Two rows of around 150 beech trees, also known as Bregagh Road, were planted in the 18th century to line the approach to Gracehill House, a Georgian manor house in Ballymoney, Co Antrim.
The trees appeared in Game of Thrones when Arya Stark made a tree-lined escape from King’s Landing in the second series, under a tunnel of twisted branches.
Mervyn Storey, DUP councilor and member of the Dark Hedges Conservation Trust, which has called for just four or five trees to be cut down, said: “I and no one else want to see the beginning of the end of what is known as the Dark Hedges.
He told the Belfast Telegraph: “No money has been put into something like an aggressive tree-planting scheme, but in my opinion it’s too late for that now.”
“He is trying to keep alive something that has been in intensive care for years.
“These trees will not be around forever and we have already lost a significant amount of trees due to weather and natural conditions.”
