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A 16-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage in connection with the felling of the world-famous Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian’s Wall. The boy remains in custody and is assisting officers with their inquiries, Northumbria Police said on Thursday afternoon. Superintendent Kevin Waring, of Northumbria Police, said: “This is a world-renowned landmark and the events of today have caused significant shock, sadness and anger throughout the local community and beyond. “An investigation was immediately launched following this vandalism, and this afternoon we have arrested one suspect in connection with our inquiries. “Given our investigation remains at...

Bizzare theories are swirling tonight over why the world famous Sycamore Gap tree, which appeared in Kevin Costner's 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, was chopped down in the middle of the night, as a 16-year-old boy is quizzed by police. The much-loved landmark at Sycamore Gap, next to Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland. Mystery surrounds how the damage could have been done, with some theorising that 'a professional who knew where they were going to cut' was responsible, perhaps requiring a torch to complete the job at night. It is possible the perpetrator would have required an accomplice to...

The Royal Navy has admitted one of its warships collided with a Russian hunter-killer submarine in the north Atlantic in what is believed to be the first collision between Russian and British vessels since the Cold War. The Russian submarine was lurking 200 miles north of Scotland in 'late 2020' when the crew of HMS Northumberland was dispatched on a 48-hour mission to hunt it down amid fears it would try to tap into or cut undersea cables essential for communication and the internet. The Royal Navy's Type 23 frigate sailed into the region where the sub was believed to...

Keir Starmer has said Boris Johnson is “not fit for office”. Speaking on a visit to Northumberland, he said: "[Johnson is] not fit for office and because he’s not fit for office, he won’t resign and the question really is for Tory members of the cabinet, Tory MPs, to ask themselves are they prepared to put up with this? He’s not fit for office. He’s not going to be fit for office. Are they prepared to go through the degrading of themselves and their party, to go out to the media, have to defend the indefensible for months to come?...

A walrus the size of a fridge was spotted ‘chilling’ on the Northumberland coast this morning – but is it Wally? The wandering walrus has ventured from the North Atlantic ocean to Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, France and the Isles of Scilly. He was last seen in Iceland in September when marine experts identified his scars on his front flippers. The 800kg titan has proven to be a bit of a vandal – causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to boats across the UK. Read More While stopping off in the Welsh town of Pembrokeshire in March, he capsized a...

A 5th-century chalice covered in religious iconography has been discovered in Northumberland, to the astonishment of archaeologists, who describe it as Britain’s first known example of Christian graffiti on an object. With its complex mass of crosses and chi-rhos, angels and a priestly figure, as well as fish, a whale and ships, it is believed to be without parallel in western Europe. Made of lead and now in 14 fragments, it was unearthed at the Vindolanda Roman fort, one of Europe’s foremost archaeological sites, near Hadrian’s Wall, during an excavation that has also discovered the foundations of a significant church...

Early Roman "horseshoes" unearthed during an excavation at a fort near Hadrian's Wall are to go on display. Barbara Birley, curator at Vindolanda, near Hexham, in Northumberland, said it was "incredibly rare" to find a full set of four iron hipposandals. She said the hoof protectors were so well preserved that their tread to stop horses slipping was clearly visible. The haul was found by a volunteer - one of 250 who carry out digs at the fort every year. Because the Romans were in Britain for between 400 and 500 years, Ms Birley said, teams could dig at the...

Roman boxing gloves have been discovered near Hadrian's Wall, thought to be the only known surviving examples, even though the sport was well- documented on Roman wall paintings, mosaics and sculptures. With a protective guard designed to fit snugly over the knuckles, the gloves were packed with natural material which acted as shock absorbers. They date from around AD120 and were certainly made to last: they still fit comfortably on a modern hand. One of them even retains the impression of the knuckles of its ancient wearer. They are among the latest discoveries at a pre-Hadrianic Roman cavalry barrack, which...

Wasn't sure where to put this so here goes... Please vote conservative in this poll as it is being freeped big time by the liberals. It ends at 9:00 pm EST thanks http://northumberlandview.ca/discussion/index.php?topic=220.0

In just three hours of savage, face-to-face fighting in a Northumberland field, 15,000 men lost their lives in the most brutal of ways. The scale of the butchery in 1513 at the Battle of Flodden, near the village of Branxton, is astonishing in an age well before the mechanised killing capabilities of modern artillery. At the end, the Scots King James IV, most of his accompanying nobility and 10,000 of their countrymen lay dead. Now the first steps have been taken to plan how this momentous battle's 500th anniversary should be marked in just over four years' time. For the...

Nearly a thousand new archeological sites have been discovered off the North East coast as part of an English Heritage-funded project... Among the results were four ship wrecks found in mud flats off the coast of Amble. Their existence had previously been recorded, but until the survey took place their exact location was not known. However, it is not known when the wrecks date back to, but they are clearly visible on aerial photographs from the 1940s. And on the Farne Islands, a pattern of rectangular features around the medieval St Cuthbert's Hermitage can be seen. It is believed that...

An otter has survived a "perilous" three-mile sea crossing to the Farne Islands for the first time, the National Trust has said.The animal, more commonly found in rivers, has swum from the coast of Northumberland despite rough seas.While otters in Scotland do live in coastal areas, Mr Steel said it was "a rare event" to see them by the sea in England.For one to reach an island three miles offshore was, he said, "incredible". "It is staggering that an otter could survive the perilous journey out to the Farne Islands, especially Brownsman, which is a long way from the mainland,"...