PREVIEW

New Hope For Sycamore Gap Tree As Seedlings Sprout From Stump. One of Britain’s most beloved trees is showing new signs of life as seedlings are returning on the site of the illegally felled Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland. Growing from the base of the stump, eight new shoots have emerged in July giving hope that the tree lives on, ten months since it was felled in 2023. The famed sycamore tree had stood in a dip in Hadrian’s Wall, in Northumberland National Park, before it was felled in an act of vandalism last autumn, sparking an unprecedented public response. The tree was not only a much-loved landmark - but also internationally famous having featured in the blockbuster Kevin Costner movie Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. Each of the tiny new shoots has between one and six small leaves measuring between 2-4cm each in height, equivalent in size to between a 20 or 50 pence piece and while it’s early days, the National Trust and Northumberland National Park Authority is hopeful that if left to grow the new shoots could develop significant new growth to form as ‘new’ trees around the original stump. The regrowth was spotted by Northumberland National Park Authority ranger, Gary Pickles, as part of routine checks in the area. Those nurturing the new seedlings will leave the eight shoots to grow for a few years – to see how they develop. In time they will decide whether to reduce them to a single tree at some point in the future. In the meantime, seedlings gathered in the aftermath of the tree’s felling continue to flourish at the National Trust’s Plant Conservation Centre.