{"id":12579,"date":"2024-09-27T03:03:57","date_gmt":"2024-09-27T03:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/sycamore-gap-sapling-gifted-in-memory-of-boy-with-cancer\/"},"modified":"2024-09-27T03:03:57","modified_gmt":"2024-09-27T03:03:57","slug":"sycamore-gap-sapling-gifted-in-memory-of-boy-with-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/sycamore-gap-sapling-gifted-in-memory-of-boy-with-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Sycamore Gap sapling gifted in memory of boy with cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"DanDan Monk Kielder Observatory<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Sycamore Gap tree is thought to be one of the most photographed trees in the world<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Ruth lost her only child Fergus to cancer when he was just 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour worst fear after your child dies is that he’ll be forgotten,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

They had long been searching for a tree with special meaning to plant in Fergus\u2019 memory and to draw attention to all the children affected by childhood cancer.<\/p>\n

The Sycamore Gap tree was cut down a year ago, sparking national outrage. Now, Fergus’ community in Backwell, near Bristol, will be one of the first to be gifted a sapling grown from it.<\/p>\n

Stories of these first saplings to be promised are being shared to inspire others to apply for a \u2018Tree of Hope\u2019 from the National Trust. They have now grown to about 5ft tall, the BBC discovered on a visit to the top-secret greenhouse where they are kept.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"YardYard family photo<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Fergus “loved the outdoors” and was planning to walk Hadrian’s wall with his dad<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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On a bank, overlooking an open green space, Fergus\u2019 parents share the spot where his tree will go \u2013 a prominent place in the landscape.<\/p>\n

Their son came to this recreational ground nearly every day \u2013 a boy, on the cusp of becoming a teenager, who had a love of the outdoors.<\/p>\n

It was his walk to school. He played cricket and other games here with his dad Ian, who described it as place filled with \u201cfun\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Father and son were planning to walk Hadrian\u2019s Wall, along which the Sycamore Gap tree was nestled.<\/p>\n

They postponed because of the pandemic with the hope of visiting once life went back to \u2018normal\u2019.<\/p>\n

But Fergus was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in January 2021 and was just 12 years old when he died in May 2022.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"AndyAndy Alcroft\/BBC <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Fergus’ parents Ruth and Ian have chosen a prominent spot in Fergus’ local park for the special sapling to be planted<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Two years on, his mum Ruth contacted the National Trust after hearing about the seedlings and grafts successfully grown from seeds and young twigs rescued from the felled tree. <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s something about the story of the new life being created from the Sycamore Gap. It made me think of all the children affected by childhood cancer. And how they deserve so much better. They deserve a second chance of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Sycamore Gap sapling seemed a fitting tribute as it was the trip planned, but never taken.<\/p>\n

Since Fergus died, nature has been a constant source of strength to the family, Ruth tells me: \u201cIts power to regenerate. And to console.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stresses that cancer in children is “horrendous, brutal and life-changing” and that bone cancer in children is something “no one really talks about”. <\/p>\n

“We need to do more. We need to know more.” So her hope for the tree is to draw attention to the challenges these children face. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"RossRoss James\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Saplings grown from seeds are now about 5ft tall<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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The original tree was 49ft (15m) when it was chopped down, and so 49 of its saplings will be released to communities across the UK who successfully apply.<\/p>\n

The Sycamore Gap stood in a dip in Hadrian\u2019s Wall in Northumberland, attracting visitors, proposals and was even featured in the Hollywood blockbuster Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.<\/p>\n

But on the morning of 28 September 2023, news spread internationally that the tree had been chopped down overnight.<\/p>\n

Two men accused of damaging the tree and wall both deny the offence. <\/a><\/p>\n

There was excitement over the summer when shoots started to emerge from the stump itself.<\/a><\/p>\n

Currently its ‘baby trees’ are being nurtured and protected in a secret greenhouse, a site of biosecurity because of the rare specimens grown there \u2013 including a copy of Newton\u2019s Apple Tree.<\/p>\n

The first of the seedlings to pop up has been gifted to King Charles.<\/p>\n

It was the wrong time of year to grow the material that was salvaged from the iconic tree and things have been \u201ctouch and go\u201d, Darryl Beck, who has been tending to the seedlings explains.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"ReutersReuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The tree stood in a dip in Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland <\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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But now the small team here are caring for about 100 saplings, some taller than 1.5m, and more seedlings are coming on.<\/p>\n

There are also \u201cnine or so grafts and budded plants\u201d Chris Trimmer who runs the site explains. They are genetic copies of the original tree.<\/p>\n

The trees wont be ready for planting until next year. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re only a very small part of the story, but these trees will be around for the next 200 to 500 years. So, they’ll be around a long time and give a lot of hope to people,\u201d says Chris.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The National Trust wants these saplings to be symbols of hope and healing, with each tree going to a very special place.<\/p>\n

Another is promised to Tina\u2019s Haven at Easington on the County Durham Coast.<\/p>\n

Some 34 hectares (84 acres) of coastal fields are set to become a landscape of rolling meadows, hedgerows, ponds and woodlands overlooking the North Sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughter Tina was absolutely a unique human being,\u201d Sue Robson explains. \u201cThrough her life, although she had issues with childhood trauma and addiction and mental health, she was bold, she was strong, she was beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"SueSue Robson<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Sue Robson (left) with her daughter Tina (right).<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Tina died in 2020, age 35, following these struggles. After her death, Sue wanted to create a wild sanctuary \u2013 a place of recovery for others dealing with the problems Tina faced.<\/p>\n

The National Trust says it\u2019s spent the last 40 years cleaning up the beaches that neighbour the former coalfield sites near where Tina\u2019s Haven will be established.<\/p>\n

The hope is not only to restore nature here, but to help women recover from addiction and trauma through rewilding projects.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sue describes the pilgrimages she made to the Sycamore Gap, just 58 miles away, and how seeing it chopped down felt like an act of \u201cviolence against mother nature itself\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Tina died, my hope died with her,\u201d Sue says. \u201cAnd equally, when that beautiful tree was cut down. It was a violent, devastating act.” <\/p>\n

But she sees a “parallel” when it comes to themes of “hope, of nature, of recovery and connection.”<\/p>\n

“So, having the tree, such a significant symbol of hope here, is absolutely massive.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Sue, the story of nature bouncing back, symbolises that even after being subject to the worst adversity, there can be recovery, healing and new beginnings.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd hope can grow in abundance.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Additional Reporting by Kristian Johnson<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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Dan Monk Kielder Observatory The Sycamore Gap tree is thought to be one of the most photographed trees in the world Ruth lost her only child Fergus to cancer when he was just 12. \u201cYour worst fear after your child dies is that he’ll be forgotten,\u201d she explains. They had long been searching for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[2810,896,914,5680,5205,5679,5678],"class_list":["post-12579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-england","tag-boy","tag-cancer","tag-gap","tag-gifted","tag-memory","tag-sapling","tag-sycamore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12579"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12581,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12579\/revisions\/12581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}