The Sycamore Gap tree is a 120-year-old sycamore planted in a scenic spot – a U-shaped cleft in a rocky ridge beside Hadrian’s Wall. Sycamore was probably brought to Britain from continental Europe in Tudor times and has rampaged everywhere since thanks to its helicopter-like seeds. This specimen grew into a handsome landmark. By the 1980s, the natural gap in the hills took on the name of the tree whose boughs pointed towards the starry Northumberland sky.
The tree’s big break came in 1991, when Kevin Costner plucked fictional mistletoe from its boughs in the Hollywood blockbuster Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Visitors from around the world formed deeply personal relationships with it. They painted it, photographed it, picnicked in its shade, hugged it, proposed marriage or scattered ashes beside it. Social media gave it new profile: it was voted England’s tree of the year in 2016 by the Woodland Trust. But fame brings backlash. Celebrities must be cut down to size.
The sycamore was found expertly chainsawed to the ground on 28 September 2023 and the case quickly became a global sensation. People were outraged. Prince of Thieves director Kevin Reynolds described it as “murder”. Tearful mourners arrived at the stump to pay their respects. Children brought memory stones. Locals grieved this “attack on nature” and “stealing” of “joy”.
Why? The detective who led the hunt for the perpetrators says it’s the question he has always asked – and he still doesn’t know the answer.
Since Graham, 39, and Carruthers, 32, were found guilty, press coverage has suggested that the elder man was the driving force. Graham was sad and angry in court. He was battling the authorities over living in a caravan on land he owned in Cumbria. He had fraught relationships with his family and his neighbours. In his police interview, he spoke of nights of agonising insomnia. His depression and sense of futility deepened when his beloved father died. Psychiatric reports revealed mental and physical abuse in his childhood.
In contrast, Carruthers was portrayed as a bit of a clown, who didn’t have the brains for anything. Lacking a motive, the accomplished prosecutor portrayed the men’s vandalism as a “moronic mission”.
In my view, Graham was so angry in court because he didn’t do it. Before sentencing, both men finally admitted their involvement to probation officers: Carruthers wielded the chainsaw; Graham drove and filmed it on his phone. In Graham’s view, he was innocent. But in the eyes of the law, he was as guilty as the man wielding the chainsaw.
Carruthers told his probation officer he was drunk that night. Graham offered another half-reason in court: one day, he claimed, Carruthers showed him a piece of string he’d used to measure the circumference of “the most famous tree in the world”. He was going to cut it down to mark the birth of his second child. According to Graham, Carruthers was a “fantasist”, always chatting about grand schemes.
We can loftily evoke toxic masculinity or alienation from nature, but their motivations appear uniquely individual. Graham doesn’t hate nature: he loves horses, dogs and country living. Carruthers is a devoted father and loving partner who claims he wants to “repay” his wrongs. Both have been severely punished by the string-em-up of social media shaming. Graham tried to take his own life before the trial, one of a number of attempts he had made since the suicide of his father.
And the sycamore? It is sprouting, vigorously, from its stump. It may not survive but if this year’s shoots return next spring, it will become a bushy Sycamore Gap 2.0. Coppicing some species can prolong their lives by centuries. Ironically, the men who attempted to destroy the most famous tree in the world may have made it almost eternal.
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