Brian Blessed, the 86-year-old former president of the Council for National Parks and actor who played Lord Locksley in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, has urged park officials to plant a new tree near the recently felled Sycamore Gap landmark in Northumberland. Blessed argues that a new tree would keep the stump company and possibly even help it regrow. The tree’s cutting was reportedly “beyond comprehension” and even though it may be dead, the actor is hopeful that something will eventually grow in its place.
Blessed fondly recalls the “deeply honoured tree” and its big leaves, saying that people have visited the site for various milestones and events, such as weddings and funeral scatterings. The National Trust, alongside Northumberland National Park, is contemplating future plans for the park and tree. The manager of the site said that they may be able to coppice the tree, where new shoots grow from the trunk’s base since the stump is still considered healthy.
While Northumberland National Park has protected a sycamore sapling from local sheep with a circular wall, the National Trust has asked people to stop visiting the site while officials assess the tree and harvest seeds and clippings
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