Two days ago someone cut down the lone Sycamore tree at Sycamore gap in Hadrian's wall. You may have heard about it, or seen the usual rational and considered opinions on social media. I found the reactions interesting in their fairly uniform anger towards the "evil" person responsible (currently believed to be a 16 year old boy/idiot) and the way it was often framed as an example of the sort of country we now live in as a result of whatever particular brand of "things were better in my day" that the commenter happened to believe in.

Crag Lough

We visited sycamore gap for the first and only time at the start of the year. Having spent new year in the lake District and then gone on to grey mares tail waterfall in the Scottish borders we were just finishing off the trip with a visit to Hadrian's wall. By sheer chance we ended up at the Roman fort a short walk from sycamore gap so on a very cold, wet January day we found ourselves trudging through the mist and the bracing northern weather on a circular route along the wall, past sycamore gap and back through unexpectedly soggy fields of long grass, mud and sheep poo.

Hadrians wall

We visited sycamore gap for the first and only time at the start of the year. Having spent new year in the lake District and then gone on to grey mares tail waterfall in the Scottish borders we were just finishing off the trip with a visit to Hadrian's wall. By sheer chance we ended up at the Roman fort a short walk from sycamore gap so on a very cold, wet January day we found ourselves trudging through the mist and the bracing northern weather on a circular route along the wall, past sycamore gap and back through unexpectedly soggy fields of long grass, mud and sheep poo.

Sycamore Gap tree

That is my problem with all of this. The pitchforks are out and the mob is gathering over the loss of this one tree not because of the loss of the tree itself, the loss of nature, the loss to biodiversity and the wildlife that relied on that tree, but because of what people feel they have lost themselves. The loss to humanity is the only loss that matters. The millions of trees we cut down each year to feed our lifestyles don't generate one percent of the outrage of the loss of this one filmstar tree. And yet each of these trees is every bit as important to the natural world. We chop down entire forests, wipe out ecosystems and drive species to extinction without a care or worry because none of those trees ever shared screentime with Kevin fucking Costner. 

Only 2.5% of the UK is now ancient woodland. We still clear more of it each year for some development project or other, sometimes legally, sometimes not. Not that the legality matters to trees of course. A chainsaw is a chainsaw whatever the law says. This is a precious ecosystem which is still being hacked away at bit by bit because people simply don't care.

I believe there is a second, slightly more subtle reason for the anger and the cries for blood as well. I think that deep down we all know that each of us is complicit in the destruction of the natural world that we see all around us, simply by quietly going along with our consumer driven society we are playing a part in that destruction so we close our eyes to it and plead ignorance. But when someone chops down a single beloved tree that gives a much needed opportunity to release some of the anger and frustration we all feel at allowing ourselves to be part of the problem. It provides an easy target, some 'other' to blame for all the world's ills. "It's not our fault the world's shit" we say, "look at what these people are like".

Gateway ruins

A single act of stupidity is not the end of the world. Even our moral cowardice and overconsumption is not the end of the world. But it does give our own species a somewhat limited lifespan and rather unfairly we seem to be taking as many other species down with us as possible. Trees however will be fine, they were here before us and will be here after, they are playing the long game.