Molly McFlynn Goes Rogue in Northumberland

Submitted: 7th October 2026

Molly McFlynn Goes Rogue in Northumberland

‘There were two trees in Molly’s life – one she could no longer bear to be around and another that was calling her back.

Sue Reed is here today to talk about Molly……rogue in Northumberland…..

Map of Molly McFlynn Goes Rogue

Haunted by grief and unable to life the life she once knew, Molly is drawn to Sycamore Gap. It’s the only place that makes sense to her – where the legendary tree stood alone for generations – a symbol of strength, memory and belonging.’

Map of Molly McFlynn Goes Rogue

Inspired by the felling of the iconic tree at Sycamore Gap, Molly finds herself up on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, in the eye of Storm Arwen, the night before two men took it upon themselves to fell the tree in an act of mindless vandalism. It is a desolate place, where lonely cattle and sheep graze, and the wind whips across the hills. But for many it was a very special place, so much more than just a tree. It was the symbol of the northeast, where memories were made, ashes spread and promises made.

Map of Molly McFlynn Goes Rogue

This is not where our story starts or finishes, though. The book opens with Molly meeting the love of her life at the Shoe Tree in Armstong Park in Newcastle. For generations, school leavers and people of Newcastle have thrown their shoes up into the branches of a tall sycamore. Like the tree at Sycamore Gap, it is an iconic tree, that holds a sense of community and belonging but in our story is under threat of demolition by a building firm.

Map of Molly McFlynn Goes Rogue

However, tragedy strikes and Molly can no longer bear to be around the Shoe Tree and all thoughts of saving it vanish as she catches the train out of town, travelling along the Tyne Valley to the town of Hexham, where she boards the AD122 bus that snakes along the military road following the course of Hadrian’s Wall between Hexham and Haltwhistle, stopping at Chesters, Houseteads and Birdoswald Roman Forts. It is Housesteads where Molly alights. From here, Molly walks the Hadrian’s Wall path along the dramatic Whin Sill escarpment towards Sycamore Gap. It is a beautiful stretch of the path, with Sewingshields Crags giving stunning views.

Map of Molly McFlynn Goes Rogue

From her walk along Hadrian’s Wall, built in AD122 by Emperor Hadrian to mark the northern border of his empire, Molly can see what her grandfather calls ‘The Long Spike’ a tall standing stone set on the top of a hill that is believed to have been as Iron Age and Roman trading post. In the story, it is here that her grandparents who are druids, go to watch the sunrise on the Summer Solstice.

Map of Molly McFlynn Goes Rogue

The Bothy (c) Sue Reed

I have used the bothy run by the Mountain Bothy Association at Haughton Green grid as the fictional setting for a bothy that Molly will find shelter in and is transported back in time, waking up in an Iron Age roundhouse in the year AD122.

Map of Molly McFlynn Goes Rogue

Fast forward to the morning that the tree at Sycamore Gap is found slain, Molly, back in real time, is taken by her grandparents to their cottage, which is located near the village of Beltingham. It is here where another tree, can be found. An ancient yew, that grew long before the church was built, stands behind St Cuthbert’s Church in Beltingham. Many believe this could have been a druid’s grove. It is a place full of mystery and magic, and it is while Molly is in the presence of this mighty yew that she is inspired to return to Newcastle to fight to save the Shoe Tree.

Map of Molly McFlynn Goes Rogue

Molly then leads a day of action, working with the community at the Community Allotment, (inspiration taken from the City Farm there), starting outside the Cluny in Ouseburn, walking over Byker Bridge, up Chillingham Road in to Heaton, through Heaton Park and into Armstrong Park and our story ends where it began, at the Shoe Tree.

Thanks Sue…and Molly!