Photo above: Ready steady shoot
We are told to believe by the police, the media that a sixteen year old went out in a storm at night, to a remote location on Hadrian's Wall and expertly chainsawed down a mature sycamore tree, believed to be two to three centuries old. It seems in the UK Sixteen year olds are the paid fall guys for all manner of crime against ancient buildings, and now trees, as they are to young for the criminal justice system.
It is also a horrific symbol of how broken and corrupt Britain now is and how removed from the natural world much of its population is.
Wherever you are this weekend, please go and plant a tree or many trees, it seems we are in a fight for our lives against endless idiocy.
Above: David Robertson wood engraving.
Above: Poems from the path
Above: Cast Sycamore bark by Anke
Would you hew me to the heartwood cutter?
Would you lay me low beneath your feet?
Listen to my sad mutter
Hear my heartwood beat
Would you throw me on the log-pile cutter?
Would you toss me to the steel sawblade?
Listen to my leaves flutter
Hear my heartwood break
Would you lean your back against me cutter
Would you rest your axe awhile and sleep
Listen to the song I utter
Hear my heartwood weep
Hear my heartwood
heartwood
Hear my heartwood
I drink the rain
The eat the sun
I give the breath that fills your lungs
I hear the roaring engines thrum
I cannot run
Would you hew me to the heartwood cutter?
Would you lay me low beneath your feet?
Listen to my sad mutter
Hear my heartwood beat
Hear my heartwood
heartwood
Hear my heartwood
Heartwood trail
Poem by
Dawn McLachlan, drawing by
Chris Riddell.
I heard this on NPR here in the US yesterday. I knew nothing about that tree before, but my heart was instantly broken. What a cruel world.
ReplyDeleteYou know, it’s the strangest coincidence that last week I was given as a gift, a wall calendar from Israel by Shanabagina with beautiful watercolors of trees and birds and recipes…like a small book, almost. Thankfully the version given to me was in English so I could properly enjoy it :) At the very end, on the bottom, is a paragraph which reads, “ Trees are wonderful beings that give us so much- but they have no mouth! We must be their voice and prevent them from being harmed or cut down, especially older trees. Harming trees is forbidden by law! Join the group of “tree trustees” in your area. If you see a tree being cut down or harmed- contact the national tree officer….(phone number)…” I showed my spouse and kids, and we were all like, “A national tree officer!” 😍😍😍 Then just a few days later, this story just broke my heart. Thank you for sharing these beautiful tributes to trees, and especially THIS tree. I am far from a person with tree planting knowledge but I so hope that somehow it might be possible to somehow take pieces of this tree to try to regrow in the hopes that it will live on. Big sigh.
ReplyDeleteNaomi (US)
Naomi, it is lovely to have reached you and thank you for your reply. A friend sent me this "We curse one benighted chap, who felled the tree at sycamore gap. But tolerate those richer guys. Who burn whole forests, seas and skies."
DeleteI had seen this rhyme before she sent it and responded that, because this tree was an icon it is easier to channel the loathing. I gather tree seed every year, acorn, horse chestnut (none native) and I take saplings that have germinated in paths and places that they will not survive. I have done this I think for over a decade. Since reading the man who planted trees. I plant , germinate often in a bucket, and then take the tiny saplings and plant on into big pots, grow on for 4 years to plant out. They are all down the path at the side of my house I am in a town with not a massive garden. The main deaths of these plantings are people, hundreds of trees lost to thoughtless council workers or vandals. However, I will carry on, it is the only way to stay sane in the face of such endless thoughtless destruction. Sycamores here in the UK are none native ( they self seed very successfully and support far less wildlife than a native oak 2000+ insects, bats birds, fungi etc. However a mature sycamore shelters and nourishes some wildlife. I hope they plant a forest of native trees to make up for this crime, as it really hurt, especially in this devastating time of constant loss to global warming. Best wishes Hazel