Sycamore Gap: Who Felled Robin Hood's Tree? 

Two men, Daniel Graham 38 and Adam Carruthers 31 have been charged with cutting down the tree and also damaging Hadrians Wall. They appeared before the Newcastle Magistrates Court in May 2024. The judge set a trial date of 3rd December 2024.

I'm appalled that this tree was felled, but I'm 1,000 times more appalled by the destruction brought about by HS2 and motorway projects. It's typical of our society that it's the movie star status and selfie worthiness of this tree that has made this such a big story, and mostly kept the HS2 and motorway protestors branded a bunch of scabby hippies.

It was not just the lone tree itself that was impacted, but the location too that helped generate the feeling of awe, reverence and beauty. The location with the tree in the center of the gap had symmetry, elegance and because it was so approachable, could be photographed and enjoyed in multiple seasons as a thing of beauty. The combination of strength and vulnerability…the idea of endurance all by itself in the elements yet sheltered and embraced by the land itself all worked together to stir strong emotional responses in anyone who viewed images of the tree or who visited the tree in-person. None of the other large and impressive trees mentioned in this video have locations that could match. While the act of felling the tree does indeed appear to be skillfully done, the motive could possibly be tangentially personal; if a marriage that had been started there in an engagement, or performed at the tree itself had now come to a bitter end, the felling of the tree could be a personal act of grievance, for example. I hope we do find out someday why this sad act was committed. One final point, humans worshipping AT the site of special trees is not the same as the worshipping OF a sacred tree. Most often, the tree is a living, symbolic presence for all of Nature in general, though there are exceptions. I’m recalling that the famous Banyan Tree in Lahaina, Maui also suffered a near-fatal event having endured the fire there. And the tree has sprouted new green leaves recently. It is this regenerative quality that trees have that sends a particular message of hope and renewal to humans. The story of this tree is not over.

In Catalonia we have a very important tree: el "Pi de les tres branques", (the pine tree of the three branches) that also suffered a vandalic act and was torn down many years ago. We never knew who did it. They restored it and it is still protected by an iron ring to prevent it from falling. It seems that some people hate a symbol and are cowardly enough to attack trees instead of attacking people and being probably hurt by them. It's disgusting. I hope we all know who did this and why. My sympathies to all British people.

Every person who feels violated, upset , angry , should plant a tree , this horrible crime should be the catalyst for lots of new trees to be planted. I hope the person or people who did this get their karma from nature itself. 😞😡

I'm tree qualified, live in Northumberland and a few things strike me about this felling.. Why was there no protection in the form of hidden stainless steel bars in the bark? It's easily done and would have given some security to what was a remote and vulnerable tree. That cut and the bar length - you're spot on with that observation. Few people have saws that size and they're a rarer thing. Given the saw was a rarer type, parts used for maintaining it would come from only a few sources and I believe that route would be a good direction for an investigation to head. The actual cut? Yes - difficult in daylight to do a straight cut like that. Now factor in not just the wind and darkness but also the need to carry a larger saw a considerable distance to follow through with that cut. Whoever did it certainly has stamina and fitness on their side. Factor in a tree working background and again it narrows down the group who could do the act. Weirdly, the direction of the wind and storm plus the darkness worked perfectly in the vandals favour. Part of me thinks this has been planned and waited for, for some considerable time - perhaps a year or more. I don't think this was without some serious planning and patience. This act or reaction has been brewing for a long time. A large part of me thinks this was not done by a local person. It's a well known tree world-wide and a large part of me thinks this vandal travelled a long way to do it. We've seen similar acts in Northumberland/Durham/Cumbria over the years. One particular newsworthy act was when a 'lads mag' stole a scarecrow from a village festival. They were caught because they bragged about it. (I doubt this tree vandal will brag however) My final thought is this: Another suspicion I have is it was done as a protest - much like something Just Stop Oil or other extreme groups might do. As you say though, the stump will coppice and grow new branches.

What you say about humans having a deep rooted connectin to nature and specifically trees is bang on and what I've noticed over the last week is that people from more populated areas of the UK (especially London) seem to be more likely to joke about the sycamore tree. Up here in Northumberland, I think people generally are more connected with nature at that tree a beloved symbol of that connection, a mascot. I live on the wall and while I've always been really fond of the tree and always thought of sycamore gap as a really special place, I'm staggered at how this event has affected so many people and how far away some of them are. Maybe I've always taken this tree for granted, not realising just how many other people also have an emotional connection to it. It bothers me just how much this incident has bothered me. over a week later and I'm still reeling about it. I feel like I've losta loved one.

Acts like this are become the norm across the globe. It's as if half of humanity has transformed into a cancerous growth--destroying the entire organism. It looks from my minor outpost that the existential trajectory, upon which we travel, is nearing some sort of ultimate goal. As the Chinese saying goes, the winds of heaven have changed. I suppose that makes us all witnesses to whatever this transformation becomes. What a terrible loss this one tree represents. Thank you for your analysis--it is good and sound.

We were in Northumberland for our annunal family holiday this year and visited Sycamore gap. It's so sad someone would destroy such a beautiful and Iconic tree. The menatlity of such destruction is beyond me.

If the boy is amongst those claiming it's "just a tree", he's going to be in shock when it is valued in court.

I’m surprised they didn’t charge the old man. Seemed like a strong motive, the estate not renewing the tenancy on his lifelong home.

Having lived in the Countryside and having learned their peeves, I'm left with the feeling (in the absence of any evidence of motive as a protest stunt by JSO) that it was done to stop footfall to the Tree by a local who was being negatively affected by the amount of people coming ang going, a farmer who had his cattle gates left open one too many times, someone affected by the amount of vehicle traffic or as you said someone in conflict with the National Trust who can be pigheaded and unconcerned with the needs of local people!

It was a very famous tree and some sicko must wanted the notoriety of cutting it down and bringing mass attention to their crime ,like an obbessed person murdering a celebrity. Just hope the culprit gets caught and rots .

One would have thought this destruction of the beautiful Sycamore Gap tree was a one off act of extreme vandalism, however last week the felling of the 1,000 year old Yew tree in Hastings is not only sad but curious occurring so soon after Sycamore Gap tree's felling, both appearing to be professionally executed. I would keep an eye on other historically important trees in case this becomes a trend. We have quite a few low lifes now intent on the destruction of our heritage and not only trees. 😢🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

This week I turn 84, years full of gardening and growing trees. This episode hurts; not quite as others deliberately and needlessly felled. A 'Monkey Puzzle' tree planted by a famous plantsman was removed because it spoilt a view, in Windermere; this in spite of local outrage and attempts to prevent it. I planted thousands of mixed native trees on an area we owned, only for it to be bulldozed by its new owner - that hurt too. Thank you for your professional light shed on equipment used - good memories for me.

The Glastonbury Thorn was also vandalised. The oaks burned down because someone left a lighted candle inside them, so they were both destroyed by veneration, Gog was already dead from old age.

The view from my flat once encompassed a green with several mature trees growing. One by one the trees were cut down and finally the green was built on. I certainly miss that. Mind you I have cut down the odd tree myself, but mostly trees I had planted, which were getting overgrown.

The vicissitudes of life can feel almost unbearable at times. Such is terrible loss of this beautiful tree ~ one such example. What to say? What can one POSSIBLY say …

I have to disagree with you about felling a tree and the law , correct me where you think I am wrong but my wife is a qualified tree surgeon and worked for a local authority when she got too old to climb trees (23) anyhoo she says for the felling of a tree you can only get a fine and that has to be a private prosecution , the police have no powers to stop you cutting down a tree should they catch you in the act even if the tree has a tree preservation order , as she quite rightly points out once the tree has been cut down , no amount of complaining can put it back ,

i really hope they get to the bottom of this and we get answers. the tree has lived through so many things and yes it will regrow but it was something that stood for so much that is good about this land. ironic really

Loved this film and its narration. Thank you. Subscribed.

❤️Thankyou for the video❤️This is shocking truly shocking and more important than we could know right now.

The Glastonbury thorn was not felled by accident, it was felled by the land owner, who is a property developer

Some people get a mean joy out of spoiling things.

🤔 You sound just like HG Tudor. Anyway, this was very well done. Thank you for highlighting the loss of this iconic living entity.

A landmark enjoyed by many taken away for what .someone with a grudge says a lot for people nowadays

I hope whoever did this for whatever reason is found, and strung up from the nearest tree.

It’s part of the ‘luxury ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️invasion’ and the destruction and revision of (huwyte) British history. That cut was almost machine like clean. Absolutely no wobble/ stop/ or waver in the cut. No oil bar spray, not a lot of chip and chew spray either to note. It must be the same ‘crew’ that is destroying English tourist attractions across the lands. 18th C pubs and hotels etc.

TalkTV there with their brand of intelligent and logical reporting.. The tree was marked for felling and was cut down in the middle of the night in a storm by mistake..!!

Kind of similar in away to the loss of fungi the dolphin in ireland although no foul play was suspected it still had a deep impact on irish people

Well done, sir!! We both have similar sized, equally niche channels and we both tackled the same subject, albeit in very different ways. Yours was a proper success and mine was a proper failure! Yours is very interesting and your tone and thumbnail worked. Hats off to you... best of luck

In the bible it says when the sycamore tree is destroyed, the people have to rise up.

Who ever did this I hope gets the ten years and serves every second of it. Shame on you who ever you are!!! And as for who ever murdered that 15 year old girl, I hope they get life and spend every second of what ever life is left to them in prison. When you think about it, its not only her life that's been taken but those of her children, grand children, great grandchildren, etc, etc.

Yes. Pagan tree worship is still a thing here in the UK. I am such a person who believes in elves, fairies moss women, fae. what ever you call them. I am from Northumberland and have been to that tree and felts it's energy. It was a tree of magic, an earth god. One of my fears is that this was an act of spite against spirituality, faith and culture. It was a living being, it's cutting was murder of someone old and wise who loves each of us

its a sad loss, a worrying act of pointless destruction, but as you mentioned the loss of our natural forests hundreds of years ago haunts me much more, being replaced by geometric forestry trees just feels like a sick joke, it should be illegal to put a straight line of trees in a beautiful landscape and only a monster would even consider doing it. you dont have to be arty farty to think ''hey lets break up the edges so it looks natural to the landscape. also, upset to hear michael gambon died, he was good, very funny man.

How did a 16 year old boy, manage that? I’m not a tree surgeon, or even an avid gardener, but I do know that it’s incredibly hard to cut a tree that clean.

I hope they mill the sycamore and auction off the lumber for artists to make something that will continue through time.

Everyone is upset because we have so few large trees left in the UK. It’s felling is a metaphor of our unrelenting destruction of landscape and habitat, and it will not stop. We have almost completely lost our connection with the natural world, and senseless acts like this is proof of what is happening every day everywhere throughout the world.

Not a pagan, but an artist and lover of beautiful scenery and nature, like many hurt by this destruction of a national treasure. A sycamore planted perfectly central in a glaciated historically important site has been ruined by madness in our society.

Why is the landscape there so barren anyway? Why aren’t there more trees? What a shame.

Thats got NOTHING to do with robin hood. Only some crappy film which has robin walking to nottingham from the south coast via hadrians wall, which is 150miles past nottingham.

If you know angry farmers, is the land owned or controlled by NT/EH? If the land is not owned by them and they've upset the farmer who actually owns or uses the land, which isn't hard to do. Farmers like to make a point, my thoughts anyway.

Send this criminal to plant thousands trees, rain or shine, instead of sending him to a jail.

I do not believe a 16 year old boy would be capable of doing this alone or would have had the equipment to carry out this crime. I think someone very experienced cut this down and got a 16 year old to take the blame as you say this carries a 10 year prison sentence but not for a 16 year old boy!!!

Very sad and pointless lose of history.

Maybe it was the sheriff of Nottingham

I live 3 miles from the stump. It's a bit sad it happened, but I wish it would drive people to plant some trees in their area, rather than driving them to make social media posts. You dont control other people, but you do control HOW YOU REACT to other people, and twining about it on Twitter/X, Facebook and RU-vid comments isn't fixing anything! P.S. the only thing missing from your speculations is the fact that its fairly easy to access the site by quad bike. If the culprit had parked at Steel Rigg car park and walked in, they'd be taking a massive risk had they been disturbed in the act. I also think that the storm is relevant because it was a night when the police helicopter couldn't fly, and realistically it would be the only way to catch the culprit on the night if someone had actually raised the alarm. All the best :)

If the guilty parties are found they should be made to pay for the planting of a similar mature tree. Capability Brown managed such transplantation. It would cost a fortune for the criminals, but that is the choice they have made.

"Weirdly on a route from Dover to Nottingham" 🤣 I guess he just got really lost

Great video thank you for sharing it. I had wondered why it was called Robin Hoods Tree, as Robin Hood had been dead and gone for Centuries before this sycamore was even a sapling, so thank you for the clarification on that. I have not seen the film Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. I cannot even imagine why anybody would cut down such a tree. I hope they are soon found!!

The problem I can see with the national trust is that they preserve the land in a weird idealistic way just like it was 200 years ago which is not exactly very natural. As climate change progresses we need to protect the soils if we lose that, then look at Iceland where they are spending millions trying to reverse desertification.

I suspect Anthony Gormley.

Untill u talked about the spay paint I was thinking it may have been done with a two handed folding silky style saw. Although the 1m silky blades are hard to find, the 65cm blades are affordable, quiet, portable, reliable, surprisingly effective, it would get that tree down in time and would leave a clean cut like that.

You're explanation of the skill involved makes sense. I would say pull the stump and plant a new sycamore, it IS sad but it's done and it's best to rebuild and start anew.

I just learned about this through this video. It's heartbreaking. I'm a fan of the Robin Hood movie from my childhood and always wanted to visit that tree. I was 16 when I watched the movie and the idiot kid who cut it was my age then. A tree that stood for 300 years, so sad.

I always wanted to go back to Hadrians Wall to see this Beautiful Tree 🌳 I saw 👀 the tree 🌳 when I was a wee lad walking Hadrians Wall with my uncle it was Beautiful 🌳❤️ when I saw 👀 the News that the Tree 🌳 had been Cut 🪓 Down it Broke my Heart!!! 💔😢 it’s a Bad Omen!!!

Nice VT and important subject matter, but please get to grips with the sound levels - they're all over the place!

Never been there myself, so am not aware of how far from road it is or how many routes there are to it. Could it be a disgruntled land owner fedup with increasing volumes of people traipsing over his land?

No need for weird over the top virtu comments call it what it is a act of spite plain and simple

Has the felling appeared on tiktok yet? I like some of the comments above...find a good use for the timber...pull the stump...plant another.

Since when does Brittain care about trees? There's literally thousands of acres of barren land as far as the eye can see. Probably sick of all the pagan rituals.

I wonder if, as you mentioned in the video, that someone possibly had it in for The National Trust. Who would be against them and why? One group that comes to mind is the hunting fraternity who have been banned from practising their "sport" (😢) on their lands. Could this be a connection or a reason why its been felled?

Yes, it is sad. Even sadder is the destruction of Trees and Wildlife in Scotland to make way for Wind Turbines which have a maximum life of 20 years and a questionable future. Tourism will steadily decline as Scotland's Natural History will be destroyed.

I don't have a TV license and try to stay away from the news these days, so didn't know about this. I hate it when people damage trees, let alone something as culturally relevant as this. I hope that whoever did it is brough to justice and jailed for a google long while. How long is it for defacing statues? 10 years? That should do.

The cutting down of this beautiful tree 🌳 is a crime against our English 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Heritage

It's not a prank. A prank would be to pretend the tree had been cut down.

I suspect local farmers after the NT started charging for the car parks, which forced people to park anywhere for free, this would pee off local landowners.

This ancient land is so destroyed in so many ways and this is a sad example of its continuing destruction.

This Tree 🌳 was Beautiful 💔😭

Robbin hoods tree??? No! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

We cry for one tree yet the land is barren. Maybe blame the farmers who never cared to replant trees on that hilly strip. (Or whoever owns is)

I hope the individual involved receives an extremely harsh sentence, without the possibility of a early release.

Better if you could hear it instead of the crap music drowning it out! At the beginning.

There's a lot of maths applied in the comments. Which is remarkable. The maths have not been quoted in reply to the trees cut down for HS2 . I'd think 1 - they would be replaced. 2 the impact of carbon etc reduced because of HS2 .

A Vandalism to the poor cut tree. How very Tragic! Bad!

What has happened to the stone round wall . That also has been destroyed. The wall was still standing when I did a drone flight in 2017 . And the year before, a few stones can be seen .

When will the 16 year old and the 60 year old be named and shamed??? this country is an absolute joke nowadays

======================= We feel connected to this tree ================================================= because we feel disconnected and betrayed by our government, and revolution is coming. /

Certainly a person with a lot of experience to do a cut like that

It isn't just the felling of the tree or the "theft of joy" - this is also a huge hit to the local economy. At a stroke every business using or promoting the tree has had its marketing rendered obsolete. A Sycamore Gap without a sycamore is just a gap, and there are plenty of more interesting spots along Hadrian's Wall than where an iconic tree no longer stands. Whoever did this took a chainsaw to much more than just the tree. Cui bono?

This crime has to carry the most extreme sentence for all involved.

The pear tree, the yew tree,, the trees that matter, now we talk about it the sycamore has gone quiet. All very odd indeed.

Been wondering. Appears one Strait Clean Cut. This surely is impossible

I think we need Thompson and Thompson, Tintin and Snowy. Bugger all will be done .

I Hope that The Robin Hood 🏹 Sycamore Tree 🌳 at Hadrians Wall Grows Back Soon 🔜 🌿

The tree was probably cut down by a media companies in the knowledge that advertising revenue could be generated. It's advertising space ... The number 1 suspect

Why is there only 1 tree on such a large piece of land..? The national trust could plant thousands of trees on the land

What would it be worth to see there faces

I recommend Sherwood Forest 🌳 in Nottingham 🏹 Robin Hood Legend Lives On!!!

I’m still so upset that someone destroyed this beautiful tree that was not theirs to fell. There is a very great difference between a tree that succumbs to age or extreme weather & one that is felled on purpose for no good reason & that will includes many felled for HS2. It’s also my belief in this modern world, every tree felled should be replaced by two till we have replaced all that we’ve lost.

Probably Jeremy Corbyn ?!?!

I have a short on my youtube that shows a 5-foot bar chain saw cutting through a tree.

Easy. The criminal is the landlord or a local landlord upset at the traffic the tree brings! Look for traffic patterns to and from where the hikers park and the conflicts this has with neighbours. Take all friends and relatives of those included. Exclude anyone without the health and skill to do it among them, which one of them owns a saw. Check for tree dna on the saw. Put on the pressure, boom. You have the culpit!

Interesting comparison with symbolism, history and divisiveness

Well, the tree's cut down. Count the rings to find the age.

Only someone local would do this imo.

I want the guilty party to see out his days in prison.

12:42 that tree looks like one of the rabbits in Watership Down.

Yes, you can waffle, but who did it? It wasn't kids,you have confirmed it was a crime commited by an experienced Feller with a long bar chainsaw and Police have to investigate it as such. CCTV footage from access roads on the night, CCTV footage of vans at filling stations , who purchased petrol in a Cannister on the night, etc. Have they done anything? Or will this be another Nicola Bulley ,not take it seriously, let's be laxidasical and it'll sort itself out case?

He’s probably been sent on a holiday somewhere nice knowing our Government.