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Boy, 16, arrested over felling of iconic ‘Robin Hood tree’ next to Hadrian’s Wall
(www.standard.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2023
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An aspiring property developer I see.
Or a contemporary of Stonehenge's builders.
https://aeon.co/essays/who-chopped-down-britains-ancient-forests
Much of England had been cleared as early as 1000 BCE, some two millennia beforehand. The Bronze Age saw intensive farming on a scale that we are only just beginning to appreciate. As Oliver Rackham puts it in The History of the Countryside:
It can no longer be maintained, as used to be supposed even 20 years ago, that Roman Britain was a frontier province, with boundless wild woods surrounding occasional precarious clearings on the best land. On the contrary, even in supposedly backward counties such as Essex, villa abutted on villa for mile after mile, and most of the gaps were filled by small towns and the lands of British farmsteads.
Rackham describes the immense clearance undertaken during the Bronze Age, boldly claiming that ‘to convert millions of acres of wildwood into farmland was unquestionably the greatest achievement of any of our ancestors’. He reminds us how difficult it was to clear the woodland, as most British species are difficult to kill: they will not burn and they grow again after felling. Moreover, in his dry phrase, ‘a log of more than 10 inches in diameter is almost fireproof and is a most uncooperative object’. The one exception was pine, which burns well and, perhaps as a consequence, disappeared almost completely from southern Britain, the presumption being that prehistoric man could easily burn the trees where they stood: the image of pine trees burning like beacons across the countryside is a strong one.
They're building some new houses round my way.
Annoyed me that they chopped down a bunch of trees for them, and worse the trees would have been in the gardens. Now they'll just have a featureless, badly laid lawn and a wonky new build fence to look at instead.
Trees, especially thirsty ones, cause issues with foundations. The issues are not insurmountable, but they are expensive.
Developers, looking to maximize profit, far prefer removing the trees if they can.
Or an effective performance art climate protester.
General manager Andrew Poad said the sycamore had been "an important and iconic feature in the landscape for nearly 200 years".
Well, Robin Hood was supposed to have been running around in the 12th century, so I suppose it was a bit ahistorical in the context of the guy anyway.
Maybe have the little lumberjack go up and try his hand at being an arborist and plant some new sycamores along the wall for future generations.
EDIT: If they move quickly on it, I imagine that they could probably use cuttings from the existing tree.
EDIT2: Yup, apparently it works with cuttings:
https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/database/lppi/sp012.shtml
Acer pseudoplatanus
Primary method of propagation: seed
Alternate propagation method(s): cutting, grafting/budding
Well, Robin Hood was supposed to have been running around in the 12th century, so I suppose it was a bit ahistorical in the context of the guy anyway.
I think it's called the Robin Hood Tree because it was in a Robin Hood film.
If they move quickly on it, I imagine that they could probably use cuttings from the existing tree
That'd be a nice touch, from one tree dozens could spring up. Seems fitting.
I think it’s called the Robin Hood Tree because it was in a Robin Hood film.
Yeah, but the movie was presumably filmed there because they were looking for something that didn't have houses or whatnot in view, looked like it did during the time of Richard Lionheart.
Or just because it was a striking visual.
I mean, that's probably part of it too, but I also feel like they wouldn't have filmed the scene at Canary Wharf.
Honestly, given that Robin Hood's home was Sherwood Forest, Sycamore Gap is about...checks Google Maps...about 172 miles by (modern day) road out of the way, too.
EDIT: Hmm. Apparently, Acer pseudoplatanus also didn't grow in Britain at the time Robin Hood was supposed to be running around, either -- it was introduced from central Europe, probably significantly later:
https://gabrielhemery.com/native-trees-of-britain/
Some trees introduced a long time ago to Britain are now considered ‘naturalised’. There is a specific term for species present since 1500; an ‘archaeophyte’. Such species include beech (native only to south-eastern Britain), horse chestnut, sweet chestnut, sycamore and walnut.
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/trees-and-shrubs/sycamore
It was introduced into the UK from Europe sometime in the 15th or 16th century, and has become naturalised since, as well as being widely planted.
Probably won't be the only scratter involved judging by this picture
"scratter" new word filed away for future use.
It seemed to me to be quite a good cut - he may have worked in the family tree surgery business or...
A north-eastern word for a north-eastern crime.
Yeah, I've never cut down a tree, but even with a chainsaw, that looks like a big tree for a 16 year old to cut down on his own.
I've cut down (dead) trees. This is a job that could be done by one experienced person but I wouldn't tackle it on my own - it's an isolated area and if something goes wrong you are fucked. Trees are fuckin heavy and if one falls on you, you'll know about it. I don't know where the 16 year old would have got the experience to tackle this, the cuts look reasonably competent. It would also have taken a fairly long blade chainsaw, though it's hard to judge the thickness of the stump. Also, what a wanker.