New life for Sycamore Gap as Tree of Hope saplings planted across the region
North East sites are selected for Sycamore Gap saplings. Tony Henderson reports
A list of locations in the North East have been chosen to share in the first of the 49 Sycamore Gap tree saplings given by the National Trust to individuals, community groups, and organisations across the UK.
The plantings, which mark National Tree Week, are the result of the ‘Trees of Hope’ initiative launched by the charity last September to find sites for the saplings grown from the illegally felled Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland.
Nearly 500 applications were received for the 49 saplings – one to represent each foot in height of the tree when it was felled.
The saplings, now between four and six feet tall, were grown from the seeds and material rescued from the felled tree and have been nurtured at the National Trust’s Plant Conservation Centre.
Andrew Poad, general manager for the National Trust’s Hadrian Wall properties, said: “Thanks to the quick thinking of our conservationists in the aftermath of the felling, the first ‘offspring’ of this famous tree are ready to be planted.
“It feels like just yesterday that those tentative first shoots appeared. Over the next couple of years, the saplings will really start to take shape, and because sycamores are so hardy, we’re confident they’ll be able to withstand a range of conditions.
“To be able to keep the story of the Sycamore Gap alive in all four corners of the UK and in so many different settings is a fitting tribute, and we hope that, just like the original tree, these young saplings will touch many people’s lives.”
All the saplings will be planted in publicly accessible spaces, in locations across the UK, to enable as many people as possible to feel part of the tree’s legacy.
Among the first places to plant a ‘Tree of Hope’ will be the North East Autism Society (NEAS) at their New Warlands Farm training centre in Durham on Monday November 24.
The farm is being transformed by the charity into a working landscape and visitor attraction, creating employment opportunities for young people and a space for autistic and neurodivergent children and their families to spend time in nature.
NEAS chief executive, John Phillipson, said: “The planting of the sapling as a ‘Tree of Hope’ could not be more symbolic because New Warlands Farm will be a place where autistic people can grow and be given hope of a fulfilling future.”
On November 26, a sapling will take root at Hexham General Hospital, where it is hoped it will become a symbol of recovery.
On November 28, a sapling will be planted at Hetton Lyons Country Park by Veterans in Crisis Sunderland. The charity, which supports ex-service men, women and their families, leads a weekly wellbeing walk in the park and view the sapling as a symbol of resilience.
Ger Fowler, founder and chief executive of Veterans in Crisis Sunderland, said: “It is an honour and a privilege to be able to grow and nurture this sapling. It represents triumph over darkness, and a reminder that despite the mindless destruction and loss of something wonderful, there’s always hope and possibility.”
Other North East recipients of a ‘Tree of Hope’ sapling include West End Women and Girls Centre in Newcastle on November 28 and Holly’s Hope at Hexham Abbey on December 3 in honour of Holly Newton, who was 15 years old when she was tragically killed by her ex-boyfriend in January 2023.
Another planting will be on December 8 at the Lighthouse Project, a youth and community space on the Byker Estate in Newcastle.
Early next month, a sapling which was given to the school closest to the Sycamore Gap site, Henshaw Church of England Primary School, will be planted in its grounds.
In January, saplings will go to the Garden of Grief at the Rising Sun Countryside Park in Benton and the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Foundation Trust for St Nicholas Hospital.
Ashton’s Tuesday Club at John Spence Community High School in North Shields, a multi-sports club for young people with special educational needs, will also receive a sapling next spring in memory of PE teacher Ashton Clothier who passed away in 2020 aged 29 and whom the club is named after.
An additional sapling has been gifted to Tina’s Haven, a new nature reserve on the East Durham coast named in memory of a young North East woman, Tina Robson, which aims to be a place where people and nature can recover.
Meanwhile, another 15 saplings will be planted in each of the UK’s national parks, including Northumberland, in early 2026.