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Some total asshatt has gone up to the military road overnight and hacked down the sycamore in what was sycamore gap.
(apologies for the clickbait local rag link)
https://www.hexham-courant.co.uk/news/23819352.sycamore-gap-northumberland-damaged-storm-agnes/
What the actual 😡 why would anyone do that?
Even by local rag standards, that's piss poor reporting.
The tree has "fallen down overnight" ???
I'm no arborist but it looks to me very much like it's been cut down.
Wtf
Article made me laugh.
"Appears to have fallen down" golly gosh I wonder how that happened? What a mystery. Anyone seen my glasses?
"It is not clear currently whether the tree is a victim of Storm Agnes or it is a deliberate act - though pictures indicate a clean and straight cut."
Really?
Ooh the article keeps changing. Now they "have reason to believe it has been deliberately felled".
Not so sure myself. Maybe a chainsaw was just blowing along in the storm? Or an extra strong gust of wind just snapped it cleanly off like broccoli?
I'll be here all day hitting refresh on that article until they figure it out.
Well bang goes Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves 2.
Bastards.
I'm actually gutted by that. I've been up there loads of times and saw it a couple of weeks ago whilst driving to meet my Uncle at nearby pub. I was slightly excited every time I saw it. Its hard to explain why.
Mindless staff. Why would someone put effort into vandalism like that?
If it helps me and my chainsaw are free this afternoon to clear it up. Sycamore does burn well in my burner. Just sayin'
What the actual 😡 why would anyone do that?
I would start by looking at anyone who's had a TPO slapped on them recently. Honestly its like the wild west up here sometimes. Next they'll be shooting planning officers. Oh wait...
Walked Hadrians wall with my sister last year as part of her 60th birthday celebrations, her husband (Aussie) says that's a "suicide" cut done by someone who doesn't know how to cut down trees properly 🤔
Walked Hadrians wall with my sister last year as part of her 60th birthday celebrations, her husband (Aussie) says that’s a “suicide” cut done by someone who doesn’t know how to cut down trees properly 🤔
Its come clean off at the hinge without splitting, in the direction they wanted it to go (judging by the hinge location). Might not be the best cut ever but it did exactly what the feller wanted.
Why would someone put effort into vandalism like that?
Because, as hot_fiat quite correctly says, asshats. They're bloody everywhere. FFS, completely pointless. And has very likely caused damage to the adjacent piece of the Wall as it fell. I hate people.
What it should look like.
Not so sure myself. Maybe a chainsaw was just blowing along in the storm? Or an extra strong gust of wind just snapped it cleanly off like broccoli?
Sorry it was my fault. Left a bunch of circular saw blades out and they just went flying.
More seriously. I know there are assholes out there but that one really is pushing it. Utterly mindless vandalism.
Beyond comprehension! Why on earth would anyone do this! Not like it's an area someone is trying to build a house on! RAGE
Someone caught some footage of the asshats.
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Looking at that picture a large part of the trunk is missing. The piece lying on the ground looks a lot thinner than the stump. Might just be the angle but if that is the case someone has cut it up...
EDIT - seen some pics from different angles now and it just looks like it's been felled and left as is.
I would start by looking at anyone who’s had a TPO slapped on them recently.
What you did there..... I see it!
Looking at that picture a large part of the trunk is missing. The piece lying on the ground looks a lot thinner than the stump. Might just be the angle but if that is the case someone has cut it up…
Its just the angle. The hinge is still visible on the felled part, and if they'd cut it up they'd have made a right mess over the wall/ground too.
I would start by looking at anyone who’s had a TPO slapped on them recently.
What you did there….. I see it!
I was being serious though, I would bet its the recent recipient of a tree preservation order from Northumberland council thats decided to cut down Northumberland's most famous tree. It's exactly the sort of thing someone from round these parts would do.
Well bang goes Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves 2.
Worth it for that alone
senseless. I love that walk along the wall, dripping in history. Sycamore gap was the perfect place to sit down, let the kids have a play and have some food. As someone above said, we loved glimpsing it on the drive along the military road.
sad times...
I was being serious though
I know. And it's utterly shite that some complete nobber has thought this is an OK think to do.
Very sad.
Mental
What a total (insert expletive). If they catch the culprit a community order to plant 10,000 trees at their own expense would be too lenient.
WTF is wrong with people?
Really annoyed by this. Thought it was a joke at first.
I have no words.
WTF, how are places named in Google? Some sick f*** has changed it to..
What Drac said.
some ****s around. ‘Luckily’ Syccies are pretty much weeds, won’t take long for a newly planted one there to shoot up.
On the suicide cut stuff - not far wrong looking at the photos on BBC. It's a shit job by someone who doesn't really know what they are doing. That notch is way too shallow and the hinge way too thin for a tree of that size. And it doesn't look like the hinge is along the edge of the notch cut so probably a poorly cut notch where the two cuts haven't met.
Rush job in the night obvs but does smack of local farmer / landowner rather than an arborist.
Plus no reason why it couldn't have been felled in the other direction away from the bloody wall.
But why? It's not as if it was holding up some Grand Designs mega build or blocking someone's view.
It's absurd. Presumably there is a motive behind this, someone who doesn't like tourists? I'd like to think they will be able to find telltales from the chainsaw cut, a damaged tooth etc and the type of chain might be possible to work out.
If there is any damage to the wall they could be prosecuted for damaging a scheduled monument I think.
You are ****ing kidding me
What sort of crime are we looking here? If the police catch them, what charges could they be looking at?
I'm a bit p****d and saddened by this.
It was one of those humble little bucket list adventures to see it one day. When the film came out it was a pretty good time in my life and it would have been amazing to have experienced that direct link to the film and that time. Add into the mix that I'm a confirmed tree hugger (literally at times) and this has really saddened me.
Plus no reason why it couldn’t have been felled in the other direction away from the bloody wall.
Apart from the 60mph winds that is.
What a total (insert expletive). If they catch the culprit a community order to plant 10,000 trees at their own expense would be too lenient.
Or maybe just plant the culprit?
Saddened by this and another thing to add to my list of why I despair and hate the UK at the moment.
This was on my list of places I really want to visit which has kind of been put on hold whilst the kids were small. Now its gone. Gutted. Hope they find the culprit and throw the book at them. Reminds me of the wonky pub 'fire' and demolition. Arseholes.
Apart from the 60mph winds that is.
Aye, fair point - winds seem to have completely passed us by and it slipped my mind there were yellow weather warnings for large parts of the country (including us!!). Guess they were waiting for a good windy night so noise of the saw didn't carry for miles and miles.
Or they are so stupid that they thought everyone would believe it had blown down
Or they are so stupid that they thought everyone would believe it had blown down
Nah, they know the saw sound would travel and that a wild night = no-one out, least of all the police...
What sort of crime are we looking here? If the police catch them, what charges could they be looking at?
I think that this is one for Special Branch to investigate
I think local landowner/farmer peed off with all the TickTock/Insta plonkers wandering over their land. Presumably that would take a pretty long bar (and some knowledge of how to use it) meaning many £££'s worth of saw so not your average scrote...
I think that this is one for Special Branch to investigate
They'll get to the root of the problem alright
Saddened by this and another thing to add to my list of why I despair and hate the UK at the moment.
+1. I've no connection to the area or to that tree, but behaviour like this makes me despair.
But why? It’s not as if it was holding up some Grand Designs mega build or blocking someone’s view.
Landowner/farmer annoyed with Joe Public on "their" land, probably dropping litter etc etc.
Chopping the tree down is a complete ****'s trick though.
boblo
Free Member
I think local landowner/farmer peed off with all the TickTock/Insta plonkers wandering over their land. Presumably that would take a pretty long bar (and some knowledge of how to use it) meaning many £££’s worth of saw so not your average scrote…
I'd bet the local police (if there are any) will already know who is likely to have done it, or nobody is ever getting done for it
I think local landowner/farmer peed off with all the TickTock/Insta plonkers wandering over their land.
About 5 years ago we were walking to the gap from The Sill. We were about 200m away from the tree. We had four adults, five young kids and two dogs. Unbeknown to me, my nieces who were walking about 100m behind us took their Westie off his lead. He was walking next to them, there was no livestock in the field but there were lambs in the next field. My dog was on the lead. From seemingly nowhere, two youngish lads on a quad bike, complete with shotgun, came full tilt up to me, blocking my path. So I've got no problem with being challenged by farmers, especially when it comes to livestock. They are right to ask for dogs to be on leads and we were in the wrong, fair cop. We deserved to be challenged and I would be the first to apologise. However, they were screaming abuse at everyone dropping C bombs and threatening to break my effing neck. They were shouting and swearing directly at young girls aged 7 & 9. Then the youngest of the two untied the shotgun from the rack on the front of the quad. All of this in front of very young kids who were by then screaming and crying. It was so disproportionate, so violent and so unreasonable we ended up putting a 999 call into the police. Nothing came of that.
So, the idea of local farmer being overly angry with people on the land is very possible.
some ****s around. ‘Luckily’ Syccies are pretty much weeds, won’t take long for a newly planted one there to shoot up.
The lack of other trees near it indicates thats not entirely accurate.
The sheep eat them.
It will also take just a couple of years to be anything like the same. There is a "replacement" planted in anticipation of it dying naturally in a protective enclosure nearby. Not sure how it is doing but its certainly not overly noticable yet.
Hang on… weren’t sycamores only introduced to the UK after Robin Hood’s time?
I think that film may have historical inaccuracies
Some believe it was introduced by the Romans.
There may literally have been a sycamore in that gap since the wall was built.
I would rather it was replaced with something nice and native now it's gone though.
My moneys on the farmer. If they're the land owner and there wasn't a TPO on the tree then it's probably not even a crime if it's under 5m3 in volume (probably). Which is ridiculous.
It was so disproportionate, so violent and so unreasonable we ended up putting a 999 call into the police.
Every patch of land in that vicinity is National Trust, so clearly the 'farmers' whoever they were had no business behaving like that in the right or otherwise.
Like I said, this behaviour is, sadly, pretty normal round the wild west North East!
Sycamore gap is the bit highlighted in the yellow section. All the coloured areas are NT, the colour showing the purchased block. All have been owned for decades now.
I assumed it was NT land but tenant farmers. They are right to challenge people with dogs off a lead, not right to threaten violence, shout at young kids and use a firearm as a threat (I should stress the dog was back on the lead within seconds of quad bike appearing. )
My moneys on the farmer. If they’re the land owner and there wasn’t a TPO on the tree then it’s probably not even a crime if it’s under 5m3 in volume (probably). Which is ridiculous.
Well... If the farmer had say been served an eviction notice for continued threats to the visiting public....
I think that film may have historical inaccuracies
I'll cut your heart out...with a spoon!
Such a beautiful tree, what scumbaggery.
*I know nothing about trees
with enough desire, could you pin that back together? plants generally are fairly resilient, if the top bit was attached to the bottom bit, would it eventually reform into a whole tree?
Like I said, this behaviour is, sadly, pretty normal round the wild west North East!
Is it?
could you pin that back together?
Aye, wrap a bit of duct tape around it and job's a good un.
why?
We live fairly locally, and rather than walk in the busy Lakes, we walk along 'The Wall', often to Sycamore Gap then for a beer at the Twice Brewed Inn.
To be honest I'm totally gutted by this, what hope do we have for a society that does this? Wether it be a farmer, youths or any other idiot then this goes beyond what is 'normal'. I honestly think those that have done it must be mentally disturbed.
The Wall is historic, and I know the tree is fairly new in comparison to the history of the whole site, but it did give pleasure to thousands.
Incidentally. a sapling was planted nearby about 10 years ago, with the intention that should the larger tree die then it would be a replacement............but guess what.........someone cut it down!!!
Ive got flipping loads of saplings > 10' tall examples the NT is welcome to come and collect 🙂 They are indeed like weeds at mine! I planted around 200 native trees a couple of years ago, and the sycamores that sprung up at the same time are doing better than all of them.
It’s a fair trek to carry a chainsaw so I imagine a quad bike was used to get access,
yosemitepaul
I know the tree is fairly new in comparison to the history of the whole site, but it did give pleasure to thousands.
The really horrible thing here is that is likely the exact reason this was done.
Someone just wanted to take that benign little bit of pleasure away from people.
Simply because they could.
It's not that daft a question. And autumn once the sap has descended into the roots would be the ideal time to try it as the tree isn't losing any energy.
However you'd need a big crane to try it.
franksinatra
Full Member
Police have arrested a 16 year old boy.
You just know he posted something about doing it on social media.😐
Yeah strange that 16 year old would go out in storm himself, with a chainsaw and fell a tree in a remote location.
He did well to get there on his own. Luckily because of his age he can’t be identified so no one can know who has parents are. I mean they clearly didn’t notice him leaving the house on foot with a chainsaw in hand.
Bet he rides a Surron 😉
But yes, clearly an unlikely prospect for prosecution.
(I should stress the dog was back on the lead within seconds of quad bike appearing. )
Hadrians Wall has a public right of way along that bit doesn't it? Grey(ish) area but law on footpaths is "under close control" or similar words. Lead isn't actually stated. There are exceptions and various bylaws so there may be one covering this area. Not saying the right thing isn't to have it on a lead, mind you...
Dear God @dashed don’t set them off.
Hadrians Wall has a public right of way along that bit doesn’t it? Grey(ish) area but law on footpaths is “under close control” or similar words. Lead isn’t actually stated. There are exceptions and various bylaws so there may be one covering this area. Not saying the right thing isn’t to have it on a lead, mind you…
I'm happy to concede that dog should have been on a lead, I never intended to debate that. Rule #1 and all that.
Dear God @dashed don’t set them off.
the dogs?