Supposed ‘eco-warriors’ Extinction Rebellion have a simple slogan. It’s “tell the truth”. There’s only one slight problem with such a slogan. XR wouldn’t know what the truth is if it bit them! Far from telling the ‘truth’ they’ve got a long and nasty habit of making up stuff to feed to their gullible supporters, not all of whom are fooled. Here’s an example from Tuesday, when XR members in the North pulled yet another stupid stunt involving trains to/from Drax power station.
For a while now, @hs2rebellion and XR have been trying to claim that trees chopped down to build the new High Speed 2 (HS2) railway are being chipped and sent to Drax as biofuel. It’s cobblers of course, Drax use trains to move massive amounts of wood chippings from the ports of Liverpool, Immingham and Hull. These trains, weighing in at 2,400 tonnes each carry 1600 tonnes of biomass and operate nearly 30 services A DAY into Drax. The idea the power station needs or requires this to be supplanted by a few hundred tonnes of green woodchips moved by road from scattered sites across the route of HS2 is laughable, but that’s HS2Rebellion for you. The truth is what you make up.
Here’s what those biofuel trains look like. These are the services from Liverpool Docks to Drax which use very high capacity hopper wagons (wood-chip being light, but bulky). All biomass to Drax is moved in long trains of hopper wagons similar to this.
Now have a look at this nonsense and bluster from XR North via one of the useless anti HS2 protesters in Staffs who bills himself as ‘Run Away Jim’!
Their claims are a complete fiction for several reasons. 1. That’s not a biomass train. 2. That silly person didn’t stop anything as a few seconds into the video the train starts pulling away, leaving the bemused protester looking very stupid indeed as she delivers an intellectually incoherent ramble to camera. It’s an incredibly stupid stunt. Believe me, as someone who’s held the PTS (Personal Track Safety) qualification, I can tell you trackside near moving trains is a very dangerous place to be even if you’re fit, active and trained to be there. For a clueless elderly person it’s a potential death-trap. By encouraging such dumb actions XR are putting people’s lives at risk. Plus, it’s no fun (at all) for the railway staff and emergency services who might (literally) have to pick up the pieces. You can watch the whole, ridiculous video on the XR North Facebook page (link).
The comments on the XR FB page show that some people weren’t fooled and knew this wasn’t a biomass train. XR North doubled-down on the lie by pretending its a ‘local’ service bringing in woodchip – which is utter rubbish, because there aren’t any.
How do I know this? Easily. Can I prove it? Yes, of course.
What idiot protesters like XR don’t understand is that even freight trains operate to timetables and those timetables and details of the train types are available online. So, what was that train? Well, it’s very distinctive because of those ‘Interbulk’ container tanks atop flat wagons. It’s actually ash from Drax which only runs on a Tuesday and Thursday when it’s worked from/to sidings at South Milford North of Leeds before travelling down to Appleford near Oxford where the ash is disposed of. Here are the copies of the actual (real time) timetables for Tuesday. Now, I can’t tell which of the two trains this is, but one of the little revelations is neither the inbound or outbound working was delayed at all by that silly protester. Oh, another thing to note. Look at the weights of each train. It went into Drax empty and came out loaded – exactly the opposite of what a biomass train does!
The train was seven minutes late leaving Milford and seven minutes late arriving at Drax. Some ‘delay’.The train was seventeen minutes late leaving Drax and clearly suffered no extra delays around Drax!
There you have it. Extinction Rebellion caught out lying and then when questioned they double-down on the lie. It’s time people started seeing these people for whom they really are – untrustworthy, dishonest and who couldn’t ‘tell the truth’ if their lives depended on it. Which (allegedly) they do…
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Whilst the HS2 Chiltern Tunnel Boring Machines continue their relentless progress North 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the contractors building the new railway continue to recruit more staff and expand work-sites up and down the route, the rump of the protest campaign against HS2 retreats more and more into the world of fantasy. It’s a bit like the historical occupant of a certain Berlin bunker moving around imaginary army divisions on a map. Reality isn’t allowed to intrude into their echo-chamber.
The latest example of this is the fact that Chris Packhams Parliamentary petition (which got stuck on a paltry 155,000 signatures) has been scheduled to be debated by the Petitions Committee on September 13th. Extinction Rebellion/HS2Rebellion have a grandiosely titled ‘Parliamentary Liaison Team’ (aka ‘one man and his dog’). Led by one Sebastian Sandys, a London based XR member. Now, you’d think that a good start for such a person would be to actually understand how Parliament works. But oh, no – this is the anti HS2 campaign! Here’s Sandy’s latest post on one of the campaign Facebook pages.
“Support repeal”? Really? This is an option? There’s going to be a debate in the chamber of the Commons at the end of which there will be a vote on whether to repeal the HS2 Hybrid Bill(s)?
No, it’s complete cobblers. It’s a fantasy, nothing more and it’s only going to end in tears as those opposed to HS2 are being led down the garden path by these ridiculous claims.
How so? Well, let’s have a look at the Petitioning Ctte itself and it’s rules and regulations. Here the ‘how petitions work’ page on their website, which says the following:
“7. At 100,000 signatures your petition on the UK Government and Parliament site will be considered for a debate in Parliament.”
All well and good, Packhams petition passed that hurdle. The vote’s on, isn’t it? MPs will soon be flooding in to the Commons to debate and repeal. Well, no – there’s more…
“Petitions can disagree with the Government and can ask for it to change its policies. Petitions can be critical of the UK Government or Parliament.”
Yeah, yeah – get on with it – and?
As usual, the devil’s in the detail – and the details can be found on this page entitled ‘actions on petitions’ which says…
“”The Committee can schedule debates on petitions in Westminster Hall on Mondays from 4.30pm (for up to 3 hours). Petition debates are general debates about the issues raised by the petition. This means that the debates cannot directly change the law or result in a vote to implement the request of the petition. If your petition is debated, it means that MPs can discuss your petition, ask questions about the Government’s position on the issue, or press the Government to take action. A Government Minister takes part in the debate and answers the points raised.”
Wait? What? The debate’s in Westminster Hall? That’s not the floor of the house of Commons! and what’s this about the debate can’t ‘change the law’ (the HS2 Hybrid bills are law) or result in a vote? There’s no vote?
No. HS2 antis have been completely conned. Here’s how Packham’s petition was worded.
Put simply, it was an impossible ask because (as usual) Packham hadn’t done his homework and understood what these petitions can and can’t do. So, on the 13th September there will be a nice little talking shop in Westminster Hall that will be attended by a handful of MPs enjoying tea and biscuits, debating HS2 for a few hours, and at the end of – absolutely nothing will have changed!
Sandys *should* know this. So, either he doesn’t know so is accidentally leading people up the garden path, or he does know this and is deliberately leading people up the garden path! Either way, there’s going to be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth from HS2 protesters who’ve been misled into thinking there’s going to be a vote to repeal the HS2 Hybrid Bills on the 13th. All those people who’ve been persuaded to write to their MPs have wasted their time, but no change there then.
Did anyone seriously think any Government (of any political persuasion) would set up a system where laws passed by Parliament as part of Government policy could be repealed by a bunch of back-bench MPs in a Committee room on the back of the results of an e-petition? Talk about away with the fairies!
Order some popcorn, because I suspect there’s going to be some interesting comments posted on the various anti HS2 groups Facebook pages when folks realise the false hopes they’ve been fed by the likes of Sandys, XR and Hs2rebellion have been dashed – yet again…
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
With the anti HS2 campaign continuing to fall apart as more and more activists become ‘slacktivists’ or disappear completely now it’s obvious the game’s up. There’s been little to comment on recently because it’s really all over bar the posturing. Until today, when in one glorious cock-up HS2Rebellion and others who’re linked to the rather ridiculous (but also faintly sinister and rather fascistic) Extinction Rebellion spin-off political party ‘burning pink’ have excelled themselves in utter stupidity and tinfoil-hattery on the day London’s voters go to the polls!
Why? Well, Burning Pink have put up a candidate for London Mayor, one Valerie Brown (who? Ed). You may well ask, as no-one’s ever heard of her before now. Apparently, she’s the co-founder of ‘burning pink’ along with the odious Roger Hallam, who was previously one of the founders of Extinction Rebellion. Frankly, there’s less chance of her winning as there is of finding Lord Lucan.
SkyBet are offering odds of 750-1 on her. To put that into perspective, Count Binface is way ahead of her with odds of 500-1! For someone standing on a supposed environmental ticket her campaign’s been a joke. Money’s been found from somewhere for a campaign ‘battlebus’ which turns out to be a pollution disaster as it’s 17 years old and wouldn’t be allowed on the streets of London any other way.
With her campaign going nowhere Hs2rebellion/Extinction Rebellion activists came up with an idea to attract publicity and make some impossible demands at the same time. Two (one of whom is serial failure Larch Maxey) clambered on to the roof of 1 Eversholt St at Euston and sprayed the building with pink paint, then said they’d only come down if their ridiculous demands were met. They and their hangers-on like ‘Boots on the ground’ (see previous blog) claimed they were spraying the HQ of HS2.
To say these people aren’t playing with a full deck is beautifully illustrated by another of ‘Boots’ tweets from yesterday.
This is tinfoil-hattery of the highest order. Why the Chinese would want inland naval bases miles from the sea would seem to be a logical question, but obviously not if you’ve been sucked into the ‘shocking pink’ orbit where it seems the first thing you’re asked to do is leave your brain at the door.
Now, as Larch Maxey had previously spent 3 weeks holed up in the pointless tunnel under Euston Gardens early in the year, you just might have thought he’d have an idea of who had offices at Euston and where. But no! Needless to say, this stunt backfired in spectacular fashion as people pointed out what should have been blindingly obvious. HS2’s HQ is in Birmingham. Yes, the do have offices at Euston – at the Podium. The offices Maxey and his mate painted are the offices of err…Network Rail, the company that runs the publicly owned rail network, you know – public transport – the sort of thing Greens are meant to like…
Here was the reaction of one person on Twitter who pointed out the obvious.
Of course, the mistake is even harder to make now as buildings 1 and 2 have been demolished so Maxey had a 50-50 chance of getting the correct building – and still failed to get the right one!
Meanwhile, others started doing some digging about that ‘battlebus’…
I sometimes wonder if Extinction Rebellion and ‘Burning Pink’ aren’t actually working for the oil and road lobby as the only thing they’re good for is bringing the UKs green movement into utter disrepute. Whatever these idiots thought they were achieving that would help their cause is a mystery. The reaction on Twitter has been overwhelmingly negative, if anything it’s exposed just how ridiculous, arrogant and unpleasant ‘Shocking pink’ are – with Extinction Rebellion not far behind. Remember, ‘shocking pink’ under their other name ‘beyond politics’ attacked the offices of several political parties (including the Green Party) because they claimed they weren’t ‘radical’ enough.
Still, tomorrow we’ll be able to see the election results. One thing I can confidently predict and that’s the fact Valerie Brown will not be Mayor of London! I’ll update this blog with the results. Anyone care to bet she has less votes than Count Binface?
Of course, this futile act of stupidity does beg one question. Whilst these two and their rag-bag of supporters are poncing around outside Network Rail’s offices, who’s meant to be on the frontline trying to ‘save’ trees and stop HS2?
UPDATE: 9th May.
As promised here’s an update on Brown’s performance in the Mayoral election. She came last! She managed a measly 5305 votes and was trounced by Count Binface who garnered 24775 votes! Worse was to came. ‘Burning Pink’ have reported Brown was arrested at home by the Metropolitan police on Saturday morning for conspiracy to cause criminal damage (of for ‘caring’ as Burning Pink’ claim). She’ll be in good company as Larch Maxey and his co-vandal Xavier Gonzalez Trimmer were also arrested after their stupid stunt.
Meanwhile, in the real world. HS2 construction continues uninterrupted…
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
On 26th of August my blog exposed the internal ructions, corruption and shenanigans in the anti HS2, campaign and the secretive agenda of many of the campaigners which has little to do with the environment (despite their claims) and everything to do with a wider political agenda.
That blog certainly caused consternation and opened a few eyes amongst the protesters supporters. Several have now make their Facebook pages private (which is rather counterproductive to a campagn that’s desperate for publicity). So here’s another update to the murky goings on within their failing campaign – which is anything but sweetness and light.
It seems that more than a few people are sick to the back teeth of Extinction Rebellion’s attempt to takeover the anti HS2 campaign, and also some of XR’s ‘star’ campaigners, like Larch Maxey, who certain media outlets like the Guardian love to publish puff-pieces about that are devoid of any analysis or background. Not everyone falls for it – including some of Maxey’s fellow protesters, as this Facebook post exposes.
I suspect some of the protesters who’re desperately scrabbling around for funds (as they never even got a sniff of the £37,000 donated to XR’s crowdfunder.) will be even more pissed-off to know that Larch is apparently paid a monthly salary by Extinction Rebellion – as he alluded to in one of his Guardian puff-pieces. This one, in fact. Maxey is heavily involved in Extinction Rebellion, he’s been named as one of their “Rapid Response Team” in this very interesting analysis of XR by centre-right ‘think tank’ Policy Exchange.
Now, I’m no great fan of ‘think tanks’ – especially ones that refuse to reveal who funds them, but one of the co-authors of their report on XR is Richard Walton, a former Head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command (SO15), so I have no reason to question the validity of their report. I also share their disquiet over XR’s ambitions, aims and tactics. Initially, I was sympathetic to them. Claimate Change is the most pressing probelm the planet faces and we’re not taking it seriously, but the more I saw of XR’s tactics and learbed about its imossible aims, the more I realised that it’s actually damaging, not helping the ‘Green’ movement. But then, I’ve long argued that the UK’s ‘green’ movement isn’t fit for purpose.
Of course, it’s not just Chris Wilson who’s hacked off with Extinction Rebellion, their control freakery and paaid ‘stars’ like Maxey. A long, rather rambling post from ‘Nick Smith’ has appeared on the StopHs2 Facebook page that’s come from him and some of the protesters down at Denham/Harvil Rd. You can find it here, but I’ve copied the text as it lifts the rock on the murky activities and tensions.
“Extinction Rebellion have finally decided to refrain from trying to take over control of the STOP HS2 protection camps between London and Birmingham, and instead they are offering to HELP the front line activists who actually live there, and to LEARN direct action from them, according to unconfirmed reports from the camps.Some of the eco-warriors at the Harvil road and Denham camps in Colne Valley near Uxbridge invited Extinction Rebellion to join them at the protest sites last year, and HS2 Rebellion was the name that was eventually chosen to be used by the new recruits.Unfortunately a power struggle developed fairly soon, with HS2 Rebellion apparently insisting that they controlled some kind of hierarchy and were in fact the “leaders” of the climate movement, and all the protesters were obliged to take orders from them.Extinction Rebellion released a statement about how HS2 Rebellion was becoming the umbrella organisation for all the protection camps and they listed their “criteria and values” which they claimed all the activists had to agree to and abide by.This was regardless of the fact that the eco-warriors had originally started the camps with the Green Party four years before XR came along to attempt to take them over and control them.HS2 Rebellion started their own fundraiser with £32,000 being donated for the Colne Valley protest by more than 1000 people. The fundraiser stated that the money would be distributed to all the protection camps, but HS2 Rebellion refused to share anything with camps that did not agree to join Extinction Rebellion and obey their rules.Two camps which agreed to join Extinction Rebellion and obey them were given £16,000 between them, but the Harvil road and Denham camps at Colne Valley near Uxbridge which remained autonomous and independent got absolutely nothing. The STOP HS2 organisation which started the local residents protest campaign in their own local communities against the high speed rail link 13 years ago asked for financial support but HS2 Rebellion did not want to help them so they also received nothing. Some activists objected that HS2 Rebellion was crowd funding off the back of a 12 year protest campaign and saying to the public who were donating that the money was going to actions and legal fees for all the camps, yet the activists were having to start a crowd fund for their own legal fees.Activists at the camps were being told they needed to meet the XR “criteria” to be able to get access to the money raised, and they said they never had this problem for three years “until the XR control freak fascists who wanted to cause disruption and bullying came along”.Eventually HS2 Rebellion produced the receipts for the money that was allocated and spent, and they showed that two camps got a total of £16,000 but the Colne Valley camps got nothing.Some activists accused HS2 Rebellion of illegally obtaining money by false pretences or even fraud, since the fund raiser page had made it clear that the money donated would be distributed to all the camps without any terms and conditions involving joining Extinction Rebellion and obeying their rules.Extinction Rebellion originally came to a protest march that they tried to get the Harvil road activists banned from, and then they started HS2 Rebellion in May 2020 which failed in their attempt to monopolise the campaign. Extinction Rebellion tried to impose a great deal of authority and control and to police other people’s behaviour according to their “values and principles” which were designed to dominate, control, and ostracise those activists who think for themselves. Extinction Rebellion gathered a lot of “intelligence” and expected everything to be run past them, and once the protest started building momentum with direct action HS2 Rebellion attempted to move into the camps, creating camp agreements which were rules the eco-warriors had to live by and which were policed by XR members.They then tried to kick off any activists who were not living by their rules, which pretty quickly failed especially as all the camps were started by local residents and eco-warriors who lived full time at the camps, and HS2 Rebellion would have made them homeless, so that did not succeed either.Extinction Rebellion tried to police everything that anyone who wasn’t a member of XR did, whilst controlling the behaviour of all those who call themselves XR, giving the impression that Extinction Rebellion may well have been infiltrated by undercover police and agents working for corporations (like HS2) and the oil companies.Some eco-warriors believe that if Extinction Rebellion had it their own way everyone would just wave flags and sing songs whilst being escorted by the police, and the sooner the genuine activists become autonomous the better.However the biggest concern for a lot of climate activists is that XR is fake astroturfing controlled opposition being funded by banks, hedge funds, and oil companies to negotiate with the government and promote the false solution of “net” zero emissions which would allow fossil fuel industries to continue to pollute the Earth and kill humanity.One of the Harvil road and Denham activists at Colne Valley reported that she had spoken to journalists that she knew when XR would not show them the receipts for the money they had raised in the name of the eco-warriors’ protection camps.”HS2 Rebellion tried to have a monopoly on the fund raising and the media. “We have never needed people’s money. “It just makes things safer in trees and tunnels when we have A grade equipment. “We are all doing dangerous things and that makes us all family”.Another eco-warrior said “each camp has it’s own set of rules and very different sets of people, it’s a very wide cross section that needs to be catered for without judgement or favour, all come from different places with a common aim which is to stop HS2 and the destruction of the environment”.Some of the activists from the STOP HS2 camps sent a message to HS2 Rebellion in May 2020 as a result of the claim by Extinction Rebellion that all the STOP HS2 activists were members of HS2 Rebellion and were under the control of XR.What actually happened subsequently at the STOP HS2 camps was exactly what some of the front line activists had predicted would happen.Following is the message that was sent to HS2 Rebellion in May 2020:”We feel any response, in the interests of openness and collectivism is best made in the open forums rather than to any specific individuals. “We have a statement we wish to put out, which isn’t responding just specifically to the individual ‘Rebel Action Agreements and Principles Values’ etc, but a broader statement.”At the point of writing this message there are ten people sat around a camp fire on the front line of resistance, living in occupation, with several concerns and criticisms to raise about what is developing around us. “Firstly, we feel like we are being spoken on behalf of.”We believe these parameters aim to homogenise this movement. “We believe that this struggle’s strength lies in its diversity and creativity.”The parameters set out in this document aim to homogenise the movement under the banner of HS2 Rebellion – we must ask, who are you?”The persons involved in making these decisions are unknown to many of us – even some who have been on the front line for more than a year now.”Who are you speaking for when you create these parameters within which those who oppose HS2 are being told to act?”We welcome HS2 Rebellion as an affinity group in the same way that we see ourselves as an affinity group within the movement – but reject what feels like an attempt for HS2 Rebellion to become the movement itself.”We will not stand for the co-option of this movement and for its monopolisation by a single ideology.”We are concerned as to how these rules and expectations will play out – namely the allocation of capital, both social and financial. “If HS2 Rebellion continues to monopolise the movement, funds, and media, the security and safety that these bring will be consolidated to the groups branded as HS2 Rebellion and reduced in others.”There are certain things in the parameters set out which feel oppressive and disempowering, replicating the very state that we are fighting against, such as:”# Limitations to who is and isn’t allowed to talk to media (citing the select group contacted to be ‘spokespersons’) – this is inherently exclusionary and runs the risk of preserving and furthering class division.”# We do not identify as ‘Rebels’ or ‘Tree Protectors’ – we find those labels dehumanizing and limiting.”Ignoring the deeper and broader intentions of people in this fight the reason the emphasis on the correct media/language is effective for this specific campaign is that it is respected within the eyes of the law/current capitalist/patriarchial/imperialist paradigm.”We do not want to be reduced to winning only this particular campaign. “We are focused on building a long term movement for social change, that does not and cannot rely on receiving the system’s respect due to it’s oppressive nature. “# Decisions about asking people to leave camps or actions are serious decisions made with potentially huge implications for the individuals targeted – this is exclusionary and counter to creating reformative systems. “This is not an exhaustive list, but simply a reaction and critique in the moment. “We do not wish for this campaign to be fractured into factions, but equally we cannot allow the whole movement to be co-opted into a homogenized package.”One group will not win this alone, HS2 is one symptom of the many ailments of our society, there is not one single way that this fight will be won – if and when this fight is won, the struggle will not end there”.
So who is Nick Smith and how’s he in a position to knw? Here’s the answer…
RU was Rising Up, the organisation that became Extinction Rebellion.
Needless to say, these revelations are starting to have an effect on some of the younger and more naieve people who were attracted to the anti HS2 campaign in the belief it really was all cuddley and united and about saving the planet.
Ignoring the levels of paranoia and fantasy (they’re going to stop Hs2? Seriously?) Smith’s post does give an insight into the XR and HS2Rebellion’s wider political agenda. This isn’t a bunch of people who care about a few trees, that’s just an excuse. As we’ve seen, the protesters are not above trashing chalk streams as part of their protests and their new camp at Euston Gardens is a rubbish strewn shit-tip.
Meanwhile, what have they actually achieved? Nothing. Not a single thing. Their campaign has been an unmitigated disaster where the only success has been to keep courts busy! Talking of which, an informed source tells me that Thames Valley police have a warrant out for Larch Maxey’s arrest as he failed to turn up at a court hearing! Various courts have protesters up in front of them between now and December – and no doubt there will be many more as the ‘eco-warriors’ tactics are hopeless and wasteful. I won’t give away why, but I suspect many can guess. They have another problem too. Many of their supporters who would turn up at camp for a day or two have no gone back to school or college – shrinking their activist pool to a puddle. With winter approaching and HS2 ramping up the final woodlands clearences and more evictions planned, this is very much the last winter of discontent.
I expect the next few months to be the protesters version of ‘Custers last stand’ – only with mud and PPE rather than feathers and bows and arrows! Many of the remaining camps on HS2 land will be evicted and the protests squeezed as there’s no trees left to ‘save’. After all, locking yourself to a concrete block on some cold tarmac in the depth of winter when all you achieve is to get arrested doesn’t have quite the same allure as sitting in a tree or in a tent in the woods and posturing to people on social media…
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 