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May 14, 2025 28 mins

On September 27th 2023, the famous Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland was felled overnight in an act of vandalism, triggering a far-reaching wave of shock and sorrow. 

Join Heather Birkett, as she goes behind the scenes to explore the enduring impact of this beloved landmark, the aftermath of its loss, and the community’s efforts to preserve its memory.

This episode has been updated from an previous release; National Trust Podcast - Sycamore Gap |One Year on

[Ad] Wild Tales is sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor, your outside retailer and epic guides to adventure.  Quick breathers, calming walks or heart-pounding hikes. We feel better when we get out more.  Find quality kit and 50 years of outdoor wisdom. Plus, supporters save 15% in-store and online. Feel in your element, in the elements, at Cotswold Outdoor. 
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Production
Host: Heather Birkett
Producer: Nikki Ruck, Katy Kelly, Pippa Tilbury-Harris
Sound Design: Nikki Ruck   

Discover more
To find out the latest information surrounding The Sycamore Gap Tree including The Trees of Hope campaign
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sycamore-gap

Find out what’s on in Northumberland Park and The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre
https://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/whats-on/

Follow Wild Tales on your favourite podcast app or on Instagram @wildtalesnt. If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected to our wild world, you can contact us at podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk
Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
ROSIE HOLDSWORTH (00:40):
Hello and welcome to Wild Tales. I'm Rosie
Holdsworth and for this episodeI'm handing you over to gardens
expert Heather Birkett. Ninemonths ago we released a podcast
about a tree that moved anentire nation. This was no
ordinary tree but one that stoodmajestically in a gap between
the hills. A tree so iconic itbecame a symbol of the landscape

(01:04):
itself.

HEATHER BIRKETT (01:06):
On the 28th of September 2023, the world
reacted with shock and sorrow tothe news that the Sycamore Gap
tree had been felled overnight.Over the following year, we were
able to go behind the scenes andgain access to the people
closest to this story to uncoverhow this crisis unfolded, what

(01:26):
happened next, and why it'smeant so much to so many. And
now, because of the renewedinterest in the tree. We're
re-releasing this episode,complete with an update at the
end, sharing the latestconservation news from Sycamore
Gap.
As I sit with a cuppa, I can'thelp but reflect on the

(01:49):
headlines that echoed around theglobe. This one says, "Sycamore
Gap, iconic tree seen lying nextTo Hadrian's Wall after being
felled." Another declares, "Famous Sycamore Gap Tree Found
Cut Down Overnight." And oneparticularly poignant

(02:09):
headline, "The last time Ivisited Sycamore Gap, I never
imagined I would never see itagain."
I start my journey in December2023, just over two months after
the felling, to try andunderstand the impact of this
loss firsthand.

(02:30):
We've come to Northumberland.We're surrounded by green
rolling hills, which rise gentlyup and then drop away sharply,
giving the whole landscape asense that it's been tilted on
its side. It feels remote, otherthan a few cottages and the
occasional sound of a tractor ora car, and this fantastic stone

(02:52):
wall. It's been here for 1,900years. Hadrian's Wall is a real
feature of the landscape. Sowe've reached a gap between two
hills. At the bottom of the gapthere's this fenced off
enclosure which surrounds thestump that used to be the
Sycamore Gap tree and I'm hopingto meet Andrew and Luke here
today who are going to tell me abit more about what happened.

LUKE STRASZEWSKI (03:15):
Hi I'm Luke, I'm one of the ranger team up
here on the Hadrian's Wallestate.

HEATHER BIRKETT (03:19):
Hi nice to meet you.

ANDREW POAD (03:21):
My name's Andrew Poad, I'm general manager for
Northumberland Coast inHadrian's Wall country and as
you can hear in the backgroundI've got my dogs with me today
so I've got Goose who's whining.

HEATHER BIRKETT (03:30):
Hello, Goose

ANDREW POAD (03:31):
She's only eight months old, and Archie was much
older and just sat quietly inthe background.

HEATHER BIRKETT (03:36):
So why do you think the tree was so iconic?

ANDREW POAD (03:38):
It was a recognised landmark prior to its appearance
in Prince of Thieves back in1991. That was the launch of its
career. It was referred tolocally as the Kevin Costner
tree because of the film. Andthen my belief is with the
advent of social media, itbecame that symbol that
everybody wanted to capture fortheir Instagram moment. And in
so doing became... emblematic ofthis part of the world.

HEATHER BIRKETT (04:03):
As well as finding fame in the Hollywood
blockbuster Robin Hood, Princeof Thieves, the tree was also
awarded the title "English Treeof the Year," in 2016 by the
Woodland Trust, a furthertestament to its popularity.
We have a fenced off area here.It's about three metres square.
And in the centre, there is whatI can only describe as a

(04:26):
significantly large tree stump.Luke. Tell me what's happened
here.

LUKE STRASZEWSKI (04:31):
The tree was a pretty striking part of the
landscape. It was around 15metres tall, but it had a good
canopy. It was in good health.This, sadly, was felled
overnight in an act ofvandalism. And the fence is up
now round to protect the stumpin the hopes that we'll get some
regeneration.

HEATHER BIRKETT (04:49):
Andrew, were you the first to get the call
when this happened?

ANDREW POAD (04:52):
Yeah, the National Park are based at the Sill,
which is just within sight ofwhere we are now. Their staff
spotted there was somethingmissing on their way into work.
So I got a call from them.Initial reaction was that it was
a hoax, because we've had hoaxesin the past, and then we had had
storm Agnes the night before.The initial thought was that
it's somehow blown down. Butthen very quickly, they managed

(05:14):
to get the National Trail Rangeron site, who was able to clarify
that it had actually been cutdown. So that shifted things
considerably from a naturalaccident to a deliberate act.

HEATHER BIRKETT (05:24):
And it didn't take long for the news to
spread.

ANDREW POAD (05:27):
Within the hour, the whole world knew because it
hit social media, my workchannels, my personal channels,
everything started lighting upin front of me.

HEATHER BIRKETT (05:35):
Luke, you came down here and found a felled
tree. What happened next?

LUKE STRASZEWSKI (05:41):
Our first priority was to make sure that
the site was safe because thetree had fallen onto the North
side and it was hanging up inthe air. So the first thing we
needed to do was make sure thatit wasn't shifting, that it
wasn't a risk to the public. Sowe cordoned off the area just to
make sure no one could get tooclose to it. And at that point,

(06:02):
obviously, our thought turned towhat can we do to preserve the
tree. Over the next couple ofdays, we collected cuttings, we
collected seed with the hopethat we can get some
regeneration and so that we canhopefully get a new Sycamore Gap
tree.

HEATHER BIRKETT (06:19):
The seeds and cuttings were immediately sent
on to the National Trust PlantConservation Centre, a
specialist plant nursery. Butthere was still the pressing
matter of what to do with thetree.

ANDREW POAD (06:30):
It was apparent to us, to everybody really, that we
needed to come up with a plan toremove the tree effectively.

HEATHER BIRKETT (06:38):
The team then began preparing the site for the
tree's removal. But as Lukeexplains, there were a few
challenges to overcome.

LUKE STRASZEWSKI (06:46):
So the first issue we had with it is the tree
had fallen onto Hadrian's Wallitself, and so we needed to do
what we could to preserve. theUNESCO World Heritage Site. That
meant we were quite limited inour options. That meant we
needed to lift it off the wall.So that meant we were going to
have to get a crane in.

HEATHER BIRKETT (07:04):
Bringing a piece of machinery that size
into the gap was a first.

LUKE STRASZEWSKI (07:09):
We are quite fortunate in that the tree was
used as a filming location forRobin Hood and a road was put
in. That meant that we could getit quite close, but it was very
tricky. Sections of the tree hadto be removed bit by bit. And
they had to be held back as wellto make sure that they didn't
roll or fall in any way. We usedthe crane to lift it out and

(07:31):
then we moved all of that woodonto a trailer and that was
taken away to another location.

ANDREW POAD (07:38):
It was quite a challenge, we had the world's
media sat on the little hill tothe south of us so not only were
we doing something totallyunprecedented we'd never done
before but we had all thecameras pointing at us while we
we were doing it. So that was abit of a tense few hours.

HEATHER BIRKETT (07:55):
On Friday the 13th of October, the tree was
carefully lifted off Hadrian'sWall and covertly transported to
a top secret location within theNational Trust. But as a
sycamore is part of the Acerfamily, the team needed to act
quickly. The clock was tickingthe moment it was felled, as the
sugars within the wood couldquickly lead to fungi and decay.

(08:19):
To preserve it as best aspossible, The tree was put under
the care of a specialist teamuntil a decision could be made
on its future.
I can see some items left at thebase of the tree. Some flowers,
a homemade cross.

LUKE STRASZEWSKI (08:37):
A lot of people have got a real
connection with Sycamore Gap.It's been a part of the local
community. People had proposalshere. Everyone comes out here
for a picnic. People have leftmemorials and mementos to loved
ones who've passed away here andSycamore Gap is just a part of
their lives

ANDREW POAD (08:55):
Having worked with it over these last 30 years i
definitely saw how important itwas to people but i think i
hadn't appreciated the reach ofthat

JUDITH WARD (09:07):
It's been there all my life you look in the gap
oh there's a tree look at allthem people standing around the
tree. Look at them all come tosee it, take the pictures, get
the selfies. My name is JudithWard and I am one of the workers
and front of house supervisor atthe Twice Brewed Inn.
The pub itself is situated righton the Roman Wall alongside one
of the largest touristdestinations in England. And

(09:30):
then that morning my husbandrang me and said, the tree's
down. And I went. What do youmean? He says, the tree's down.
I went, no. So I jumped back inmy car and I could see the cut
end of the tree. And I stoppedthe car and I took a picture and
I put it in our group chat. Andthen the picture started coming

(09:52):
in online. And it's justsenseless. It stood there
through the test of time. Itstood through many a storm, the
harshest of weather conditions,and my brother proposed there,
and it just seems unfathomable.It's just altered the landscape

(10:14):
forever.

HEATHER BIRKETT (10:17):
The global response to the felling of the
tree has been heartfelt andtouching, and in the days
following its fall, the tributesand messages came flooding in.

MARK ROBINSON (10:28):
The sycamore of Sycamore Gap, more than just a
tree. It's a part of ouridentity, a symbol of pride and
belonging for the North East,from badges on school uniforms
to the backs of joiners vans.It's a part of our everyday
life, whether we visit it ornot.
A place of deep personalconnection, of landmarks in our

(10:49):
lives, of romantic proposals andpoignant farewells, of memories
and sandwiches shared with thosewe love, or of solitude and
reflection, of peace, recoveryand hope. For some, its loss
lays bare the vulnerability ofnature itself.
My name is Mark Robinson, and Iam an Experiences and
Partnerships Curator for theNational Trust based up in the

(11:12):
North East. I was asked toreview and collate the responses
that were coming in from thepublic. People's responses on
social media, but in particularthe responses that people had
shared in the memory room in theexhibition at The Sill.
The memory room was a kind of apop-up, impromptu place for

(11:35):
people to share their memoriesof the tree. It felt important
to find a way to somehow capturethat. Some people wrote long
stories, some people wrotepoems, some people drew
pictures. I think the thing thatstruck me the most was
particularly from schoolchildren.
That there was a huge amount ofhope. There was a lot of

(11:59):
references to this tree willcome again or we will not forget
you. And it was a reallyhumbling experience really to
spend the day reading all of theresponses, but also to kind of
remind yourself of just howimportant places can be.

HEATHER BIRKETT (12:15):
And while Mark and his team were sifting
through the responses from thepublic, the staff at the
National Trust PlantConservation Centre were working
against the clock.

CHRIS TRIMMER (12:24):
Once material has been cut off the tree, it is
divine. So we need to get inthere as soon as possible to do
our work.
I'm Chris Strimmer, I'm thePlant Conservation Centre
Manager and I look after all therare and unusual plants in the
National Trust. I actually foundout that the tree had been cut
down from our national pressteam. I had a phone call and

(12:47):
essentially we just started allthe prep work behind the scenes.
To move plant material we haveto issue what's called a plant
passport. Did that straightaway.
One of our gardens consultantswere actually on site within
sort of day, day and a halfafterwards and they sent
material down to us through thepost. They sent first class and

(13:10):
it arrived here nine o'clock onSaturday morning.
We asked for seed, which is oneof the easiest methods of
propagation, but also cuttings,doing grafting, budding. From
the same sort of material. So bySaturday five o'clock everything
was propagated and it's all gonequite well so far.
We've got 21 cuttings, we've gotfive budded trees, we've got 15

(13:35):
grafted trees and we've sownfour seed trays so far of seeds.
But we don't know what's goingto happen but the stump that's
been left behind will probablygrow as a multi stemmed tree but
it'll never look the same as itdid and it'll be another... Two,
three hundred years before itlooks good.

HEATHER BIRKETT (13:55):
And then all their efforts paid off. They
successfully propagated cuttingsand cultivated seeds, creating a
whole new generation of SycamoreGap trees. The first of these
made a special journey to Londonin May, where it was put on
display for all to see in theNational Trust Garden at the
Chelsea Flower Show.

(14:16):
The young seedling was placedinto the garden by
seven-year-old Charlotte. AndDame Judi Dench, who
affectionately named itAntoninus, after Emperor
Hadrian's adopted son, inspiredby the location of the Sycamore
Gap tree.
Charlotte and her parents, Andyand Louise, travelled down from
their home in Northumberland.

LOUISE (14:38):
Well, I grew up in Haydon Bridge, which is, what,
maybe five miles from the gap.When we found out the day it
happened, we were both at workand Charlotte was at school, and
that night, went for a drivealong, just.to see if it was
true, and it was just so strangenot seeing that tree there.
It was quite emotional, wasn'tit, when you find out and you
think. That's just a tree, whyam I getting upset over a tree?

(15:00):
But it's strange how a tree upin Northumberland is all over
the world has made such animpact on everyone.
I just remember Charlotte wassaying to me one day, oh, I've
got to do this with the school,write a poem about Sycamore Gap.

HEATHER BIRKETT (15:14):
A competition was set up, inviting pupils from
Henshaw Primary School, theclosest school to Sycamore Gap,
in which pupils were invited todraw a picture of the tree and
write a short poem about what itmeant to them. And it was
Charlotte's poem which won.

CHARLOTTE (15:29):
I went to see Harian's Wall and I saw a tree.
It was a mindful tree. It was amindful, famous tree. It was a
mindful, famous, historicaltree. It was a mindful, famous,
historical, magnificent tree. Itwas a mindful, famous,
historical, magnificent,welcoming tree. I really hope
Sycamore Gap grows back. When Igo and see the tree, it brings

(15:54):
back lots of memories.

HEATHER BIRKETT (15:57):
After the show, the seedling was returned to the
Plant Conservation Centre, whereit continues to grow alongside
its siblings until they areready for planting the first
successful sapling has beengifted to his Royal Highness the
King in honour of celebrationday. A day dedicated to
remembering those no longer withus. This special tree will be

(16:19):
planted in Windsor Great Parkfor all visitors to enjoy.
It is now the beginning of Julyten months after the felling and
hopes of any regrowth at thestump are starting to fade. But
at various sites inNorthumberland, the first

(16:39):
artworks are about to go ondisplay. These are five prints
by Shona Brannigan, who is knownfor her evocative tree prints.
The prints have beencommissioned by the National
Trust as a creative response tothe public's suggestions. This
collection, lovingly titledHeartwood, is designed to
reflect the intricate shape andessence of the tree trunk. The

(17:04):
five prints will be showcasedtogether at the Queen's Hall,
Hexham, and then at the BalticArt Gallery in Newcastle.
Then, at the end of July, I geta call from Andrew Poad, General
Manager at Hadrian's Wall, withthe news that we have all been
hoping for.

ANDREW POAD (17:24):
We've just heard from our colleagues at the
National Park that... The stumpsactually started regrowing,
which is brilliant news.

HEATHER BIRKETT (17:32):
Oh, that's fantastic news, Andrew.

ANDREW POAD (17:34):
Yeah, it was a real pleasant surprise to get the
call. The really nice story isthe chap who found it, is the
first person that was on sitethat confirmed that the tree had
actually been felled. He's theNational Trail Ranger for
Hadrian's Wall. So it's reallynice that it's him that's the
one that's spotted the regrowthfirst. A little bit of
serendipity there. So the lasttime I was there, we'd got up to

(17:57):
12. New shoots. They're only afew centimetres tall and a few
centimetres across with two orthree leaves on each shoot. And
they're a lovely rusty redcolour at the moment. And that's
great. I mean, this is naturebouncing back. This is how it
responds and whether all theshoots survive or not remains to
be seen. I'm delighted thetree's regrowing, although it'll

(18:20):
never look the same as theoriginal tree. It's the best
possible outcome we could get.So it's really nice to share.
When I was on site sharing thatwith other people, what we were
saying to a lot of them who hadchildren with them is that
they're going to need to comeback in 10, 20 years' time and
see the results of what they'vejust witnessed.

HEATHER BIRKETT (18:42):
As encouraging signs of regrowth emerge at the
stump, plans are also underwayfor the stored wood. After a
year of careful seasoning, thelargest section has been gifted
to the Northumberland NationalPark Authority. CEO Tony Gates
tells us more.

TONY GATES (19:01):
The National Park Authority, we own and run The
Sill National LandscapeDiscovery Centre on Hadrian's
Wall. It's the closest visitorcentre to the site of Sycamore
Gap. We get about 125,000visitors a year through the
centre. And it would have beenone of the most popular starting
points for people who wanted towalk to see the Sycamore Gap

(19:21):
tree.
And we gathered all the feedbackthat people sent to us,
following the felling of thetree. And one of the things that
came through is that peoplewanted to see some type of
long-term legacy for the tree inthe Sill in the visitor centre.
And so we've negotiated with theNational Trust and they've
kindly agreed to gift us thelargest remaining intact section

(19:42):
of the Sycamore Gap tree.
And the idea is that we use thatto create a lasting legacy for
Sycamore Gap that people canvisit in the Sill National
Landscape Centre. And it meansof people who maybe physically
can't get as far out as the siteitself can still have some
contact with the tree.

HEATHER BIRKETT (20:02):
Earlier in the year, a call went out for
artists to design an exhibitionthat would incorporate the
gifted tree section. Thisexhibition is set to open at the
Sill in the NorthumberlandNational Park Discovery Centre,
one year after the felling. Thecommissioned artists are Charlie
Winnie, Nick Greenall and MattSowerby.

(20:27):
It's a beautiful sunny day inAugust and I've come to a barn
in rural Cumbria, nestledbetween the majestic fells of
the Lake District and the openwaters of Morecambe Bay. It's a
really special corner ofCumbria. That feels incredibly
tucked away.
The Barn is home to an artist'sstudio where the artists
specialise in art made fromwood.

(20:52):
We're inside the studio now andyou might be able to hear a
little bit of action in thebackground, some sawing and
drilling, but I'm sat here withtwo of the artists involved.

NICK GREENALL (21:01):
Good afternoon, my name's Nick Greenall and this
is Charlie Whinney and jointlywe're both directors of a
community interest companycalled Creative Communities and
we do kind of out there artprojects with members of the
community who might not normallyget the opportunity to do that
kind of thing.
On this particular project, theSycamore Gap project, we're

(21:22):
working with a poet called MattSowerby. So we've got poetry,
we've got Charlie Whinney who'san amazing steam woodbender.

HEATHER BIRKETT (21:30):
We come to you Charlie, I wondered if you could
tell us a bit about your work.

CHARLIE WHINNEY (21:34):
The reason you can see all these strange,
twizzly, curly shapes around youis because my sketchbook is full
of these shapes. And part of theinterest and the challenge for
me is to take normal wood from atree outside and use as little
energy as possible and stillachieve beautiful results.

HEATHER BIRKETT (21:54):
So can I ask, have you seen the tree?

NICK GREENALL (21:58):
We have. Charlie was keen to study the material
that he'd be working with, andthere was a bit of mystery about
where the tree actually mightbe. It may be in Devon, it may
be in Berwick-upon-Tweed. Andthen they took us, and then the
tree out of the darkness wasrevealed.

CHARLIE WHINNEY (22:15):
When I saw it, I'd already met, I don't know,
like 100 people there who hadtears when it came down. And I
think looking at the bark of thetree and all the interesting
swirls and patterns, havingalready studied loads of
photographs of the living tree,and it was like, oh my God, it's
you. It's the same one. It was astrange feeling.

NICK GREENALL (22:34):
Because I'd seen the tree in life in this dip on
Hadrian's Wall. It was just veryaesthetic' it was the right tree
in the right place. And thenseeing it cut up as a log, there
was definitely a disconnectbetween seeing a log of wood and
this formerly beautiful tree inlife.

HEATHER BIRKETT (22:50):
So Charlie, what happens next?

CHARLIE WHINNEY (22:52):
There were two stages to this project. You've
come to us now about five weeksbefore the first stage is going
to be complete. It's going to bethe one year on exhibition at
the Sill. And I'm making fivegiant canvases that are going to
go on the wall. They're going todepict the tree wrapping around
the gallery, kind of life size.And in the middle of the gallery

(23:14):
will be our log, which theNational Trust have currently
given us.

NICK GREENALL (23:17):
So there'll be an opportunity for people to make
pledges. And they may be pledgesof what they're going to do for
nature. And it's these pledgesthat will be gathered and they
will form part of the finalpiece that Charlie is going to
make.

HEATHER BIRKETT (23:30):
So as a phase one, that's an amazing way to
capture people's feelings andconnection with the tree. What
happens to all those pledgesafterwards?

CHARLIE WHINNEY (23:39):
I'll show you. So in my hands here, I've got
one of our samples from thefinal sculpture. So these are
just ideas.

HEATHER BIRKETT (23:46):
I can see some twisted wood almost in a spiral.
With a lovely grain on it, andthen engraved onto the flat side
of the twist some words. "I willget chickens who will eat our
scraps."
At the exhibition at the Sill,visitors will see a section of
the felled Sycamore Gap tree,along with all the artwork
surrounding it. Charlie's alsodesigned seating for the show,

(24:09):
so visitors can sit, reflect andimmerse in the exhibition.

NICK GREENALL (24:15):
So we're going to go next door now and we've been
steaming some wood. So theprocess of steam wood bending is
we heat the wood in a steamchamber and all the lignin and
cellulose in the wood becomesmalleable and then you're able
to bend it. It's quite amarvellous thing to see. So
let's go and have a look.

HEATHER BIRKETT (24:31):
Sounds like magic.

CHARLIE WHINNEY (24:34):
This metal thing here is a compression
strap that I'm going to put onthe outside of the wood. It's
called a compression strap soit's going to literally squash
all the fibres as we bendaround. The wood needs to be
about 100 degrees, If it isn'tthen it'll break.
So this is a piece of Ash thatI'm putting in here. So I'm
going to put it into thecompression strap and I'm going

(24:59):
to see how many times I can bendthis piece of Ash around here.
I'm going to go for number four.There we go. There's our thing.

HEATHER BIRKETT (25:10):
And then it was my turn to have a go.

CHARLIE WHINNEY (25:12):
Do you see all the sculptures over there?

HEATHER BIRKETT (25:14):
Yes.

CHARLIE WHINNEY (25:14):
You're making one of them.

HEATHER BIRKETT (25:15):
Okay.

CHARLIE WHINNEY (25:16):
Can you see they all look completely
different?

HEATHER BIRKETT (25:18):
Yes.

CHARLIE WHINNEY (25:18):
So there's no rules?

HEATHER BIRKETT (25:19):
Okay.

CHARLIE WHINNEY (25:19):
You can do what you want.

HEATHER BIRKETT (25:22):
Charlie has handed me five strands of wood
that we're going to wrap aroundhere.

CHARLIE WHINNEY (25:29):
Yes.

HEATHER BIRKETT (25:30):
Oh, it's not easy.

CHARLIE WHINNEY (25:32):
That's perfect. There we go.

HEATHER BIRKETT (25:33):
Like a granny knot in wood.
Thank you so much for showing meyour workshop, Charlie, and to
show us how this wood is bent.And it really gives us an
insight into the kind of methodsand skills involved in the work
that you're going to be doingfor the Sycamore Gap project.
The story of the Sycamore Gaptree continues to touch people

(25:55):
across the country and beyond.
Stage one of the exhibition atthe Sill was hugely popular with
local people and visitors to thearea. Artist Charlie Winnie. Is
now working on a permanentexhibition featuring the tree,
which will be revealed laterthis summer.
In summer 2024, new shoots beganemerging from the tree stump,

(26:17):
and conservationists noticedearly signs of growth again this
spring.
The National Trust and partnersare carefully monitoring the new
growth and protecting the stumpwith fencing, and visitors are
being respectfully asked not totouch the shoots. The plan is to
leave the shoots undisturbed fora few years to see how they
develop before deciding how bestto manage the tree.

(26:42):
Meanwhile, the saplings arethriving under the expert care
of the Plant ConservationCentre. To mark the one-year-on
anniversary, 49 of these newsycamore saplings were allocated
to inspiring projects across thecountry through a campaign
called Trees Of Hope. Plantingwill begin this winter. The

(27:02):
Sycamore Gap Tree may be gonefrom the landscape, but its
legacy lives on in a story thatis far from over.

(27:24):
Thank you for listening to thisbonus episode of Wild Tales. I
hope you've enjoyed it. Makesure you get every episode. By
following Wild Tales on yourfavourite podcast app. Even
better, leave us a review orcomment on an episode. We love
to hear what you think.
Did you know Wild Tales is alsoon YouTube? Head to the National

(27:46):
Trust YouTube channel and youcan also follow us on Instagram
at wildtalesnt. While you'rethere, why not check out our
history show, Back When? Or forsmaller ears, Ranger Ray and the
Wildlifeers. See you next time.
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