Artist recruited to paint memorial pictures of Sheffield trees
An artist has been recruited to paint portraits of memorial trees in Sheffield that have been earmarked for destruction.
Dan Llywelyn Hall will set up an easel and draw a portrait of each tree in a bid to chronicle the trees for memory.
He is known for painting portraits of the last British veterans of World War One
The artist will then gift a selection of drawings to Sheffield's Graves Gallery.
Sheffield tree campaigners say the pictures will be "a testament of the community's resilience in the face of the mass destruction of so many of the city's very special street trees".
Dan was invited to Sheffield by Rob McBride - one of the UK's leading tree campaigners known as the Tree Hunter - to chronicle these significant trees.
Mr Llywelyn Hall said the trees "hold so much history".
Earlier this month, Sheffield City Council was granted an injunction to stop campaigners getting in the way of council contractors felling trees.
The High Court judge backed Sheffield Council in its battle to stop three objectors - including Green Party councillor Alison Teal - from taking 'direct action' by protesting inside safety barriers erected around trees whilst contractors are working.
The injunction came into force yesterday.
Council bosses say the felling programme is essential if Sheffield's 36,000 street trees are to be managed for future generations.
They say trees earmarked for felling are dying or diseased, or pose dangers.
But protesters disagree and regular protests have been staged as contractors have removed hundreds of roadside trees.