Art marks the loss of beloved trees
Art marks the loss of beloved trees
Village follows Sycamore Gap with memorial art project for its own lost tree. Tony Henderson reports
The felling of the Hadrian’s Wall Sycamore Gap tree was felt by many thousands and has been marked by art and book projects.
But a County Durham community also lamented the loss of their own village tree.
Now the Hurworth Wood Carving Group has been set up to create a memorial from the trunk of their prized 100-year-old beech tree.
It stood in the grounds of Hurworth Grange Community Centre, but had to be felled last year after becoming dangerous.
Local people of all ages have since been meeting regularly to hone their ideas for the memorial and learn about the techniques required for the job under with help from tutor Jill Brewster.
Hurworth Parish Council set up a community project to look at the best way to commemorate the tree, with local people invited contribute their ideas.
Peter Allan, council clerk, said: “We wanted to commemorate what the tree had meant to the village, and started looking at ways we could use what remained of it for this purpose.
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“The idea has really taken off from there and there’s a huge amount of enthusiasm and excitement right across our community about what’s going to be created, especially as everyone involved is going to be able to say they had a hand in creating something that we hope will last for many decades.
“The group’s members are really enjoying learning the skills that will help them create the memorial and it’s also helping to create new connections within our community right across the generations.”
Helen Cutting, partnerships and community manager at OnPath Energy - formerly Banks Renewables - said: “This is a fantastic project that is really bringing the Hurworth community together to create something that everyone will be able to enjoy for many years to come.”
Meanwhile, five tree prints entitled Heartwood, created from a 90cm diameter disc of the trunk of the Sycamore Gap tree have gone on display at Queen’s Hall Arts Centre in Hexham.
Created by printmaker Shona Branigan, it is the first time all five have been on display together, having previously been shown individually at four venues along Hadrian’s Wall over the summer.
All are individually themed, named and coloured, with the prints showing every tree ring, groove and detail from the cross-section of the almost heart shaped trunk of the tree.
One print Access has been embossed and invites touch, with the lines of the tree able to be felt.
Funded by the North East Combined Authority and developed in collaboration with the National Trust, Northumberland National Park Authority, Hadrian’s Wall Partnership and Historic England, Heartwood is the first official artistic response created in memory of the Northumberland tree.
It came after the unprecedented public response to the tree’s felling last September.
Andrew Poad, general manager for the National Trust at Hadrian’s Wall, said: “Having all five prints come together at Queen’s Hall Arts Centre will be a wonderful opportunity for people to respond to Shona’s exceptionally beautiful artworks that capture the very essence, the ‘heart’ of the treasured tree.”
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Shona Branigan worked from her studio in Grizedale Forest in Cumbria using traditional methods and materials to create the delicately detailed set of hand burnished relief prints.
Each ‘Heartwood’ print has unique depth, context and colourways, with names linked to the Sycamore Gap tree and its historic location. Knowledge is gold ink; Spirituality is blue, ultramarine ink, with iridescent electric blue, purple and hansa yellow watercolours; Landscape is burnt umber ink with sap green and yellow ochre watercolour; History is Venetian red ink and hansa yellow deep watercolour.
She said: "It is with wood printing specifically that my fascination with trees and their lives in the landscape is expressed. I felt privileged to be asked to print Sycamore Gap. As a north easterner I have known Sycamore Gap all my life and visited regularly.”
For further details about Heartwood exhibition information visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hadrians-wall-and-housesteads-fort