Ellen the Lime (named after the Star journalist Ellen Beardmore) is the lone survivor of the very early morning ‘Night Raid’ on Rustlings Rd on the 17th November 2016, when 7 out of 8 targeted trees were felled. Arrests of protestors under the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act (related to flying picketing) were subsequently dropped, and South Yorkshire Police paid £24,300 compensation to those wrongfully arrested.
12 trees were originally selected for felling on Rustlings Rd, for ‘damaging pavements’, with 4 of those later reprieved after a consultation with residents. In the Independent Tree Panel’s report on the other 8 trees, only 1 was deemed to be too difficult to save. This report was released by Sheffield Council at 4:25am on the same day as the ‘Night Raid’, after the felling operation had started!
Before the fellings, long-running protests were led by Save Our Rustlings Trees (SORT), with a petition signed by over 10000 being presented to Sheffield Council in 2015. A number of campaigners camped out for a month in Endcliffe Park alongside Rustlings Rd, to keep an eye on the threatened trees.
However, on 17th November 2016 tree surgeons and police arrived on Rustlings Road at 4am to fell the 8 trees, with residents woken from their sleep with instructions to remove their vehicles. The heavy-handed approach of the Council and the police led to national and international outrage, with shocked statements from national politicians and ecology experts.
This extract from a report in the Guardian gives a flavour of the shock the ‘Night Raid’ caused: “There is often a moment in long-running disputes when one side jumps the shark and performs an action so preposterous that its case is forever discredited”.
Ellen was saved from felling on that day by Dr Luke Seed and others who stood in his own front garden under the branches of the tree. The other 7 trees, including Delilah and 2 named after James Mitchinson (former editor of The Star and the editor of Yorkshire Post) and cartoonist James Whitworth, were felled.
Five days after the ‘Night Raid’ on Rustlings Rd, with only Ellen remaining, workers with chainsaws suddenly returned to finish the job, but protestors again stopped Ellen’s felling or further removal of any branches.
In May 2019, it became clear that Ellen was finally saved, after a very straightforward job by highway workers, including creating an extended tree pit, trimming a small number of thin roots and installing a narrow-width kerb.