York gallery owner creates woodland in memory of iconic Sycamore Gap tree

A YORK gallery owner has planted saplings to create a woodland in memory of the felled Sycamore Gap tree.

In December 2023, artist Lucy Pittaway unveiled the Sycamore Gap painting to raise funds for the project.

Lucy vowed to plant a tree for every print sold, and has since created the Lucy Pittaway Sycamore Gap Trail on the Swinton Estate, near Masham.

She said: "Like everyone else I was so saddened to hear about the felling of the tree.

"To now see this new woodland coming to life is wonderful and I’m so grateful to everyone who has helped us come this far."

Lucy, who has a gallery in Coppergate in York, recalls visiting Sycamore Gap as a child and the lasting impression it made on her work.

The Sycamore Gap Tree was felled in September 2023 (Image: Newsquest)

Her painted image of the Sycamore Gap with a Northern Lights backdrop sold 2,400 prints, making a donation for legacy woodland from the proceeds.

As she planted the first saplings in the new woodland, Lucy spoke of her joy that something positive had come out of the felling of the famous sycamore last September, which had stood alongside Hadrian’s Wall for 200 years.

Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, owner of the Swinton Estate, answered the call for anyone with a suitable area of land to come forward and she joined Lucy in planting the first of the new saplings.

Lucy Pittaway with Swinton Estate head forester Brian Lofthouse (Image: PR)

Felicity said: "Like many areas of the countryside we have lost so many trees from larch blight and so regenerating the area through this project is a perfect fit.

"I think we are appreciating more and more the importance of conservation and the positive impact that trees and the countryside have on our wellbeing."

Lucy painting the Sycamore Gap (Image: Lucy Pittaway)

The first 600 saplings will be planted during April. They will mainly be sycamore along with oak, rowan, hazel and other native trees, with hundreds more to follow in the coming months.

Visitors to the Lucy Pittaway Sycamore Gap Trail will be able to follow a woodland walk which will also feature artistic installations.

Lucy added: "I hope this is an area that can be used for relaxation for generations to come.

"If it can inspire people’s interest in art and the countryside then the legacy of the Sycamore Gap tree will be a positive one.”

Last month, the National Trust said seeds and buds rescued from Sycamore Gap tree, which was voted Britain's most iconic tree in 2016, are “springing into life” at a specialist conservation centre.