The vandal of Sycamore Gap has robbed us of a much-loved landmark, a thing of beauty, a carbon store and a supplier of oxygen, but they have not killed the tree (‘More than just a tree’: recollections of Northumberland’s Sycamore Gap, 29 September).
Below ground is a powerful root system, bent on staying alive. Dormant for the winter, it will wake up in spring and wonder where its headgear has gone. And there will be a fuzz of new shoots, setting out to replace the loss.
