A sycamore laced with the shoes of jubilant students, a haunted oak bound in chains and a Hackney plane facing the chop are among the 10 contenders to become England’s tree of the year. The Woodland Trust’s annual competition throws the spotlight on the country’s best-loved trees to drive interest in their value and protection The Shoe Tree in Heaton Park, Newcastle, is so named because students throw their footwear into its canopy to celebrate the completion of their exams. This sycamore laden with the memories of a city, demonstrates the fashions of decades gone by Photograph: Tessa Chan/The Woodland Trust The Remedy Oak in Dorset. From a distance it’s difficult to appreciate its grandeur because it is covered in ivy and moss that help it blend into the surrounding hedges. The entirely hollow tree gets its name from a legend that King Edward VI had touched it, conferring healing powers upon it Photograph: Tessa Chan/The Woodland Trust The Crouch Oak in Surrey, nominated ‘because it’s simply old and Queen Elizabeth I is said to have picnicked under it’. The tree once served as a marker for the edge of Great Windsor Forest, and in the early 19th century the landowner fenced it off because young women had been stripping its bark to make love potions Photograph: Tessa Chan/The Woodland Trust The Wilmington Yew in Sussex. Growing among the graves, this enormous tree is more than 1,000 years old. Yews were long considered symbols of immortality, and are commonly found in church yards. Although highly poisonous, anti-cancer compounds are harvested from yew trees and used in modern medicine Photograph: Tessa Chan/The Woodland Trust The Happy Man in Hackney, north London. Currently earmarked for felling to make way for housing, this 150-year-old plane has been nominated by parents and children who pass it on the school run Photograph: Tessa Chan/The Woodland Trust The Chained Oak in Alton, Staffordshire. Legend has it that the Earl of Shrewsbury had the tree bound in chains because of a curse which stated that for every branch that fell, a member of his family would die. The tree and its tale are the inspiration for the Hex ride at Alton Towers Photograph: Tessa Chan/The Woodland Trust The Marylebone Elm in Westminster, London. Standing at the top of Marylebone High Street, this 30-metre elm is one of the few to survive both the bombing of the second world war and Dutch elm disease, both of which changed the landscape of the city Photograph: Tessa Chan/The Woodland Trust The Beltingham Yew in Northumberland. Said to be at least 900 years old, the tree stands in the graveyard of St Cuthbert’s church. It’s a famously sacred site because St Cuthbert’s body is said to have been hidden here while on its journey from Lindisfarne to Durham Cathedral to keep it from Viking raiders Photograph: Tessa Chan/The Woodland Trust The Grantham Oak in Lincolnshire. Towering over a suburban street, this giant was here centuries before its neighbours. Last year its future looked doubtful because of groundworks near its roots. Thanks to support from the local council and campaigners, however, works have taken place to add a cordon and protective surface around the tree so it can outlive us all The Beech Tree in the Altar at Bayham Abbey in Kent. Growing out of the wall of the abbey ruins behind the altar, this tree is visually stunning. It has survived many events, most notably the great storm of 1987 in which part of it was lost, though nothing of its grandeur