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Mature Rowan Trees by Berwick Old Bridge Illegally Felled

16th April – Two mature rowan trees by the Old Bridge in the Stonemason’s Yard, Tweedmouth, have been felled without permission by workers from the Port of Berwick. A well-known and unusual Victorian statue of an angel protecting a child has also been removed, along with a second smaller monument. This is a photograph of one of the rowan trees, next to the angel statue:

Felling trees in a conservation area without permission from the county council is forbidden by law and can elicit a £20k fine per tree.

Not only that, felling or even pruning trees in April, during the nesting season, should only be done after an assessment, since disturbing nests is illegal.

The Northumberland Gazette briefly covers the story here.

The clearing of the site has been done ahead of a potential tenant for the stonemason’s workshop. However, since the site has once again been favoured for a car park in a recent NCC report, the question has to be asked: was the impending tenancy and associated ‘clean-up’ simply an excuse for making the car park plan easier to implement later on? Although Cllr Georgina Hill has since made extensive enquiries and found no concrete plans exist, the existence of the recommendation means that a future (third) application for a car park cannot be totally ruled out1.

The Harbour Commission has referred themselves to NCC, who have apparently agreed that it was an ‘accident’. But all the signs point to very deliberate wrongdoing by person or persons unknown:

1. Workmen wearing vests emblazoned with ‘Port of Berwick’ were approached on the previous Friday, 10th April, and muttered “say nothing, say nothing,” before the felling. They then said that they were connecting services to the workshop as it was being rented out.

2. After the felling, a workman told a resident that the trees had been snapped, not cut. This is a classic ruse to avoid responsibility and blame it on something else, e.g. the wind (there wasn’t any storm the night before, when the trees were photographed intact).

3. The workmen also told the same resident that the site should be a car park as the Port needed the money. This indicates that the car park plan was in their minds.

4. Another resident saw them bulldozing trees from their house.

5. I videoed myself talking to a workman clearing up the site on Tuesday, and remarks included “I don’t care” and “we had permission from the council”. However, he could name neither the council contact nor the department. Clearly it was a lie, and he then made a short video on which he lied that I swore at him. The emerging themes here are deception and arrogance.

Only recently, a Facebook user was asking about the angel statue. And several residents have said that they were admiring the trees only a few days ago.

Although the Harbour Commission says they have ‘offered’ to plant new trees, neither they nor NCC are motivated to put any obstacle in the way of possible car park plans.

Residents are prepared to take legal advice if the promise is not carried through. This vandalism is a cynical assault on both the history and natural environment of Tweedmouth, and it was obviously done – by someone – in the knowledge that it was illegal. ‘Oops, workers went rogue’ isn’t nearly good enough.

Residents are demanding to know who thought they were above the law, and the whereabouts and condition of the monuments.

More photos are provided below.

UPDATE 18th April, 2026

The Harbour Commission have issued this statement, reported in the Northumberland Gazette:

David Calder, Berwick Harbour Commission chief executive officer, said: “During landscaping and grading work of a grass area within the Berwick Harbour Commission estate, two self-seeding rowan trees were removed in error.

“We have informed Northumberland County Council of this unfortunate incident and we have offered to replant two rowan trees on the site.”

The reference to ‘self-seeding’ is presumably intended to imply that the planting of the rowan trees was unplanned, and therefore the trees are of less importance.

We have subsequently heard that while the smaller rowan may have been self-seeded, the larger rowan tree is a replacement that the Harbour Commission were required to plant after they felled a pear tree in that location in the 1990s, again without permission. A resident writes:

“The pear tree was in the process of being cut down without permission when Mr Gray, who at the time had a pharmacy opposite, intervened. He called the Borough Council and Mr Abercrombie came across: it was decided that too much damage had been inflicted on the tree and it was removed, but it was on condition that a suitable tree was planted in its place – this was the rowan, which has now been hacked down.”

As far as the angel statue and smaller angel monument are concerned, the Harbour Commission claims that they are in storage awaiting their owner to collect them. Surely they have been there for so long that they should have de facto heritage protection. They may belong to Robertsons, who last owned the site, and bought the business that was owned by George Sutherland who in turn bought it from the Wilsons in 1943. The monuments may be said to have belonged to the businesses, but perhaps the reason why Robertsons didn’t take them away is because they thought they were now established features of the site.

The aftermath of the site clearance, 13th April 2026

1 From the Berwick-upon-Tweed Parking Study, October 2025, by consultancy Steer:

Tweedmouth, land next to Old Bridge

The former Memorials display area is now vacant. This land could accommodate ~40 spaces. This would be very conveniently located for people to walk across the Old Bridge into the town centre, less than 5 minutes from the Bridge St / West St junction. The parking would be adjacent to the Old Bridge having a negative visual impact on the heritage, but the topography means the parking is below the height of the bridge and could be shielded with planting. NCC Planning has previously ruled out parking here on heritage and visual impact grounds. However, with careful design, we believe that parking could be accommodated here sensitively and that, in so doing, it can enable stronger place-led improvements in the historic heart of Berwick. For this reason, we recommend that this option is retained for further detailed consideration.