Leaning Wych Elm in Northern Ireland Wins UK Tree of the Year 2026

A wych elm that grows almost horizontally on the seafront in Newcastle, County Down, has been named UK Tree of the Year 2026. According to the BBC, it is the first time a tree from Northern Ireland has taken the national title since the contest was launched in 2014.

The tree, known as the Bendy Tree, won the Woodland Trust's annual public vote under this year's theme, Against All Odds. The Guardian reported that it has survived Dutch elm disease, which wiped out most of the country's elms.

The Bendy Tree by the numbers

• 150 years: the age of the tree, which was planted in the mid-19th century, according to the Guardian.
• More than 30%: the share of the national public vote it received, the BBC reported.
• 2014: the year the competition was launched. No Northern Ireland tree had won before.
• 30 million: the number of elms across the UK that Dutch elm disease destroyed, mostly, said the BBC, in the 1960s. The Bendy Tree resisted it.
• 8.7%: woodland cover in Northern Ireland, one of the lowest rates in Europe, according to the BBC.

Why this tree won

The elm was planted as part of a row of wych elms along the town's promenade to shelter the main street from sea winds. The Guardian said many of the trees were felled during redevelopment of the town; the BBC dated that to the 1980s. The Bendy Tree is the last one standing.

The wind it was meant to block bent its trunk until it was nearly horizontal. May Chemais, ancient tree inventory lead at the Woodland Trust, called it an astonishing and bizarre tree and said it had been battered by extreme winds for well over a century. She said the tree's story has struck a chord with people because many have faced changes and hardships that shaped them.

John Martin, director of the Woodland Trust in Northern Ireland, said he had been rooting for the tree. He said it was its whimsical nature that made it a worthy winner, and that he remembered being surprised as a child to see a tree growing sideways.

The rivals it beat

The BBC said the Bendy Tree beat a small yew that has grown from the masonry of a Devon church tower for 200 years, a Scottish ash that survived a lightning strike, and a Surrey yew in which villagers found an embedded English Civil War cannonball. The Guardian also noted the Crowhurst Yew in Surrey, whose trunk villagers hollowed out in 1820 to make a parish meeting room. The room's roof collapsed in a storm in 1845, but the tree lived on. Last year's winner was a 75ft ash that shades homes on a busy Glasgow road, the Guardian said.

What it means for the community and for woodland

For people in Newcastle, the tree is a practical feature as well as a curiosity. Its sideways branches shade a bench placed beneath them by the local council, where people can sit and look out over the Mournes and the sea, Martin told the BBC.

Chemais said older trees give communities shade, wellbeing and health benefits, along with stories, culture and pride of place.

The win also puts a spotlight on woodland in Northern Ireland. The BBC reported that it trails Scotland at 19%, Wales at 15%, England at 10% and the Republic of Ireland at 11%. A tree-planting action plan targets 12% woodland cover by 2050, but the BBC said planting rates would need to more than triple to stay on track.

What happens next

The Woodland Trust has also launched its Igniting Innovation competition this week, the Guardian reported. It is open to anyone aged 16 to 25 with ideas for projects that help woods, trees and people. Three winners will each receive £5,000 in funding and up to a year of expert mentoring.

Around Prague, based on reporting by The Guardian, BBC News