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Iconic tree at Hadrian's Wall's 'Sycamore Gap' has been 'felled'

hexham-courant.co.uk

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Re: Iconic tree at Hadrian's Wall's 'Sycamore Gap' has been 'felled'

#131

Post by hiatus »

11235813213455 wrote: post #82
hiatus wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you really comparing cutting down a tree to murdering a human being?

more or less, a tree is highly beneficial to the environment, it takes a long time to replace it (10+ years for that size, which is important for many other species, if only it manage to grow back), a human is not often beneficial on the other side we could compare human and an insect even, or a human and a whale, it's not really about size

When I was a lifeguard as a kid, I once arrived at the pool to find thousands of flies dead, floating on the surface. I thought to myself, "If these flies were humans, this place would be a battlefield," and went on with skimming the pool.

Re: Iconic tree at Hadrian's Wall's 'Sycamore Gap' has been 'felled'

#132

Post by JdeBP »

mellosouls wrote: post #72

Not a bad website by the appalling standards of local newspapers in the UK but there's a better page on this story at the Beeb fwiw: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-66947040

That is probably because it is a Newsquest Media publication, rather than a Reach PLC publication. Reach PLC journalism is sometimes laughably bad, sometimes lamentably.

Some Newsquest Media titles are running the rather longer piece from the Press Association. For example:

https://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/national/23819640.fam...

Re: Iconic tree at Hadrian's Wall's 'Sycamore Gap' has been 'felled'

#133

Post by ricardobeat »

blondie9x wrote: post #44
jacquesm wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was with you until the cameras. But I'd be happy to contribute to a bounty to catch whoever did this. I have similar feelings for tourists that climb on monuments as well (or that scratch their names into them).

Doesn’t need to be cameras. Tighter restrictions might be more practical during off hours.

Are you from the area? I was under the impression this place is a vast open field, surrounded by farm land. Can’t imagine how you would restrict access.

Re: Iconic tree at Hadrian's Wall's 'Sycamore Gap' has been 'felled'

#134

Post by AlecSchueler »

notahacker wrote: post #122
AlecSchueler wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rumours and arrests are one thing and not uncommon in any case, but has anyone been charged with a crime?

Rumours about organizations behind the incident are normally in local pubs rather than national newspapers though. The last couple of arrests were only today, with three more released on bail. Proving it in a courtroom is another thing, but it sounds to me like more resource than would usually be thrown at investigating a fire in an empty building.

Rumours in the pub and rumours in the paper are no different in the court of law. Has any evidence been brought forward and has anyone been charged with a crime?

Re: Iconic tree at Hadrian's Wall's 'Sycamore Gap' has been 'felled'

#135

Post by scns »

coding123 wrote: post #107
nkurz wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the right punishment for a case like this? Does anyone believe that full rehabilitation is possible, and that a teenager who does this will later come to realize the error of their ways and become be a valuable contributor to society sufficient to make up for this? Or is the sole goal a punishment that will deter others from doing similar anti-social deeds?

Most likely yes - most young people do very stupid things for little other reason than lack of attention or simply anger angst the world. Growing up, people oft realize that they themselves make that worse - or just continue to blame the world for everything. Then again, some people do not gain any wisdom as they age - and live like they're 10 - forever.

The brain is done with myelenization at 25. The last area to be done, the prefrontal cortex, takes care of impulse control.

Re: Iconic tree at Hadrian's Wall's 'Sycamore Gap' has been 'felled'

#136

Post by mnw21cam »

blondie9x wrote: post #44
jacquesm wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was with you until the cameras. But I'd be happy to contribute to a bounty to catch whoever did this. I have similar feelings for tourists that climb on monuments as well (or that scratch their names into them).

Doesn’t need to be cameras. Tighter restrictions might be more practical during off hours.

It's on a public footpath. It's legally quite hard to stop people walking on those whenever they want to. Also, the land owner is the National Trust, and they don't tend to want to restrict access to open spaces like this. Also, there's not very much left there to vandalise now - you'd get more benefit by restricting access to the trees that are still standing elsewhere in the entire country, which is never going to happen.

Re: Iconic tree at Hadrian's Wall's 'Sycamore Gap' has been 'felled'

#137

Post by lamontcg »

HenryBemis wrote: post #127
philipwhiuk wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Question 2: Should a 16 year old be able to get a chainsaw.

I will go ahead and assume that in the middle of nowhere and with no cameras in sight, the authorities may have used any available data (i.e. cell tower antennas information, social media tracking your phone's location 24/7, and so on). Chainsaws like that cannot be handled by a random 16 boy, unless he is the son of Hulk or Thor. Perhaps the kid texted to a friend "we cut the treeeeee" or similar.. I would be VERY s…

You were some kinda scrawny 16 year old kid.

Most of the problem is dealing with the physics of keeping the chainsaw from binding which requires experience (or dumb luck) more than strength.

Re: Iconic tree at Hadrian's Wall's 'Sycamore Gap' has been 'felled'

#138

Post by lawlessone »

scott_w wrote: post #98
lawlessone wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah , people take stones to clear land for farming or to build walls to enclose their farms. Can't be too mad about it though, the wall was probably relatively new to them

Also historical preservation was less important to the people at the time when life was, frankly, much harder than it is today. Most well preserved buildings today are the ones that were useful to keep around - for their original or for a new purpose.

Roman ruins in post roman Britain must have looked almost magical.

Re: Iconic tree at Hadrian's Wall's 'Sycamore Gap' has been 'felled'

#139

Post by mnw21cam »

HenryBemis wrote: post #127
philipwhiuk wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Question 2: Should a 16 year old be able to get a chainsaw.

I will go ahead and assume that in the middle of nowhere and with no cameras in sight, the authorities may have used any available data (i.e. cell tower antennas information, social media tracking your phone's location 24/7, and so on). Chainsaws like that cannot be handled by a random 16 boy, unless he is the son of Hulk or Thor. Perhaps the kid texted to a friend "we cut the treeeeee" or similar.. I would be VERY s…

I'll counter that - I'm of fairly slight build, and I have cut down multiple trees in my garden with my chainsaw, easily 50cm diameter. It's not that much of a stretch to imagine cutting down something a little bigger. Chainsaws aren't that heavy.

Re: Iconic tree at Hadrian's Wall's 'Sycamore Gap' has been 'felled'

#140

Post by ballenf »

lamontcg wrote: post #137
HenryBemis wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will go ahead and assume that in the middle of nowhere and with no cameras in sight, the authorities may have used any available data (i.e. cell tower antennas information, social media tracking your phone's location 24/7, and so on). Chainsaws like that cannot be handled by a random 16 boy, unless he is the son of Hulk or Thor. Perhaps the kid texted to a friend "we cut the treeeeee" or similar.. I would be VERY s…

You were some kinda scrawny 16 year old kid. Most of the problem is dealing with the physics of keeping the chainsaw from binding which requires experience (or dumb luck) more than strength.

Exactly, an average 12-14yo of modest strength could maneuver the chainsaw. The hard part about that work is doing it safely when unexpected things happen.
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