late 1800s, was cut down in September, causing an international outpouring of shock and dismay.

 

The tree had been popular with visitors and tourists, with millions of people travelling to the Northumberland site.

 

In a nine-minute hearing the men spoke to confirm their names and addresses.

 

District Judge Zoe Passfield said she understood that "feelings are running high in respect of the case".

 

Prosecutor Rebecca Brown said the case would be "instantly recognisable" and the Sycamore Gap tree was "deliberately felled".

 

Both men were bailed until their next appearance at Newcastle Crown Court on 12 June.

[6Foot2]

Link: First Sycamore Gap tree 'offsprings' to be planted - BBC News

 

Quote

The first saplings grown from the illegally felled Sycamore Gap tree will be planted this weekend.

 

Five saplings will be installed in Coventry, Staffordshire, Berkshire, Cambridge and Strabane on Saturday, the National Trust said.

 

Next week more plantings will take place in Hexham, Leeds and Sunderland.

 

It is part of the charity's Trees of Hope initiative which received nearly 500 applications for the 49 saplings grown from the seeds rescued from the tree, which stood in a dip next to Hadrian's

Wall in Northumberland until two men from Cumbria cut it down one night in September 2023.

 

Daniel Michael Graham 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, were jailed for four years and three months in July after being convicted of criminal damage.

 

Hilary McGrady, director general of the National Trust, said the saplings would become an inspiration and home for nature, but also a reminder that "there are always good things worth fighting for, even after something so senseless".

 

Where will the saplings go?

There are 49 saplings in total, one for each foot of the old tree's height.

 

More than half of those will be planted over the course of National Tree Week between 22 November and 30 November.

 

The first places to plant a tree on Saturday include The Tree Sanctuary in Coventry, where three teenagers set up a project to rescue their city's trees, and a site commemorating the Minnie Pit mining disaster in Staffordshire.

 

Saplings will also go to Greenham Common in Berkshire, Lisnafin Community Centre in Strabane and Coton Loves Pollinators in Cambridge...

 

[Koldov]

On 15/05/2024 at 15:12, 6Foot2 said:

Link: Sycamore Gap: Man pleads not guilty to cutting down tree - BBC News

 

The criminal damage caused by the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree has been valued at more than £620,000, according to court documents.

 

Harm to the tree has been valued at £622,191, with £1,144 for the wall.

 

Both offences were alleged to have been committed on 28 September last year.

 

The much-photographed tree, which has stood next to the Roman wall since the late 1800s, was cut down in September, causing an international outpouring of shock and dismay.

 

The tree had been popular with visitors and tourists, with millions of people travelling to the Northumberland site.

 

So, the damage to a world famous national icon attracting millions of visitors is worth about £620k (I'd say it was worth more than that to the local economy alone then) and damage to part of an irreplaceable historical monument/heritage site is just over £1k (was that the local bricklayers estimate?!)...

 

It still blows my mind... What was the actual point of doing it...? Mindless vandalism...? Maybe it's a rural thing, but really if you're feeling like you want to destroy something/watch the world burn, it's a strange choice. What exactly did they have against the tree? Will we ever know?

[6Foot2]

Quote

Why, just why would someone do this?

 

Same question again:

 

Link: Christmas tree in Durham village chopped down hours after lights switched on | England | The Guardian

 

Quote

A Christmas tree that had stood in a village for more than a decade has been chopped down hours after having its lights switched on.

 

The tree, in Shotton Colliery in County Durham, was felled between 10pm and 11pm on Wednesday. It is believed to have been cut down deliberately. Police are appealing for witnesses.

 

Steve Maitland, the chair of the Shotton Residents Association, said the tree had been put up as a monument to soldiers who died in the first world war.

 

“These people who did this – I don’t think they understand the history and the feeling of these things,” he told the BBC.

 

He described the incident as an act of “mindless vandalism”.

 

“The Christmas trees lights were turned on at about 5pm and 80 to 100 people turned up to watch. Hours later, this has happened,” he said. “Whoever has done it feels they can get away with it, but hopefully they will be caught.”...