Sycamore Gap tree: Proposals, photographs and the big screen

Standing tall for over a century, a lone tree at Northumberland's Sycamore Gap had survived even the harshest of elements that often batters its remote setting.

But overnight it was toppled "deliberately" as the authorities put it.

It's a sight I have never physically seen. I remember getting a glimpse for the first time as a kid in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and because of the magic of cinema, I was totally unaware it was up the road from home.

For many, it is more than a tree. It is a symbol of Northumberland and the surrounding North East. It was on my list of things to visit. Now, it is no more. And it has left people reeling.

Catherine Cape lives just minutes from where the tree stood and owns a holiday let where guests often stayed to visit it.

"I can't even describe how distressed everybody around here is," she said.

"Here in Tynedale, when we come along the Military Road, we look for the tree and we know we're home.

"It became a beacon of hope for everybody that it should grow in such a cold and exposed place."

She and her husband walked to the tree on their first dates and their daughter took some of her first steps there.

When the Covid pandemic prevented gathering indoors, they would meet family on walks to the tree.

"It gave such comfort to lots of people. I know our family aren't alone in that. A lot of people found solace in the tree," she said.

The tree was also "a very special place" for Kevin Bainbridge.

He proposed to his wife beneath its boughs and a family member's ashes were scattered in its shadow.

"We always said, if anything was to happen to us, our ashes should be scattered there too," he said.

"You think it's going to stand the test of time - it's in a heritage site.

"There's a reason why it's an iconic view and why it's been photographed so many times."

Dan Newman played the character Wulf in the Robin Hood movie, a little boy who hides in the sycamore tree and is rescued by Kevin Costner's character.

"It was the first thing I did on the movie, actually, on my first day," said the actor turned personal trainer.

"It's a beautiful and iconic image, isn't it?

"You can tell by the way that there's such a big reaction to it - it's not just people who live near it or recognise it."

Cutting the tree down was "senseless", he added.

Steve Upton leads walks to the spot as part of Newcastle Hiking. He also remembers when it got the Hollywood treatment.

"My relationship with that tree started when I watched Robin Hood when I was a kid," he said.

"I have led many groups hiking up there, people get very excited about it.

"It was absolute perfection, photographers from across the world visited to specifically see that because of the landscape around it.

"We are coming into autumn now, I was excited to go up to the scene myself to see her in her autumn colours and that has obviously been stripped away from everyone now."

He said many people, including himself, were drawn to the tree to contemplate and relax because of its natural surroundings.

"There are other groups leading meditations up there and people say it's a magical place to be for those reasons," he said.

"This act of vandalism is irreparable, you can't wash this off a wall."

Alison Hawkins, from Liverpool, was one of the first on the scene of the destruction on Thursday morning.

She was on the fourth day of her walk along Hadrian's Wall and became "tearful" when she learned from a national park ranger that the tree had been cut down.

He told her "there was paint around the cut section" so it was done by someone "who knew where they were going to cut", she said.

"It was a proper shock. It's basically the iconic picture that everyone wants to see."

"We've carried on the walk but news is spreading so we've passed quite a few people asking us if it's true."

Author, podcaster and former Conservative MP for Penrith and the Border, Rory Stewart, posted on social media that the tree was "as close as our culture got to a sacred tree".

It had been "venerated, visited, endlessly represented", he said.

Hairy Biker Si King, who grew up in County Durham, posted on social media: "I hope whoever has done that has a conscience because you have just murdered a sentinel of time and elemental spirit of Northumberland,"

"And I hope you feel really good about yourself for whatever warped reason you have done it - it's shocking. I am beyond words."

Many people walk Hadrian's Wall for charity and the tree is a welcome focal point amid the challenging route.

One group raising funds for Keech Hospice Care in Luton, Bedfordshire, posed in front of it just hours before it was chopped down.

Andrea Daniels, who was part of the team, could not believe what had happened.

"We were only there yesterday, marvelling at its beauty," she said.

"It was such a privilege to be there, standing beneath Sycamore Gap and being dwarfed by it.

"It really was a force of nature. Now it's gone and we can't understand why anyone would do such a terrible thing."

Photographer Ian Sproat rushed to the site from his home in North Shields when he learned the news.

"It is the heart of the North East," he told BBC Radio Newcastle's Anna Foster.

"I don't think people will realise how much of an impact this will have - it's like cutting down the Tyne Bridge or the Swing Bridge in Newcastle, it's just as monumental."

Mr Sproat last captured the tree against the backdrop of the Northern Lights a week ago.

"We got one of the best Northern Lights shows the North East has ever seen, they filled the Sycamore Gap, it was just beautiful.

"It's something I will always look back on as my last ever shot of the tree."

Steve Blair, who manages the Twice Brewed Inn in Bardon Mill, Hexham, which is just a stone's throw away from the famous site, believed it was "the most photographed tree" in the Northern Hemisphere.

"The tree is such a big draw for tourism in the north of England and in such a beautiful countryside as well," he said.

"It's quite a popular place for people to propose and for wedding photographs.

"It's so symbolic, you see people sitting on the bankside viewing the tree for hours at a time."

He hopes that while the initial shock will be "devastating" for many, the tree's remains may be put to good use near the site.

"The tree itself can be used for something around the Sycamore Gap itself," he suggested

"It's not as easy as people think just putting another tree there, it has been growing for many years.

"There will be some good to come of it hopefully, it's just devastating at the moment."

A 16-year-old boy has been arrested over the incident.

Additional reporting by Francesca Williams

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