Saplings of felled Sycamore Gap tree to be planted

The Sycamore Gap tree was felled in 2023 and the seeds were taken after it was destroyed

Saplings grown from the illegally felled Sycamore Gap tree will become the centrepiece of a school's memorial garden and used in a village to remember those who died in the Covid pandemic.

The National Trust grew 49 saplings from seeds rescued from the tree and one is due to be planted at Greenham Common in Berkshire on Saturday as a sign of "hope, rejuvenation and nature".

Another will be planted next week at Lift Ryde school on the Isle of Wight in a garden for a pupil who died last year.

A third sapling will be planted in Weston-on-the-Green in Oxfordshire to mark the passing of those who died in the pandemic.

Saplings grown by the National Trust will be planted in Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire

Two men were jailed in July for destroying the tree, which had grown by Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland for more than a century.

The 49 saplings represent the height in feet that the tree was at the time it was felled and more than 500 groups from around the country applied to plant one.

"We feel very privileged and honoured to be a successful recipient for such a special sapling," Alison Blackborow from the Greener Greenham Group said.

"Greenham Common has been a site of conflict over the years," she said.

"There was a runway during World War Two and obviously we have had the American air base and the silos with the nuclear warheads and Greenpeace's women's protest.

"So I think once it was restored back to being a common, it was restored back to nature...[it] became a sign of hope, rejuvenation and nature. Both are a symbol of hope."

Chris Trimmer, the National Trust's plant conservation manager, was pictured with one of the saplings

The head teacher of Lift Ryde, Will Doyle, said his school's community was "utterly thrilled" to be able to use the sapling in its garden to mark the passing of Chris Koppany.

"The students really wanted to have a focal point within our school and the decision was made through the student council that we would have the memorial garden and the centrepiece of that memorial garden would be a tree," he said.

"It's going to be a beautiful centrepiece."

Mr Doyle added: "The sapling is arriving next Saturday. The garden is ready to go. We've had a beautiful sculpture built by our wonderful art teachers because the young man who passed away was a phenomenal artist – that was his passion."

Another sapling will be planted at Thames Valley Police's training centre in Sulhamstead, Berkshire, next week.

In Weston-on-the-Green, Jordie Riches from its village hall committee applied to take one of the saplings and said earlier this year that it will become "a symbol of resilience, perseverance and hope".

Other saplings will be planted at the Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease at Leeds' Seacroft Hospital and at Sunderland's Veterans in Crisis charity.

Hilary McGrady, the National Trust's director general, said: "It was the quick thinking of our conservationists in the aftermath of the felling that has allowed the Sycamore Gap tree to live on.

"The team has cared for these 49 hopeful saplings beautifully and they're now ready to be given to communities, where they'll become a source of inspiration, a place to reflect, a home for nature or simply a reminder that there are always good things worth fighting for, even after something so senseless.

"We're looking forward to seeing them thrive."