Kielder tree on its way to Westminster to light up Big Ben this Christmas

  • Julia Barthram reports

The Christmas tree which will go on display outside the Houses of Parliament has begun its journey south from the wilds of Northumberland.

The 43-foot high Sitca spruce tree, which was planted in 1982, was cut down by Forestry England so that it can take pride of place at the foot of Big Ben throughout the festive season.

Planted 40 years ago, it was selected out of 150 million trees taken from the 60,000 hectare site, which is one of the only areas where trees can be grown to the scale required.

Richard Cooper from Forestry England said: "We have to keep our eyes peeled for most of the year. 

"We're looking for something with a single stem, nice and bushy, really good coverage all the way around.  It was a really good specimen - a lovely bushy specimen."

Once felled, the tree begins the 315 mile trip to the capital.

Kielder Forest was hit hard by Storm Arwen a year ago, with around a million trees blown down by strong winds. Some areas of the forest only reopened in the summer of 2022.

The tree is one of 212 from Kielder which will be displayed in towns around the UK this Christmas.

The 43-feet high tree will be pride of place in London. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

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