County Down's wind-bent wych elm wins Northern Ireland its first UK Tree of the Year
Newcastle's wind-bent wych elm took more than 30% of the public vote to become the first Northern Irish winner of the Woodland Trust's UK Tree of the Year. The 150-year-old survivor grows in a region whose 8.7% woodland cover is among the lowest in Europe.
The Scientist · Science desk
What happened
- The elm is the last of a row planted along the promenade in the 19th century to shelter it from the sea breeze; the rest were felled during 1980s redevelopment.
- It beat nine other entries, among them a yew rooted in a Devon church tower for 200 years and a Surrey yew in which villagers found a Civil War cannonball.
- According to the BBC, the native elm resisted Dutch elm disease, which destroyed most of the UK's 30 million elms in the 1960s.
- Northern Ireland's tree-planting action plan targets 12% woodland cover by 2050, and planting rates must more than triple to get on track.
Why it matters
- What it limits constraint Every finalist was chosen for surviving adversity, so the vote compared survival stories; the 30% share measures affection for one of them, and the state of the woods has to be read from cover figures.
- What it limits constraint Going from 8.7% to 12% cover means enlarging Northern Ireland's woodland by roughly 38%, a 3.3-point gap that stays open at today's planting pace.
- What it sets up precedent Northern Ireland's first win since the contest began in 2014 shows a UK-wide public vote can be carried by a tree from the least-wooded of the four nations.
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Ten trees made the final shortlist, so an even split of the vote would have given each about 10% [18]. The Bendy Tree's share of more than 30% is over three times that [18]. John Martin, the Woodland Trust's Northern Ireland director, said tens of thousands of people across the UK had backed the tree [6]. "I think the whimsical nature of it and the fact that it's showed a lot of resilience over 150 years has proven it the winner this year," he said [10].
The sea gave it its shape. Its row was planted to block the sea wind, and that wind has pushed this elm's trunk almost horizontal, so its leaves now arch over the promenade path [7][8]. "The council has put a bench underneath it where people can come and sit in the shade and enjoy views of the Mournes and of the sea," Martin said [9].
The disease claim is the one a biologist would want checked. According to the BBC, the tree resisted Dutch elm disease [11]. The report does not say whether anyone has tested it. A single survivor cannot tell you whether a tree fought off infection or was never infected at all. Telling the two apart takes a test, or a large set of survivors compared with the elms that died.
May Chemais, who leads the trust's Ancient Tree inventory, called it an "astonishing and bizarre" tree [12]. "The Bendy Tree has been blasted by extreme winds, over and over again, for well over a century," she said [13]. She gave a personal explanation for the vote. "We've all been through changes and hardships that have shaped who we are - I think that's why the Bendy Tree has struck a chord with people," she said [14].
The prize goes to a region short of trees. Within the UK, Northern Ireland's woodland cover trails Scotland's 19%, Wales's 15% and England's 10%, and the Republic of Ireland's cover is 11% [16].
What to watch
- Any testing of the Newcastle elm that shows whether its survival of Dutch elm disease is resistance or a matter of never being infected.
- Whether Northern Ireland's planting rates move toward the more-than-threefold rise the 12% by 2050 target requires.
- Whether the Woodland Trust publishes total vote counts for the 2026 contest, which would put the 30% share on a firm base.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence70
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap0
- Incentives30
- Confidence80
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
A 150-year-old wych elm on the central promenade in Newcastle, County Down, was crowned UK Tree of the Year 2026 in the Woodland Trust's annual competition, the first time a tree in Northern Ireland has won the title.
- [2]
It is the first Northern Irish win of the national title since the competition was launched in 2014.
- [3]
The Bendy Tree beat nine other entries, including a small yew growing 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 early 19th-century villagers found an embedded English Civil War cannonball.
- [4]
The tree took more than 30% of the national public vote.
- [5]
The competition's theme was Against All Odds, with trees shortlisted as impressive, beautiful and sometimes baffling examples of how nature can survive adversity.
- [6]
John Martin, the Woodland Trust's Northern Ireland director, said he had been rooting for the tree and that tens of thousands of people across the UK had clearly felt the same.
- [7]
The wych elm is the last remaining tree of a row planted along the original promenade in the 19th century to shelter it from the sea breeze; the rest were felled in the 1980s during redevelopment.
- [8]
The wind has made the tree's trunk grow almost horizontal, and its leafy arch now runs over the path.
- [9]
The council has put a bench underneath it where people can come and sit in the shade and enjoy views of the Mournes and of the sea
- [10]
I think the whimsical nature of it and the fact that it's showed a lot of resilience over 150 years has proven it the winner this year.
- [11]
As a native elm, the tree resisted Dutch elm disease, which destroyed most of the 30 million elms around the UK in the 1960s.
- [12]
May Chemais, Ancient Tree inventory lead at the Woodland Trust, said it was an "astonishing and bizarre" tree that had endured a lot.
- [13]
The Bendy Tree has been blasted by extreme winds, over and over again, for well over a century.
- [14]
We've all been through changes and hardships that have shaped who we are - I think that's why the Bendy Tree has struck a chord with people.
- [15]
Northern Ireland has one of the lowest rates of woodland cover in Europe, at 8.7%.
- [16]
Northern Ireland lags behind Scotland (19%), Wales (15%) and England (10%) in woodland cover, and behind the Republic of Ireland (11%).
- [17]
A tree-planting action plan targets 12% woodland cover in Northern Ireland by 2050, but planting rates need to more than triple to get on track.
- [18]
With ten entries, an even split would give each about 10% of the vote; a share above 30% is more than three times that.
- [19]
At 8.7%, Northern Ireland has the lowest woodland cover of the four UK nations.
- [20]
The gap between Northern Ireland's current woodland cover and its 2050 target is 3.3 percentage points.
- [21]
Reaching the 12% target means enlarging Northern Ireland's woodland area by roughly 38%.
Sources
2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- bbc.co.ukWonky wych elm in County Down crowned Tree of the Year
2 articles · October 8, 2026
- dexerto.comIncredible 150-year-old tree that grows sideways wins Tree of the Year
1 article · October 8, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Woodland cover in Northern Ireland
- Heritage and notable trees
- Dutch elm disease
Entities
- Newcastle, County Down
- UK Tree of the Year