I was reminded, following events at Sycamore Gap this week, of a similar story earlier this year.

Related Article: Robin Hood’s Tree

Basically there was understandable outrage when it was discovered that an as yet unknown person had taken a chainsaw to senselessly hack down the ancient sycamore tree which had proudly stood between two hills on Hadrian’s Wall for centuries.

The rumour mill quickly kicked in and conspiracy theories soon circulated over who exactly the culprit was with none of it actually based on fact and quite possibly prejudicing any chance of a fair trial when the matter actually got to court.

Initially a 16-year-old was arrested who was “helping police with their enquiries” but later it was announced that a man in his 60s was also arrested in connection with the case – conspiracy theorists have wondered whether it is a local farmer disgruntled with the landowner and even a so-called “social media influencer” looking for their 15 minutes’ of fame on Tik Tok.

We shall see how it pans out but it is always dangerous legally to speculate on social media just because someone has been arrested in connection with a crime when it is still very early in the police investigation.

Having said that the collapse of the elm tree, in the grounds of Beauly Priory, was completely natural and there was no chainsaw involved as it was suffering from Dutch elm disease.

I was on annual leave during the first week of this year (as I had worked over the Christmas period) and decided to take a run out to Beauly, which was to the west of Inverness, as I wanted to put up some of my Panasonic camera kit up for a commission sale.

It made sense while I was there to revisit the priory and take some shots with my new camera kit, which I was still getting acquainted with, and the wych elm, which stood in the grounds and was thought to be 800 years old, was an obvious focal point for my lens.

I had taken its photograph earlier during my time in Inverness but I was surprised to hear that it had collapsed after finally succumbing to the scourge that is Dutch elm disease just two days later and I can assure you that no chainsaws were involved in its eventual demise.

So, unlike Sycamore Gap which I was planning to visit once I moved back to Cumbria but did not get the chance before it was cruelly felled, at least I got to see the Beauly elm still standing just days before it toppled.

As a bit of background the elm stood at the entrance to Beauly Priory and an event to celebrate its life was held in the village last October.

References to the tree have been found in records going back to medieval times and Historic Environment Scotland (HES) previously laser-scanned it as part of work to document ancient Scottish trees.