‘England’s best tree’ felled to make way for HS2 has started growing back

Campaigners have hailed a ‘miracle’ as ‘England’s best tree’ which was felled to make way for HS2 has started growing back.

The 200-year-old champion pear tree was removed to make way for the controversial rail line in 2020.

It was one of the largest in the UK and was voted the best tree in England in a 2015 poll by the Woodland Trust.

The tree in Cubbington, Warwickshire was dug up for HS2 – despite immense opposition from local residents.

The stump and root ball were moved by contractors and replanted in a field around 100m from its original home.

And now to the delight of the community the pear tree has been sprouting new shoots and leaves.

Penny McGregor, whose family owned the woodland where the HS2 rail line now stands, used to see the tree through her kitchen window every morning.

The pear tree, cited as a champion tree in Warwickshire due to its large girth, was positioned on the border of the land which her father has owned for 47 years.

Penny, whose brother has been implementing regenerative farming on the land for nearly a decade, said: “It was a great shame to see the tree go – it has gone for us.

“But its regrowth has been extraordinary to watch and it shows the power of nature – it just needs the right conditions to thrive.

“It was an absolutely cracking tree with a very amazing blossom.

“The re-growth of the tree is a symbol for the good of nature – everyone seems to want a sapling around the community: in the church, schools, even the village farm shop.’

“When HS2 moved the tree they didn’t know it was going to survive, but they did their best to make sure the root ball was moved and so had the chance to potentially live on.

“Luckily they placed it on my side of the rail line so I’m closer it. We had no idea it would regrow – but I was hopeful.”

Before the tree was chopped down back residents took cuttings from their beloved shrub.

Paul Labous, a horticulturist at Shuttleworth agricultural college, successfully grafted the cuttings to new rootstock, returning several young trees to the community.

Now, several young trees have been returned to the community and there are now reported to be around 40 of the tree’s saplings around the Cubbington area.

The pear’s offspring have been planted in the churchyard, at two primary schools and in nature reserves and parks farther afield.

According to locals, the champion tree’s stump is regrowing because it had the good fortune to be planted in heavy clay soils that stayed moist during recent dry summers.

The reason the tree could not have been moved as a whole can be explained in a survey on the pear tree back in 2015.

The survey, conducted by Atkins with the collaboration of Civic Trees, read: “The Environment Statement reported that the loss of the veteran pear tree will result in a permanent adverse effect on its conservation status which will be significant at a district/borough level.