First Sycamore Gap tree 'offsprings' to be planted

The first saplings grown from the illegally felled Sycamore Gap tree will be planted this weekend.

Five saplings will be installed in Coventry, Staffordshire, Berkshire, Cambridge and Strabane on Saturday, the National Trust said.

Next week more plantings will take place in Hexham, Leeds and Sunderland.

It is part of the charity's Trees of Hope initiative which received nearly 500 applications for the 49 saplings grown from the seeds rescued from the tree, which stood in a dip next to Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland until two men from Cumbria cut it down one night in September 2023.

Daniel Michael Graham 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, were jailed for four years and three months in July after being convicted of criminal damage.

Hilary McGrady, director general of the National Trust, said the saplings would become an inspiration and home for nature, but also a reminder that "there are always good things worth fighting for, even after something so senseless".

There are 49 saplings in total, one for each foot of the old tree's height.

More than half of those will be planted over the course of National Tree Week between 22 November and 30 November.

The first places to plant a tree on Saturday include The Tree Sanctuary in Coventry, where three teenagers set up a project to rescue their city's trees, and a site commemorating the Minnie Pit mining disaster in Staffordshire.

Saplings will also go to Greenham Common in Berkshire, Lisnafin Community Centre in Strabane and Coton Loves Pollinators in Cambridge.

Martina Irwin, a co-founder of the Tree Sanctuary in Coventry, said planting its sapling would be really special.

"We've chosen to plant it among some other 'saved' trees that we have planted on Sowe Common, serving as a beacon to inspire respect, understanding and a sense of responsibility toward all trees," she said.

Next week saplings will take root at The Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease at Seacroft Hospital in Leeds, Hexham General Hospital in Northumberland and the charity Veterans in Crisis in Sunderland.

Early in December, an additional sapling which was given to the school closest to the Sycamore Gap, Henshaw Church of England Primary, will be planted in its grounds.

Another 15 saplings will be housed in each of the UK's National Parks, including Northumberland National Park where the tree stood, in early 2026.

Andrew Poad, general manager for the National Trust's Hadrian Wall properties, said: "It's incredible to think that this weekend the first 'offspring' of this very famous tree will be planted.

"It feels like just yesterday that those tentative first shoots appeared."

He added he hoped the saplings would touch many people's lives "just like the original tree".