A PHOTOGRAPHER has raised over £6,000 by selling calendars of an iconic Northumberland landmark.

Wil Cheung felt distraught after hearing the Sycamore Gap tree had been felled in September.

Wil, who hosts stargazing events in Northumberland's Dark Sky Park, had taken several photos of the now felled tree for many years and wanted to raise money for the National Trust to help secure other landmarks and the future of what was left of the tree branches. 

Wil decided to create the calendar as a tribute to those who had been affected by the tragic loss of the well-loved symbol.

The calendar idea was very popular and Wil had to order 200 more to keep up with the demand after originally ordering 800.

Wil said: "When the tree was felled, I found it very difficult to process and I felt numb for a while.

"I was receiving a lot of requests for photos of the tree, but I didn’t really respond to any, including suggestions I should do a calendar.

"After a week, I decided that I wanted to do something and, something positive, where one bad act could lead to hundreds of positive ones.

"I announced I would do a charity calendar to raise funds, but all the profits would go to a good cause as I didn’t want to profit from the felling.

"I then created a calendar and eyecatchers.co.uk kindly got in touch and said they would print at cost price, which was very kind of them.

"I then made my calendar available to buy but initially with a time limit because I only wanted to order what was paid for.

"I am very happy. I only expected to sell around 250 calendars, and the response has been incredible; I didn't expect so many people to want one.

"I originally only did 800, but then a load of people wanted more, so I ordered 200 more.

"Orders have been placed around the world, and I sold out the 1,000 last week.

 "It’s been so wonderful to raise over £6,000 for the National Trust."