Laura Barton, writing in the Guardian yesterday, reports on the route of the high-speed rail link that –
“At stake, too, is the preservation of the Ridgeway, Britain’s oldest road — a pathway followed since prehistoric times by herdsmen, travellers and soldiers, running from Wiltshire, along the chalk ridge of the Berkshire Downs and on to the River Thames at the Goring Gap. It passes the stone circle at Avebury and the White Horse at Uffington, as well as Grim’s Ditch, Wayland’s Smithy and Barbury castle. It runs, too, right down Wendover high street, past the clock tower, built in 1842 and now repurposed as the visitor centre, then out towards Wendover woods. There is an ancient feel to this land, something rich and deep and solemn.”
More here – http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/dec/20/heartache-over-high-speed-railway
The Heritage Journal 
6 comments
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21/12/2010 at 14:19
Amanda
Not good. There was alot of upheaval when the high speed rail link was constructed in Kent. It isn’t far from where I used to live. People lost their homes, countryside and archaeology was destroyed and local people have not benefited. There is a huge scar across Kent. The views I knew as a child have gone.
Instead of spending vast amounts of money on this high speed link what about using that money to improve the already existing rail service. If what we have already got is updated and improved then there will be no need to destroy even more of our countryside and heritage.
21/12/2010 at 15:00
Amanda
Stop HS2 website
http://stophs2.org/news/378-petition-government-stop-hs2/
21/12/2010 at 15:57
Littlestone
“If what we have already got is updated and improved then there will be no need to destroy even more of our countryside and heritage.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Re: the article in the Guardian by Laura Barton where she quotes some interesting figures – eg that the rail link is estimated to cost £34bn. Well, if past estimates for similar projects are anything to go by I’d say add on half of that again (at least) and for what? A saving of only 30 minutes between London and Birmingham? (and that’s assuming there’s no snow etc on the tracks and no other typical delays on the UK rail network). Even if the ‘high-speed link’ can be built at a cost of £34bn that works out to over £1bn for each minute saved on the journey to Manchester!
Come off it, even if the country could afford it, and we were saving an hour rather than a paltry 30 minutes in travel time, we’re now moving into an age when it really is not necessary for lots of people to travel vast distances (quickly or otherwise) to meetings which can quite easily be conducted by video conferencing etc.
22/12/2010 at 09:18
Nigel
Better than video conferencing, the day he opens it the Minister of Transport will be elsewhere, only a 3-D hologram of him will be there….
Anyway, transport needs tend to change quite quickly don’t they? Would current traffic projections justify building a motorway at Tara?
Oh and I drove up the road they built over the Rotherwas Ribbon recently. You could have a picnic in the middle of it and scarcely be disturbed. And the trendy quango that pushed so hard and so unjustifiably for it, Advantage West Midlands, has been disbanded – and the Chief Exec has been paid oodles, more than the Prime Minister….
22/12/2010 at 15:38
Lucy Percival
It’s progress I suppose. I was a protester at Newbury back in the 90’s and after weeks living around and up trees, it all came to nothing in the end and the road was built regardless. I’ve grown up a bit since then and now travel the UK for business and if I’m honest, I just want to get there and get there fast – much different from my ideaological student days.
I would rather take the train anyway so perhaps in a few years time, we may take a different view and welcome the change?
09/01/2011 at 15:53
Lizzy Williams
Please join our campaign! I am the Chairman and have walked the entire route. Please also do see the SPAB Cornerstone feature I worked on. Email me for more info. It destroys Edgcote and many other vital features of our heritage.
Lizzy x
chair.stophs2@gmail.com http://www.stophs2.org
“The National Campaign against High Speed Rail 2”
Please sign the Stop HS2 petition for a parliamentary debate
http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/stop-hs2.html.