An artistic tribute to the Sycamore of Hadrian’s Wall is to be auctioned for charity, one year on from when the iconic tree was felled by vandals.
The piece is a forged steel replica of a sycamore seed, crafted by blacksmith artists Stephen Lunn and his daughter Ashlee Donaldson. One of just 50 in a limited edition series, it will be auctioned to raise money for our community interest project, Seeds2Trees, that mobilises support to grow trees from seeds to create woodlands of the future.
The metal seed, measuring 13.5 inches by 3, was forged a year ago “to celebrate the wonder tree that we knew as Sycamore Gap”. A sycamore tree image is crafted onto the seed.
The piece to be auctioned is one of the longer seeds, more than one foot long.
The auction is being organised by Seeds2Trees, a project run by Living Woods. This is dedicated to the creation and sustainable management of woodland by supporting and empowering local people to create and care for woodlands in and around their communities across the North of England, and has planted thousands of trees over the last few years. And our project, Seeds2Trees organises and supervises individuals, families, schools and community groups to grow seeds at home, which will be collected to become woodland of the future.
“It’s particularly poignant when we consider the reason why we have this special Sycamore seed for auction,” said Lara Young, the project leader. “Each piece comes with a message to ‘fly and spread your seeds’, so people bidding for this will be literally helping new seeds to be spread for new trees. More new trees will have a chance to grow, from seeds of trees and seeds of understanding and respect. It will help turn sadness into hope.”
Stephen and Ashlee are at the forefront of the revival of blacksmithing and its evolution into an art form. Their Forge near Morpeth in Northumberland has been in the family since 1921; Stephen himself started work there in 1975. Their work can be seen in Alnwick Gardens, on the benches in Alnwick Market Square, and includes the peace sculpture in the seaside town of Amble.
“My grandfather prided himself in providing quality service and workmanship when our main business came from shoeing farm horses,” says Stephen, known as Anvilman. “The business has evolved and I now class myself as an artist as well as a blacksmith. I combine traditional methods of forging that have been passed down through the generations with my inspirations drawn from nature in the form of modern contemporary designs.”
Says Lara: “Stephen is passionate about trees himself, having created a piece of woodland over many years, taking pride and joy in every tree that he has planted and seen matured.
“We have been given a wonderful opportunity to auction this very special piece of artwork that can help new trees to be grown by the community, enabling new life, hope and a new legacy for our future generations.”
Launched in 2022, Seeds2Trees now supports more than 300 individuals, families and groups in rural and urban locations, growing new British native trees from seed that they have supplied. Each batch of seeds has the potential to grow 100 new trees – oak, hazel, common alder and silver birch . The saplings from the first round of the project in 2022 will be collected this November and grown on in a community nursery at Brampton in Cumbria.
The link for the auction is https://www.jumblebee.co.uk/sycamoregapsycamoreseed
Meanwhile, in a separate fundraising effort, the insurance giant Aviva is offering to match all other donations to the Seeds2Trees project for the next six weeks. The move is part of their community fund initiative which helps local causes build stronger communities across the UK through providing funds and volunteers. Donations which will be matched funded can be made here: https://www.avivacommunityfund.co.uk/p/seeds2trees—progressing-the-change-we-need