Famous Felled ‘Sycamore Gap’ Tree Isn’t Quite Dead

Mar 18

Mar 18 Famous Felled ‘Sycamore Gap’ Tree Isn’t Quite Dead

When vandals chopped down the famous “Sycamore Gap” tree in the UK last September, local horticulturist Rachel Ryver immediately collected young twigs and buds from the felled tree, thinking it was possible to graft genetic copies of the specimen.

“It was drying out fast,” Ryver tells BBC News. “We had to save whatever we could. Hours later I was standing at Hexham post office thinking ‘nobody knows I'm carrying what's left of the Sycamore Gap tree.’” What was left: five bags of twigs, seeds, and a few leaves.

She delivered the precious goods to fellow horticulturist Chris Trimmer, who went to work with Ryver to grow new shoots from the remnants. Five months later, the tree lovers have nine surviving grafted plants and 40-50 seedlings.

The BBC did disclose the location of the high security greenhouse where the seedlings are housed in Devon, sharing space with other famous cloned arbors, such as a 2,500-year-old yew and the apple tree that Isaac Newton said inspired his theories on gravity. The sycamore saviors have not yet decided where the seedlings will be planted. If they live, they’ll be adults in 25 years, and fully mature in about a century.

Meanwhile the stump of the original sycamore might yet yield new growth on its own. The horticulturists say it will be three years before they’ll know if the stump is viable. It had been planted in the natural dip of Hadrian's Wall in the late 1800s, then grew into its iconic silhouette.

For Trimmer (good name for a tree guy, by the way), the tree has a special meaning. The first movie he saw with his future wife was “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves,” which included scenes of the majestic sycamore. The resultant fame made the gap one of the most photographed spots in Britain. Maybe it will be again one day.