It was just another tree.
Except that it wasn’t. This was the “Sycamore Gap” tree which had stood for over 150 years beside Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, about two miles west of Housesteads Roman Fort. Its beauty, isolation and location nestled between two symmetrical hills had given it an iconic status. Marriage proposals had been made under its branches and ashes scattered on its roots. It had a starring role in the 1991 film “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” and won “England Tree of the Year Award” in 2016.
As I am sure you know, and was widely reported on national media, it was felled on 28th September 2023 in what is being treated by police as an act of vandalism. This news led to a widespread outpouring of grief and anger from around the world. Why would anyone wish to do such a needless and terrible thing to such a beautiful tree?
It would be easy to focus on the negatives in reflecting on this story. But I don’t want to do that. The theme for “A Secluded Place” on a Wednesday is “the world we live in”, and I have often been inspired, uplifted and given hope by being reminded in these reflections of the beauty and wonder of our world. The same can be true here.
This sycamore, even in its absence, has been a focus for reflection and meditation as people have shared their memories of it, creating a community of those who loved the tree. It even inspired an excellent meditation on Radio 4 on Good Friday this year. And in a more tangible sense, new life is springing from the tree. Horticultural experts from the National Trust have salvaged young twigs and seeds thrown to the ground when the tree fell. These are being carefully nurtured; the seeds have been planted and the twigs grafted to produce new shoots and saplings. In time, one of these may replace the stump of the felled tree (although the experts are keen to remind us that although the tree has been felled, this does not necessarily mean that the stump is dead!). Other saplings could be given to schools and community groups, literally spreading the seed from the tree across the northeast of England and beyond.
But it is delicate work on the part of the experts, requiring skill, experience, wisdom, patience and – not a little – love, to bring forth this new life.
It is perhaps ironic that it took an act of destruction, and a “death”, to usher in new life and new possibilities, and for a story and a legacy to be spread so far and wide.
Sounds familiar? As we walk the road from Easter to Pentecost, it is helpful to see something that may reflect our own journey. We can be reminded that from the tragedy of death on Good Friday came something so much greater; something that would need to be carefully nurtured but which would spread much further than could ever be achieved by one man, in one place, and in one time.
Philip Clarke
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