Sycamore Gap mystery endures as duo face trial

It’s spring, and like they had done for the past 150 years, the leaves of the Sycamore Gap tree should be unfurling to give yet another seasonal colour change to its most historical landscape.

- ALEX ROSS

But the world-famous tree, once prominently located in a natural dip of countryside along Hadrian’s Wall, is now only a single stump, fenced off to the public, after it was felled one night in September 2023.

Eighteen months on, locals and visitors remain angry, upset and frustrated over the loss of one of the country’s most famous and beloved trees. It’s why today, attention in the region will be turned on Newcastle Crown Court, where two men will stand trial accused of chopping it down.

Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, both from Cumbria, are charged with causing £622,000 in criminal damage to the tree, along with £1,100 in damage to Hadrian’s Wall, which was hit by the falling tree. Both have denied the offences.

Less than 35 miles westward from the artificially lit courthouse rooms where the trial will play out, the scenery could not be more different along the idyllic section of Hadrian’s Wall, near Crag Lough, where the tree once stood.