Cubbington pear tree sprouts into life after replanting

Shoots have started to spring from the stump of the Cubbington pear tree

A celebrated pear tree that was removed to make way for the HS2 rail line has shows signs of growth after being replanted.

The tree in Cubbington, Warwickshire, thought to be more than 250 years old, was dug up in 2020 despite opposition from local residents.

It is one of the largest in the UK and was voted the best tree in England in a 2015 poll by the Woodland Trust.

The stump was replanted about 100m away from its original home.

The Cubbington pear tree was voted England's Tree of the Year in 2015

Campaigners have said the regrowth is a "success" and means the DNA of the tree will continue to live on for generations.

"We didn't expect it to, but it did. It's obviously made of strong stuff, " said Rosemary Guiot, a resident of Cubbington village.

"I think everybody is very pleased but it's never going to be the same again, give it a hundred years or so but none of us will be around to see it.

"The place where it was doesn't exist any more, the soil has been taken away bit by bit."

Nikki Jones is one of a number of campaigners who tried to stop the tree being cut down

Nikki Jones, a campaigner, added: "I'm delighted that the stump is growing some shoots and the other saplings that HS2 has planted are growing but they are not a habitat and won't be for at least 100 years."

Jack Taylor, the lead campaigner at the Woodland Trust, said: "These trees have a different life span to humans.

"All of the amazing ecological niches and the valuable habitat it developed, that takes centuries so as soon as they are cut down that is removed effectively and you have to wait a long time."

The tree was dug up in 2020 to make way for the HS2 rail line

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the northern leg of the HS2 high-speed rail line from the West Midlands to Manchester has been scrapped.

He also said the eastern leg to East Midlands Parkway would no longer go ahead due to huge costs and delays.

Instead, the government plans to invest £1bn into bus services across the North and Midlands as part of the its "Network North" plan.

HS2 contractors Balfour Beatty Vinci said the firm is thrilled that the tree is living in "a thriving new habitat for wildlife which has been created by HS2".