Six months after the mighty Sycamore Gap tree was felled, are police finally ... trends now
Somehow the sense of loss at the wanton felling of the Sycamore Gap tree is more profound in the spring.
Certainly, that is how it feels to visitors here, particularly those laying daffodils and rosary beads at the spot where it once stood.
For it was at this time of year when the mighty sentinel beside Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland was always at its resplendent best, with its glossy emerald leaves.
‘When the tree was in its glory, it felt a very special place, kind of mystical,’ says hiker Dee McGonagle, who like many others felt its destruction as a bereavement.
Above, the drizzly grey sky suddenly brightens, making the void left by the famous landmark appear more conspicuous.
The Sycamore Gap tree that sat beside Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland was felled on September 28, 2023
Northumbria Police questioned a 16-year-old boy and 69-year-old former lumberjack Walter Renwick who have both since been released
Blue police tape was put around the scene of the felling whilst forensics came in to investigate
Forensic investigators from Northumbria Police examining the Sycamore Gap tree after it was felled last year
The tree was cut down in the middle of the night and fell on the other side of the ancient Roman wall
‘It would have been a perfect day for taking a picture,’ observes Dee. For her and countless others, this is how the tree is fixed in their mind’s eye – silhouetted in high relief against cloud-dappled blue.
But beside memories, the mystery of what happened here in the middle of that stormy night last September dominates thoughts.
Six months on, the question remains unanswered: Who took a chainsaw to the 150-year-old tree, this great symbol of the North East, and why? And why have the police yet to bring someone before a court?
Locals joke that the stump will grow back before the culprit is found. Some predict gloomily that the case will never be solved.
At first it seemed as if this rural whodunnit would be wrapped up in days.
There was no shortage of suspects. Locals assumed the guilty party was in their midst.
Who else but a local would be able to navigate the remote, rugged terrain in darkness?
One suspect, a 16-year-old, was said to have had a grievance against the National Trust which owns the land around the tree.
Another, a 67-year-old former lumberjack, was forced to publicly deny involvement after police raided his home and took away his chainsaw.
A single flower laid down by a heartbroken visitor paying tribute to the fallen Sycamore tree
Forensic investigators from Northumbria Police examining the scene of the cruel felling the next day
Shocked and saddened locals gathered around the felled tree the morning after it was cut down
