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Original poster

Sycamore Gap - tree has been felled!

707 replies

NepheliLoux · 28/09/2023 10:51

Looks like someone has deliberately felled the famous tree in Sycamore Gap. I can’t believe anyone would do such a thing. I don’t normally get emotional but this has really upset me. It’s absolutely irreplaceable.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
28
Pr1mr0se · 28/09/2023 11:59

It doesn't look like it was diseased or in danger of toppling over in the next storm. Totally deliberate vandalism. Irreplaceable.

MissingMoominMamma · 28/09/2023 12:00

Apparently it was cut so badly that it was dangerous and needed to be felled completely. Someone cut it, but not completely. That is malicious.

MissInterpretation · 28/09/2023 12:00

I haven't been able to work for the past hour since finding out about the tree. It might not make sense to a lot of people but this tree means so much to me and it feels like a bereavement. What a lesson about regrets and not putting things off, as I never got round to actually going to see it 😥

DisquietintheRanks · 28/09/2023 12:00

RandomButtons · 28/09/2023 11:55

Surely legality comes down to who owns the land? It’s illegal to cut down a tree on someone else’s land (but you can cut down branches that overhang your land)

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There are other protections. A tree preservation order is one that youd hope a tree of this significance would have. It's not quite as simple as "who owns the land" although this is where you'd start.

DisquietintheRanks · 28/09/2023 12:02

MissingMoominMamma · 28/09/2023 12:00

Apparently it was cut so badly that it was dangerous and needed to be felled completely. Someone cut it, but not completely. That is malicious.

That actually makes sense. I manage a woodland estate and have had to fell trees that someone's had a go at and made unsafe. Utter bastards 😟

CatamaranViper · 28/09/2023 12:03

MissInterpretation · 28/09/2023 12:00

I haven't been able to work for the past hour since finding out about the tree. It might not make sense to a lot of people but this tree means so much to me and it feels like a bereavement. What a lesson about regrets and not putting things off, as I never got round to actually going to see it 😥

I feel the same way.

We had planned to visit for our anniversary this year (it's where we got engaged) but DH was poorly so we put it off.

Fullfatandfortyplus · 28/09/2023 12:03

Agree I’m absolutely devastated we have family that live nearby and always do a walk to sycamore gap when we are there. Locals are absolutely gutted too. It’s so very very sad.

CatamaranViper · 28/09/2023 12:04

MissingMoominMamma · 28/09/2023 12:00

Apparently it was cut so badly that it was dangerous and needed to be felled completely. Someone cut it, but not completely. That is malicious.

Where has this been said?

HeartandSeoul · 28/09/2023 12:04

I heard about it on a stargazing page that I follow on Facebook (Go Stargazing). There are no words.

Sycamore Gap - tree has been felled!
SuddenlyOld · 28/09/2023 12:05

MissingMoominMamma · 28/09/2023 12:00

Apparently it was cut so badly that it was dangerous and needed to be felled completely. Someone cut it, but not completely. That is malicious.

Don't think that's what happened tbf - it was a clean professional cut. Tree was still there 7pm last night so it was done overnight and illegally

CatamaranViper · 28/09/2023 12:06

Sounds stupid but can they transplant a young tree there? Won't be the same bit it would be nice to be part of watching the second tree grow...

SinnerBoy · 28/09/2023 12:08

Blackbyrd · Today 11:28

Has anyone any idea at all why someone would do this?

My first though was: "Has the land changed hands recently?"

Wisterical · 28/09/2023 12:08

What an evil act. For anyone thinking 'evil' is hyperbole, because it's just a tree not a person or even an animal, the evil lies in knowingly destroying something that was so meaningful and loved by so many of us. Whoever did this is a truly nasty piece of work.

Tryingtryingandtrying · 28/09/2023 12:08

How old was it? Just awful

DisquietintheRanks · 28/09/2023 12:09

@CatamaranViper the tree won't actually be dead. It will regrow in coppice form from the stump (multiple shoots) if allowed to. Unfortunately it will never have the same magnificent form and will take a long time to look like anything at all.

howmanyflutes · 28/09/2023 12:09

What on earth ?

How sad

supermamio · 28/09/2023 12:09

Northumbria police have put this online

Sycamore Gap - tree has been felled!
Liamgallaghersparka · 28/09/2023 12:10

Bastards!

AtmosAtmos · 28/09/2023 12:10

I live in the area. 😪😡

Liquorish · 28/09/2023 12:12

400 years... and some lowlife comes in the night to destroy it. I would feel like I was chopping my own arms off. I hope they are caught and made an example of.

Syndulla · 28/09/2023 12:14

Either, the local farmer is fed up of Instagrammers traipsing over the nearby land to get the perfect shot, or Gamekeepers are trying to get better line of site for shooting.

I hope they catch the culprits, but as it was done in the middle of the night I think that's very unlikely. It's not like the area will be covered with CCTV.

So sad. It's not far from me and it's such a lovely spot.

medianewbie · 28/09/2023 12:17

Hard to fathom why anyone would do this? What would you gain by it ?
It's enormously sad, the deliberate killing of a much loved (& needed) tree.

thevegetablesoup · 28/09/2023 12:18

I actually wouldn't be surprised if this was the work of some sort of environmental group trying to make a point re deforestation and how upset everyone is over one tree on our doorstep compared to millions of trees felled in the rainforest.

Pathetic zero sum argument if so and can only succeed in turning people away from the cause.

Speculating, obviously.

CatamaranViper · 28/09/2023 12:19

Syndulla · 28/09/2023 12:14

Either, the local farmer is fed up of Instagrammers traipsing over the nearby land to get the perfect shot, or Gamekeepers are trying to get better line of site for shooting.

I hope they catch the culprits, but as it was done in the middle of the night I think that's very unlikely. It's not like the area will be covered with CCTV.

So sad. It's not far from me and it's such a lovely spot.

It's hardly just instagrammers. It was the most photographed tree in the UK for a period of time. Professional movie productions, photographers, artists, social media users and people with bog standard cameras have taken millions of pictures of this tree for decades.

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