Sycamore Gap – a living symbol

I want to visit Sycamore Gap… and to keep returning.

If I go I will see that the tree is still very much alive.

This spring the roots, woven deep below Hadrian’s wall, are quietly at work. Drawing energy from the soil around them, the tree is sending out tentative new shoots. Year by year we will witness the irrepressible power of nature at work.

Sycamores aren’t commonly coppiced but they can be. In fact, coppicing often increases the lifespan of a tree – potentially meaning the tree at Sycamore Gap will live for another 300 years. Slowly but surely new branches should sprout from around the stump.

I have an artist’s impression in my mind of Sycamore Gap thirty years from now. It will look very different to its earlier magnificent form. There will likely be about ten sturdy trunks emanating from around the stump. In autumn the leaves will turn golden, framed in the dip between the hills and against the setting sun – a different beauty and a sign of hope!

In time, the tree should bear seeds again. Seeds that can be gathered from the mother tree, grown and planted in other landscapes where they too can become signs of continuity and renewal. Perhaps in future years the tree will be carefully coppiced again and the wood used to craft into toys, furniture or art – further lasting reminders of that famous tree.

One ‘mindless act of vandalism’, as the judge described in Newcastle Crown Court. But that’s not the end of the story.

I believe that what was first a symbol of despair can also be a powerful symbol of hope.

Hope doesn’t come from denying loss. It comes from choosing how we respond to it. And I choose hope.

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At the International Tree Foundation, we know that trees are more than just tall plants - they are symbols of hope, resilience, and renewal. And a world full of trees is a world full of hope. Just £2 can plant a tree. Choose hope today, donate now.