A TREE from the district has been shortlisted for a national award - and it’s not Sycamore Gap.
The ancient yew tree in the grounds of St Cuthbert’s Church, in the small hamlet of Beltingham, near Bardon Mill, is in the running to be crowned as the Woodland Trusts’ Tree of the Year.
Th tree, which is said to be at least 900 years old, stands in the church’s graveyard and is a sacred site as St Cuthbert’s body is said to have been hidden there while on its journey from Lindisfarne to Durham Cathedral to keep it from Viking raiders.
Hundreds of nominations were submitted in the trust’s annual competition, with Beltingham and the Shoe Tree, in Newcastle’s Heaton Park, the only two from the shortlist of 10 in the North-East.
The deadline for voting for the competition is September 24 at www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/treeoftheyear.
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