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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'

#141

Post by bombcar »

RobotToaster wrote: post #116
bombcar wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's an exceptionally clean tree-felling, though the position of the hinge indicates it was meant to fall toward the wall. The paint looks like an indication on how big to make the hinge, which actually suggests someone who "knows what they're supposed to be doing" but not "used to doing it all the time".

So potentially, "someone who just watched a youtube video on how to fell a tree"?

That's what I would suspect. Someone who did enough research but hadn't really done it before.

But! It also looks pretty clean for a "first try" so maybe the paint is something else.

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

#142

Post by mellosouls »

JdeBP wrote: post #132
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...

Yes, I was particularly thinking of Retch PLC, which Private Eye recently reckoned had had one of its own senior execs complaining about how bad the website was.

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

#143

Post by notahacker »

AlecSchueler wrote: post #134
notahacker wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Rumours in the national press are a lot more influential in allocating police resources to finding evidence and interviewing suspects than rumours in the local pub.

Not really sure why you're continuing to insist on a Sherlock Holmes style resolution where everyone's been charged and all evidence is in the public domain within the first couple of months, but what is evident is that it hasn't been abandoned like it often would have been by now.

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

#144

Post by bombcar »

notahacker wrote: post #84
bombcar wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is proving it; everyone in rural areas know of things that occur "outside the law" and exactly who did it, but there's no court-admissible evidence.

Court admissible evidence is more likely to turn up when it's front page news and people are digging though. Same with the recent story about a famous pub called the Crooked House, which mysteriously caught fire a month after a new owner took over the closed premises and was demolished remarkably swiftly. Because it generated a lot of outrage (not from regular patrons, but from people who liked how it looked), it got…

Was fire insurance involved? The fire insurance companies are often one of the only ones willing to dig into this stuff.

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

#145

Post by AlecSchueler »

notahacker wrote: post #143
AlecSchueler wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Rumours in the national press are a lot more influential in allocating police resources to finding evidence and interviewing suspects than rumours in the local pub. Not really sure why you're continuing to insist on a Sherlock Holmes style resolution where everyone's been charged and all evidence is in the public domain within the first couple of months, but what is evident is that it hasn't been abandoned like it of…

You said that "Court admissible evidence is more likely to turn up when it's front page news and people are digging" and then used this as an example. I'm asking because it doesn't seem to actually be an example of what you're claiming.

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

#146

Post by jacquesm »

voisin wrote: post #114
Karellen wrote: post #79

Boy, 16, arrested after Hadrian's Wall tree felled https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-66952980

If he wanted to destroy irreplaceable trees, all he had to do was come to Canada and he’d get paid to do it.

Nothing sadder than 30' of remaining strip to the side of the road and clearcut from there to the horizon. If you're on the road you don't even see the difference but ecologically speaking it's a disaster.

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

#147

Post by jfengel »

I was trying to figure out the significance of this tree. It is alongside the wall but does not date to its construction, or anywhere near.

It is several hundred years old, which is certainly remarkable though far from unique. It seems to be known primarily for being picturesque, which is less about the tree itself and more for being located in an interesting gap in the hills. It shows up in a number of movies, and as far as I can tell, its being really famous only dates to the 1990s.

I don't mean to diminish this. It was a much-beloved icon destroyed in senseless cruelty. I was just trying to put it into context for myself. Its proximity to the much older icon is largely coincidental.

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

#148

Post by Clamchop »

Steltek wrote: post #80
macNchz wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even in already-popular places I think there is something about “getting the photo” that gives people this kind of tunnel vision where they’ll behave in ways they might not otherwise. It has been noticeable living near and regularly walking/running across the Brooklyn Bridge and through the Front and Washington viewpoint in DUMBO, before and after the rise of Instagram. People are aggressive, selfish, and absolutely…

I wish people would realize that their vacation photos should include, well, them. When I travel, I'm taking pictures of my family doing things, not the things they're doing. No one needs another generic copy of just the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty.

Oh, there'll be photos of themselves, all posed in the same way and always with the same smiles, straight off the factory line.

I let people enjoy what they want, I swear, but rote instagram portraits are as bland as wet newspaper.

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

#149

Post by mentos »

bombcar wrote: post #64

Can you put it back together? I mean normally you wouldn't even try, but if you cut a tree like that and stick the two halves back together and support it, could it remain alive? I know you can graft branches ...

Yea this is my question too I feel like they could bring in an expert and graft the pieces back

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

#150

Post by jacquesm »

mentos wrote: post #149
bombcar wrote: post #64

Can you put it back together? I mean normally you wouldn't even try, but if you cut a tree like that and stick the two halves back together and support it, could it remain alive? I know you can graft branches ...

Yea this is my question too I feel like they could bring in an expert and graft the pieces back

A tree is 'mostly dead', the inside doesn't do much, the outside is where all the action is and grafts are usually done with very young material so there will be plenty of support by the time it gets larger and heavier. The proportion of 'living:dead' material is much more amendable to grafting too. And it tends to be done with budding branches rather than a whole tree, in fact I haven't been able to find any reference of someone cutting down a tree and putting it back together, especially one of this size, the structural challenge alone makes it something that I do not think will work, especially not in that location with the tree taking the brunt of the wind load through that gap.
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