Sycamore Gap: Cutting up Hadrian's Wall tree 'like a funeral'

By Duncan Leatherdale at the scene & Chris Robinson

BBC News

The Sycamore Gap tree being cut up and removed from its site next to Hadrian’s Wall was “like a funeral”, a National Trust manager has said.

A crane has been brought in to take the trunk away, which has had to be cut into pieces as it weighed 3-4 tonnes.

Andrew Poad said it felt like “the funeral or the wake” of the 19th Century Northumberland tree, which he has worked around for about 35 years.

But he added: “This is where we can start talking about the future.”

People have been urged to stay away from the landmark while it is being removed.

Workers using chainsaws have cut back its branches and the crane has been moved into position to hoist it away.

Experts are aiming to keep the trunk in “as large sections as possible” to give them “flexibility” on its future.

The public has also been reassured that the tree’s stump has been protected.

On Thursday a few walkers came through to see it but people seemed to be respecting the National Trust’s request to keep away.

The 50ft (15m) tree, which was made famous in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, will be taken to an unnamed National Trust property where it will be “safely stored”.

Part of Hadrian’s Wall was also damaged when the tree came down, some time between the evening of 27 September and morning of 28 September.

“It’s been a huge challenge, but it’s been a real collaborative effort by the partners on Hadrian’s Wall,” said Mr Poad, general manager of the site.

“We’ve explored all the options but we believe we’ve come up with the safest plan for the people who are going to be doing the work and importantly for the wall itself, the last thing we want to do is cause any more damage to the monument by removing the tree.

He said they did not want to “restrict our options for the future” so it would be kept in “as large pieces as we possibly can”.

Options include turning the tree into benches or sculptures, but specialists are maintaining an “open mind” as to what to do with it following thousands of suggestions from the public.

He said they would then speak to “partners and the local community and the public and come up with a way of memorialising the tree longer term”.

The tree, which was seen as a symbol of Northumberland, and was a popular site for photographers and walkers due to its location in a dramatic dip in the land, was planted by a previous landowner in the late 1800s.

Mr Poad called its final journey “a turning point” in the history of the site.

“It’s quite remarkable, for us working here we do feel like we’ve lost a family member, it’s had its Hollywood career back in the 90s, but with the advent of social media it’s really taken on a life of its own,” he said.

“When it won tree of the year a few years ago that gave it a notoriety, and it’s been really apparent that it’s touched an awful lot of people all over the world.”

The stump, which could generate new shoots, will be left, and seeds have been collected which the National Trust said could be used to propagate saplings.

A Northumbria Police investigation continues and a 16-year-old boy and a man aged in his 60s arrested on suspicion of criminal damage remain on bail.

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