7 ms·
Britain's Latest True Crime Thriller: Who Killed the Sycamore Tree?
- pavanto 1y agohttps://archive.ph/MvlI8 https://archive.ph/MvlI8
- madaxe_again 1y agoNobody killed the sycamore tree - they coppiced it, and it’s regrowing with vigour.
- jimnotgym 1y agoAnd sycamore trees are an invasive non-native species. In ancient forest, teams of people are employed to remove them
- normie3000 1y agoThis particular tree was at least 1000 years old - there's documentary evidence of Robin Hood using it for shade.
- unfunco 1y agoIt was 150 years old, it makes no difference to me personally in terms of feelings, but 1000 was far enough out that I wanted to correct it. The documentary evidence was a Kevin Costner movie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sycamore_Gap_tree https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sycamore_Gap_tree
- jcurtis 1y agoI suspect that the user you're replying to was joking
- DarkBrocoli 1y agoIt was planted in the 1800s
- alejohausner 1y agoAre you sure? The video I just saw on the BBC shows the tree being felled at its base! That's not pruning.
- madaxe_again 1y agoNo, that’s coppicing. I didn’t say it was pruned. Coppicing does not kill the tree - it actually does the opposite, and extends the lifespan. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing
- marchie_uk 1y agoIt is absolutely not “regrowing with vigour”. When I visited six weeks ago, there was one very small sprout a few inches in size. For comparison, we had to fell a mature sycamore on our land last year; this now has more than a dozen shoots growing from its base, ranging between six and ten feet tall, all with lots of leaves on them.
- madaxe_again 1y agohttps://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/sycamore-gap-is-sprouting/ https://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/sycamore-gap-i...
- marchie_uk 1y agoAll of the stories celebrating the regrowth are from August 2024. They describe 12 “sprouts” - with a hope that they might grow into something more. As of March 2025 - they hadn’t. You claimed the tree was “regrowing with vigour” - this is simply false at this point in time.
- rwmj 1y agoFor those not aware, this is major news here in the UK. The trial is being live-streamed (with reporting, cameras are not allowed) in most major outlets. Here's a BBC article summarising events in the trial last week: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g3kxx1k6xo https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g3kxx1k6xo
- jimnotgym 1y ago[flagged]
- dontlaugh 1y agoMost people I know in the north east are quite upset. Me included.
- unfunco 1y agoMyself, and many of my friends here in Wales were outraged too, plenty of tutting could be heard. Mindless destruction of something old and beautiful just because it's there and people enjoy it, normally an act of children who can sometimes be excused for not yet having the capacity to appreciate things, but this is two grown ups. Small towns across the country have turned to shit, they're boarded up, with only charity shops, vape shops, and betting shops left, more and more people are turning to the countryside for simple enjoyment, especially since Covid; and now that's being chopped up violently too. It was more than just a tree.
- sorryimgreen 1y ago[flagged]
- tomhow 1y agoBe kind. Don't be snarky. Converse curiously; don't cross-examine. Edit out swipes. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- fdb345 1y agoWhat a couple of morons. I cant believe they've gone Not Guilty. The state will sacrifice them to their gods. An example will be made and these men will be severely punished on a much harder scale that what is deserved. Its only a tree after all. It wasn't even documented until that silly Robin Hood movie.
- jemmyw 1y ago> Its only a tree after all It was bringing a lot more joy and happiness to the world for a lot more people than these idiots. But yeah, extreme punishment isn't bringing it back, and all the folks knowing it was them wot done it is surely punishment in itself. A fine and community service would be plenty.
- cal85 1y agoIt’s not about the tree, nor the joy and happiness it brought to many (as very few people knew of this tree, compared to how many are upset). I think what people really don’t like is the deliberate attempt to upset other people (even if it’s not them) for fun.
- mieses 1y agomaybe if they didn't try to protect specific (or arbitrary) trees by law then idiots (most people) wouldn't try to demonstrate how stupid the law was by cutting the tree down. oh, and you're right, i'm not trying to hide the fact that i'm with the people not the trees - in general and in this specific case.
- normie3000 1y agoWhy is it stupid for specific trees to be protected?
- mieses 1y agofor similar reason why specific people, animals or chairs don't deserve more protection than others.
- JohnKemeny 1y agoSome men just want to watch the world burn.
- mieses 1y ago[flagged]
- lqet 1y agoAt least it seems to be regrowing: https://www.npr.org/2024/08/01/nx-s1-5060047/sycamore-gap-tree-regrowth-go-tree-go https://www.npr.org/2024/08/01/nx-s1-5060047/sycamore-gap-tr...
- ashdnazg 1y agoI'm glad I walked Hadrian's Wall Path before this happened. Close to the midpoint you're walking up and down a bunch of small but steep hills and valleys, when a huge tree appears in the next valley. It was really a memorable view in the mostly monotonous English countryside.
- andyjohnson0 1y agoI'm disappointed by the amount of cynicism on display here. Yes, it was "just" a tree, and we have others. It also seems that the stump is still alive, so in some sense it wasnt "killed". But it was also a thing of beauty that was deliberately mutilated for no reason. I think many people worry that this kind of casual destruction is becoming increasingly commonplace, and that valuing natural beauty is becoming harder to even comprehend in the coarsend popular culture of this little island. Edit to add: Over the last few years in the UK a great many ancient trees have been cut down to build HS2, as well as various roads. To the developers they were just an inconvenience: in the way, and not offering any opportunity for value extraction except as dead timber. They were probably also not as instagrammable as the tree in question. Mostly the media coverage of this focussed on the human conflict, not the trees themselves. I wonder whether we're losing our ability to even talk about the dignity and intrinsic value of non-human things.
- DrBazza 1y agoOn the other hand HS2 will end up providing a net increase in woodland. Are you sure you mean ancient and not veteran? Ancient trees usually have some rather special protections.
- samirillian 1y agoWhat kind of tree is this? I know a lot of trees get called sycamores
- justincormack 1y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_pseudoplatanus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_pseudoplatanus
- ionwake 1y agoJust a reminder, if you ever look at England on a map and try and guess where the middle of it is, that is where the tree stood, alone, surrounded by fields. Until it got chopped down. I had actually planned to walk to this tree simply because of how it looked, its location and how peculiar and lovely it seems, from a late night browse on google maps.
- timthorn 1y ago> Just a reminder, if you ever look at England on a map and try and guess where the middle of it is, that is where the tree stood, alone, surrounded by fields. The tree was located about 30 miles from the northern border of England. It could possibly be described as on the middle by longitude but it's far from the middle of England as a whole.
- ionwake 1y agoI mean Great Britain No need to downvote me stickler! I don’t normally say anything but thanks when corrected but in this case most foreigners would expect England to represent the GB landmass so in this case there’s no need to point out the error. Even if it was , it’s odd to start explaining the borders, it’s almost as if you are entirely confused by the prospect of the tree being in the center of the GB landmass. I’m sure you are not but that’s what it comes across as. Only saying this so you work on your context analysis in discussions.