How significant was the Sycamore Gap tree?
Just how significant was the Sycamore Gap tree?
Kevin Martin is the head of Tree collections at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew – he spoke to us earlier from a digital installation around one of their ancient oaks.
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The Herald Scotland
26-05-2025
- The Herald Scotland
The Argyle Street Gap – what does it say about Glasgow?
The site right on the corner, where the police station once stood, is a typical example. The station, an ugly concrete thing, was in use until 2018 but it was sold to developers who pulled it down and now plan to put up a six-storey block of flats, with 62 flats above and six retail units below. I've seen the designs and it's meh. Nothing about it reflects the look and feel of the city or is particularly Glasgow; it's the sort of building that could be anywhere and everywhere and is. But it gets worse, because at the front of the site is all that remains of the old hornbeam tree that once stood by the police station. There aren't a lot of trees in Anderston and Finnieston – this part of the Dear Green Place is not its greenest – but the hornbeam was one of the most noticeable and finest survivors. The best estimate is that it and me were about the same age (50 plus) and it did what trees do in cities: softened the edges, offered shade from the sun and shelter from the rain, and attracted the loyalty of the locals. If you doubt the loyalty we can feel to trees, remember the protests and arrests in Sheffield when the council started felling thousands of trees as part of its 'street improvement'. And remember Plymouth where there was opposition to the destruction of 100 trees in the city centre and the council sneaked in overnight and chopped them down anyway. And remember the horror and upset people felt when the Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian's Wall was chain-sawed; that one was personal, that one really hurt. The reason we feel this way is that trees are often the only green in the place where we live and so start to take on a kind of personality. The Hadrian's Wall sycamore was one of the A-listers – star of posters, postcards and movies – which was why its destruction was particularly shocking, but the folk who live near the Finnieston hornbeam felt the same way about their tree. All that's left now though, after the developers cut it down the other day, is a stump and a gap on Argyle Street where it used to be – a gap that raises questions about what the city is doing to its trees. To be fair to the council, it has addressed the issue of trees to some extent and in 2024 adopted a strategy which aims to increase the number of trees in the city over the next ten years. They've also made a start here and there, planting some 20,000 trees including on the Cathkin Braes in Castlemilk, Tollcross Park and other places. The locations are good choices because we know it's the most deprived parts of the city that have the least trees and we know it's why we started to hear that most terrible of all newspaper cliches: leafy suburbs. Read more MARK SMITH The TV channel that saved us, and heralds the change to come Mark Smith: Eurovision 2025: the year they fixed their Israel problem But what's happened on Argyle Street, at the site of the old police station, highlights what else needs to change. I don't want to exaggerate the importance of one tree – it's outnumbered by all the others that have been planted in the city – but mature trees in particular matter. They help combat air pollution, they help reduce the impact of rain and floods, a real issue in Glasgow, and they help reduce the 'Urban Heat Island' effect: they cool the city down effectively. As the Finnieston hornbeam demonstrated, they also become part of the shape and feel of a community; we start to love them. But what tends to happen is that developers apply to cut down mature trees that are in their way and, as a sop, promise to plant saplings, which is exactly what's happened with the Finnieston development. The developers have said they might plant five saplings along Argyle Street but they've also said it's subject to agreement with the roads authority and final approval so I'll believe it when I see it. The saplings which developers plant also tend to be much smaller, easier-to-control species so even when they're fully grown, they are no replacement for much bigger, more mature trees. Why this happens is that mature trees are a pain in the butt for developers who just want to get their buildings up fast and cheap. The roots of mature trees can cause a problem with pipework and other infrastructure so it needs careful planning to build round them, which costs money. Easier and cheaper to chop the old trees down: problem solved and no extra cost. The tree before it was taken down (Image: Free) But Glasgow could learn a thing or two from Bristol for example where the planning policy directs that buildings should work around existing mature trees. A more enlightened planning policy would also require developers who've made the case for a tree to be removed to move it to another site, or allow time for cuttings to be taken. Some of the locals in Finnieston wanted to do this with their hornbeam, but it doesn't look like it happened. The developers and builders who are desperate to get rid of old trees should also think about this: yes, it might cost more and yes, mature trees will require more maintenance and attention. But retaining old trees can enhance the value of the end product. Basically, people will pay more to live in a pleasant place that's surrounded by mature trees. In other words, trees can boost your profit rather than dent it. It's all too late for the Finnieston hornbeam of course; all that's left of it is a stump in front of a pile of rubble. But there is still time for the council to look again at its tree strategy and consider not just new trees but the old ones too. There's nothing quite as sad, I think, as the sight of what's left of a tree that's taken 50, 100, or 150 years to grow. It's what made the destruction of the Hadrian's Wall sycamore so savage and so brutal, and on a corner of Argyle Street and Finnieston Street you can see and feel the same thing. Let's try and learn from it then. Let's try and do it differently next time.
Evening Standard
14-05-2025
- Evening Standard
Climate change is damaging capital's trees, experts warn London Assembly
'It's an amazing thing for me as a 'tree person' to start seeing that shift, and things like the Sycamore Gap have definitely brought that to the forefront, but I do think we need to keep pushing on with that and don't let it go out of the public eye, because as soon as that news story stops, it will all be forgotten about again.'
Scotsman
13-05-2025
- Scotsman
'Justice' for Sycamore Gap Two: Why they shouldn't be sent to prison
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... In Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, after a spaceship carrying a group of spectacularly inept humans crash-lands on a new planet, they agree to adopt the leaf as legal tender. They think they're rich but inflation rises so high that the price of a single ship's peanut reaches three deciduous forests. Realising they must 'revalue the leaf', their plan to restore economic stability is simple – 'er... burn down all the forests'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The famous Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian's Wall near Hexham in northern England before it was cut down in an act of mindless vandalism (Picture: Oli Scarff) | AFP via Getty Images 'Everyone turned against me' Humans, it seems, hate trees. However, we also love them, as the two men found guilty of cutting down the famous Sycamore Gap tree recently discovered. While appearing to be unpleasant people, even they may not be entirely insensitive to the widespread condemnation of their actions. Being declared an outcast by society is a real and very serious punishment as 70-year-old Walter Renwick, of Allendale, Cumbria, discovered. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He was falsely accused on social media (where else) of cutting down the tree and then arrested by police. After he was cleared, Renwick spoke movingly about how he had considered killing himself as 'everyone turned against me'. The real culprits, Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, who also managed to damage Hadrian's Wall, are currently in prison on remand and face a sentence of up to 10 years, with the judge warning they could expect 'a lengthy period in custody'. Politicians seem clear about what should happen. Kim McGuinness, the Labour Mayor of the North East, called for 'tough sentences' and Glen Sanderson, Conservative group leader on Northumberland County Council, said that 'such a revolting and unbelievable act requires a punishment that fits the crime'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad An aerial view showing the felled sycamore, which landed on Hadrian's Wall, causing some damage (Picture: Oli Scarff) | AFP via Getty Images Bizarre attitude towards nature Am I the only one who thinks that, while Graham and Carruthers seem like petty, stupid and nasty people, they haven't actually killed or injured anyone and that the felling of a tree, even a really nice one, should not mean they are imprisoned for years at considerable cost to the taxpayer? To me, turning this duo into public enemy number one – no doubt only briefly replacing Prince Harry, whose only 'crime' appears to be falling out with his family – smacks of our sometimes bizarre attitude towards the natural world. In this way of thinking, the felled sycamore is less of a tree and more of a celebrity or an icon. We liked it because it looked good in photographs and in the film Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, and because it was, in our eyes, beautiful. Demise of Caledonian forest However, taking humans as a whole, we really don't care about or value trees at anything like their true worth, as an ecosystem that can support vast numbers of other species. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Caledonian forest, a wonderful habitat, has been reduced to less than 5 per cent of its original 1.5 million hectares. In some instances, it has been replaced by commercial tree plantations that are positively hostile to almost all other forms of life (as those who try to walk through a particularly densely planted pine forest, as I have, will quickly discover). I say this as someone who was, for a year, a student of forestry. I have no time for people who express pious outrage on seeing a few acres of recently felled woodland as if this was some kind of sacrilegious act. Commercial forestry companies are the main source of tree planting and need to make an income in order to do that. It's just that some need to be persuaded and cajoled to plant more natural woodlands that still generate a healthy profit. Atonement Might we be so exercised about one 'slain' tree because of a guilty conscience? Probably not, but our anger would certainly be more usefully channelled into greater outrage at our long-standing mistreatment of the natural world. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In my opinion, Graham and Carruthers should be made to make recompense in a practical way that could be used to provide a lesson for others, rather than just jailed and forgotten. The National Trust has taken 49 saplings from the tree, which will be planted in public spaces across the country as 'Trees of Hope'. This, the trust said, would 'allow parts of the Sycamore Gap to live on'. Graham and Carruthers should be given a lengthy community service order instructing them to labour on this project and other tree-planting schemes for free. The public could be invited to watch them work at ground-breaking ceremonies. Why humans feel shame Modern societies have largely forgotten this but shame is a 'bio-social' mechanism that humans evolved to help maintain order. It is triggered by social interactions, but the rush of blood to the face and other symptoms are biological. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad When people in small-scale, hunter-gatherer societies, with no formal legal system, do something wrong, they are typically shamed by others and can start to feel like poor Walter Renwick. They end up being isolated and alone until, eventually, the rest of the village starts to feel sorry for them and they are forgiven. The relief they feel, after believing that everyone important in their lives had turned implacably against them, provides a powerful incentive to never repeat their transgression.
