First saplings from Sycamore Gap seeds to be planted

Saplings from the felled Sycamore Gap tree are to be planted across the UK including at a pit disaster site, a town still healing from the Troubles, and a place that became a symbol of peace, protest and feminism.

- Mark Brown

The National Trust said the planting of 49 saplings, known as “trees of hope”, would begin today. It is hoped that the sycamore will live on in a positive, inspirational way.

The Sycamore Gap tree, on Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, was one of the UK's best known and most loved trees. When it was criminally cut down for no apparent reason on a stormy night in September 2023 there was widespread sorrow, condemnation and anger.

Hilary McGrady, the director general of the National Trust, said it was “the quick thinking of our conservationists in the aftermath of the felling that has allowed the Sycamore Gap to live on”.

Seeds from the tree were collected and have become 49 saplings, one to represent each foot in height of the tree, which was probably planted in the late 19th century.