Sycamore Gap

Read on another forum a local said that the landowner was a "grump" who was fed up of tourists going there!!.

Urmstongran

It never was going to be one 16y old lad with a chain saw.

No, it wasn't.

It never was going to be one 16y old lad with a chain saw.

Man in his 60s has also been arrested in connection with the tree felling.

We walk past two trees every day. Have pictures of various grandchildren walking past them throughout the years. Then after Storm Arwen we were horrified to see that one of them had come down in the storm. However, two years on and it’s still alive albeit lying on its side.

While I was out today I passed an enormous old tree that is a contender for Tree of The Year this year. I sincerely hope that no selfish eejit now takes it into their head to do a copy cat and chop it down.

Wicked act - one boy couldn’t have done that - it’s group vandalism.. I hope the boy names the rest.

It looks like it has been properly chain sawed. Can't imagine a 16 year old could do this alone. What a wicked thing to do!

MayBee70

Callistemon21

I remember when the Glastonbury Thorn was hacked down by a mindless vandal. It is now more carefully protected
Oh yes, I'd forgotten that.

I was chatting to some guys from Sweden yesterday who, when I told them about Sycamore Gap mentioned the Glastonbury thorn.

It's so senseless, isn't it?

Oh no Smileless….

I remember seeing Robin Hood at Holloway Road Odeon when it came out. The tree made an impression on me.

Trees are under threat just when we need them, and here in the U.K.

Callistemon21

^I remember when the Glastonbury Thorn was hacked down by a mindless vandal. It is now more carefully protected^
Oh yes, I'd forgotten that.

I was chatting to some guys from Sweden yesterday who, when I told them about Sycamore Gap mentioned the Glastonbury thorn.

I am waiting for someone to say that they are innocent until proven guilty, and reference trial by media . Would that still apply if this person were named, even if he'd been over 18?

Doodledog

As I said upthread, my friend's tree surgeon husband is convinced that a child could neither have acted alone nor had the expertise to cut it down as he did it. It takes a lot of training to do that, which he is just too young to have had, and apparently there would have been more equipment needed than the sort of chainsaw you can buy in B&Q.

The problem is that we keep referring to 16 and 17 years youths as children.
They cannot be named for legal reasons even when they've committed horrendous crimes.

Some may be tall, well-built young men.

They may be strong, fit and capable but I would still question if he did this alone as it was a huge tree and would have taken a degree of expertise to fell it.

As I said upthread, my friend's tree surgeon husband is convinced that a child could neither have acted alone nor had the expertise to cut it down as he did it. It takes a lot of training to do that, which he is just too young to have had, and apparently there would have been more equipment needed than the sort of chainsaw you can buy in B&Q.

However, I agree with others, he cannot have done this alone.

I don't.

All he needed was a large blade chainsaw, and some technical knowledge and experience. It was a straightforward job.

This would not be unusual in a 16 year old raised in a countryside setting.

If it turns out that he 's from the middle of Newcastle I would then be very suspicious...

mumofmadboys

It is very sad to lose such an iconic tree but to imprison the lad would be ridiculous. I agree with community service

Yes, planting trees for the next 20 years.

However, I agree with others, he cannot have done this alone.

maddyone

I can’t see how a young boy of sixteen did this alone. The must have had help.

Me neither, yes there must have been others.

I remember when the Glastonbury Thorn was hacked down by a mindless vandal. It is now more carefully protected
Oh yes, I'd forgotten that.

I can’t see how a young boy of sixteen did this alone. The must have had help.

25Avalon

Yes, hopefully it will re shoot. I have sycamores that had to be felled and every year I am cutting back shoots. They put on about 6ft a year so if it does resprout it may not take too many years before it resembles a tree. It has been cut very low however, and I agree looks like a professional job - maybe the landowner wants to keep visitors away.

I remember when the Glastonbury Thorn was hacked down by a mindless vandal. It is now more carefully protected.

We have one in a hedge, they sprout and grow quite quickly, but they don't resemble a proper tree for decades if the main trunk has been cut low down..

People photograph that tree at all hours and certainly throughout the night. They would have been photographing it when there was the aurora alert the other week: when there’s a meteor shower etc. Whoever did this chose a time when no one would be there so they must have been prepared to do it at the right time and could act quickly.

MiniMoon

During the night some idiot has seen fit to fell one of the most iconic trees in Britain. The beautiful sycamore on Hadrians wall was featured in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.
Why would anyone do such a thing, it's just wanton destruction.
I live close by and am so sad.

Much more than an idiot I think. Careful planning, popular walking area, deliberate wanton vandalism. Suppose some social worker will blame his poor childhood. Instead of looking at the evil little toad he is.

Mollygo

Does that 16 year old realise that it is he who will have a criminal record for life for claiming he did that and protecting other(s) involved.
Witless vandalism.

Possibly he won't see the implications at that age, if he is being coerced or exploited. My friend's husband is a tree surgeon, and he is sure that it wasn't a one-man job, and that a 16 year old wouldn't have the expertise to do it anyway - and that's quite apart from how he got there with the equipment necessary to do it.

I can't imagine a story in which a group of people would get together to do that, or why they would let a child take the blame, but it looks as though that might have happened. Strange.

Does that 16 year old realise that it is he who will have a criminal record for life for claiming he did that and protecting other(s) involved.
Witless vandalism.

Yes, hopefully it will re shoot. I have sycamores that had to be felled and every year I am cutting back shoots. They put on about 6ft a year so if it does resprout it may not take too many years before it resembles a tree. It has been cut very low however, and I agree looks like a professional job - maybe the landowner wants to keep visitors away.

I remember when the Glastonbury Thorn was hacked down by a mindless vandal. It is now more carefully protected.