After all my rushing around the country, long days and sleepless nights it’s good to be back at home! It’s been great fun (if exhausting) but I’m enjoying the slower pace of life and home life. Admittedly, I’m still keeping busy. I’ve a mountain of pictures to edit from my various activities which has kept me glued to my computer for the majority of the day – and probably the next couple too.
Still, you can start to see the results as some of them have already appeared on my Zenfolio website. The range of pictures from my visit to Warwickshire to see the High Speed 2 railway construction and environmental mitigation work can be found in this gallery. I’ve only just begun working my way through the Railway Children’s ‘3 Peaks by Rail’ challenge but I’ve started a new gallery for them which can be found here. It should be fully stocked with pictures by Tuesday evening. Of course, there’s the usual miscellany of railway pictures that have found themselves into various galleries. They can be found by following this link.
Once the pictures are done the writing begins as I’ve several articles to sort out as well as try and fit in the usual admin, invoicing and even a trip out on Thursday – just to stop me feeling jaded. In the meantime, expect more pictures of the day accompanied by the usual ramblings depending what caught my eye (or annoyed my spleen)…
I’ll leave you now with today’s picture which is from my visit to see the HS2 construction work in Warwickshire. Here’s a view of the civil engineering in the Leam valley with route carving a gap in Cubbington wood in the background. The view is looking North-West. Sadly, the edge of the ancient wood couldn’t be avoided, but there’s a huge amount of mitigation work happening in the area and the soil from the gap has been translocated to sites along the edge of the wood. Pictures of what those translocation sites look like now are in the HS2 gallery.
Like any building site it looks like, well – a building site! High Speed 1 once looked like this but the scars on the landscape soon healed. Nature has a knack of recovering and humans will help in that healing…
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’m back on the rails for the rest of the week, travelling across a large chunk of the UK (as you’ll see). Today I’m off to have a look at some of the High Speed 2 construction and mitigation work around Cubbington in Warwickshire.
Thankfully, the weather’s better where I’m going than where I’m coming from. The Calder valley’s a wet and gloomy place this morning as the area’s trapped beneath a low layer of heavy grey cloud that’s shrouding the valley tops. My first train of the day’s Northern’s 06:23 from Sowerby Bridge which is worked by a pair of 2-car Class 195s. I’m taking it as far as Manchester. This should be a Chester service but it’s been chopped back to Victoria for some unknown reason.
08:00.
On arrival at Manchester I made the customary ‘mad dash’ across the city centre from Victoria to Piccadilly on foot. It took me 15 minutes which meant I was in plenty of time to get an earlier train than originally planned. I’m now ensconced on Cross-Country’s 07:27 to Bournemouth. Today the train’s made up of consecutively numbered, 4-car Class 220s (020 and 021 for the number-crunchers amongst you). Despite the earliness of the hour the front unit is very busy with few spare seats after we’d departed Stockport. Thankfully, the cloud levels are lifting and getting thinner the further South I go.
220020 ready to head the 07:27 from Manchester Piccadilly to Bournemouth.
09:20.
My train was packed all the way to Birmingham New St where the vast majority of travellers decamped only to be replaced by a smaller cohort for the continuation of the journey. Some were only travelling as far as Birmingham International and a few more for Coventry. My stop’s in another 20 mins so I’ll be interested to see how busy we are then.
11:40.
Out exploring the route of HS2…
Looking North to Cubbington wood…
19:00.
Apologies for the break in blogging but I’ve spent most of the day exploring the HS2 route and mitigations sites in the company of local farmer Penny McGregor. Penny’s been kind enough to show me around before and having her local knowledge and passion for the environment (tempered with pragmatism) has been invaluable. We’ve pootled around several sites in her little electric car so that I can see and record the changes that have taken place since I was last here in February.Then the woods and ancient woodland translocation sites were dormant. Now they’ve burst into life and are even past their best as many plants (such as Campions) have gone to seed. Even so, it’s easy to see the opponents of HS2 who claim building the railway has created a barren wasteland are talking out of a fundamental orifice. Yes, of course the trace of HS2 looks like a building site – that’s because it is! The margins however, can be very different depending on the age of the planting. Plus, the ancient woodland soil translocation sites are throwing up surprises as seeds that have lain dormant for years under the tree canopy have now been stirred up and have access to light…
I’ll add a selection of pictures shortly. Right now I’m making my way back North. Having bid farewell to Penny after such an interesting day I caught Cross-Country’s 17:15 to Manchester Piccadilly as far as busy Birmingham New St where I swapped sets to catch the 18:03 to Edinburgh as far as Leeds. Both trains afforded me some great views of HS2 construction – especially around Birmingham. Forget the media froth and protesters howls – HS2 is happening! The amount of work to be seen around Curzon St and Washwood Heath is very, very impressive. I hope to return soon to cover some of it.
23:00.
Time to bring this blog to an end. I’ve been at home for the past few hours, preparing for the next 4 days of fun and travels. I’m in London tomorrow morning ready for a press lunch that’s been on hold for several years due to the pandemic. It’ll be a lovely opportunity to catch up with old and new faces from our hots – Siemens – as well as other colleagues from the rail press. As soon as the lunch finishes I have to hot-foot it up to Crewe to join the annual ‘3 peaks by rail’ charity fundraiser in aid of the Railway Children charity. I’ve been a volunteer on this event since 2017. It’s exhausting but bags of fun. So, expect a varied bunch of rolling blogs over the next few days.
But for now I’ll leave you with a picture of this little critter that Penny and I saw in a field next to HS2 earlier today. It’s a silver studded blue butterfly.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’ve refrained from blogging much this month as I’ve been busy with other things but today I couldn’t resist returning to comment on a subject I’ve refrained from hardly commenting on at all recently. Politics.
But my spleen needs venting after watching the utter shit-show that passes for a Government nowadays and the ‘Prime Mendacitor’ surviving a no-confidence vote – amongst other things…
To be honest, when the news of the vote broke I suspected Johnson would win for a couple of reasons. One is – who is there with any honesty or intelligence within the Conservative front benches to replace him. Admittedly, that won’t be a question the Tory party will be asking because if they cared about those qualities they’d have never elected a pathological liar as leader in the first place! No, the question they’ll have asked themselves is “who could win us the next election”? Their problem is that it’s unlikely the electorate will fall for the same trick twice and Johnson has ensured that there’s no likely candidates around by appointing a bunch of people who no-one else would ever give a job to – and who owe him their positions. I mean, ‘Mad Nad’ Dorries? She shouldn’t be trusted with a supermarket check-out! Liz Truss? Really? The only one who was seen as a likely lad was Rishi Sunak but his star set when all the stuff came out about his American Green card and his his very wealthy wife’s tax and residence status. The odious and perma-smirking Priti Patel? The grandees would never go for her and I doubt many Tory members would too…
The Tories are in a fix of their own making. Some have a spine and some (albeit often deeply buried) scruples which is why the number voting against Johnson was so large. The likelihood now is that the party will continue to implode as it’s clear Johnson only has one policy, which is to hang on to No 10 at all costs. His acolytes, sorry – Cabinet – will do whatever they can to facilitate that so they can stay in office too.
Expect a series of policy volte faces (see HS2, more of which later), mad policy announcements and more dead cats than a pet cemetery. But it’s clear ordinary voters are starting to see the emperor has no clothes and treats the majority of them with contempt. On the 23rd June we have 2 by-elections. One in the ‘red wall’ seat of Wakefield and the other in the safe Tory seat of Tiverton and Honiton.
Polls suggest Labour will win back Wakefield with a large majority which is going to make other ‘red wall’ Tory MPs very nervous. The nerves could become even more frayed if the Lib-Dems pull off another Amersham and win Tiverton. Johnson is not out of the woods by a very long chalk.
Meanwhile, the damage caused to the economy by the Brexitshambles is becoming more and more obvious now they can’t hide the truth by blaming it on Covid. Even some of the Brexit cheerleaders in the media (The Daily Express for example) are sensing that they can only pull the wool over their dwindling number of readers for so long.
Sadly, the rot in the Tory party (wholesale infiltration of local constituency association by former UKIP members) that led to so many out of touch ideologues getting selected and elected was mirrored by the Labour party being similarly damaged by Corbynistas. Corbyn may be gone but the damage he’s done hasn’t. There’s some good people in the Parliamentary party but there’s not enough of them and Keir Starmer is hardly of the Tony Blair mould when it comes to charisma. We as a nation are not well served by our main political parties.
I said I’d come back to HS2 and the news of the dropping of the £3bn Golborne link which was designed to free up capacity on the very congested two-track section of the West Coast Main Line from Weaver Junction (North of Crewe) to a point just South of Wigan, bypassing the busy rail junction of Warrington. The HS2 Minister, Andrew Stephenson quietly slipped out the news just 30 minutes before Johnson’s no-confidence vote. That the cut was planned had been leaked a few weeks previously by Sir Ian Brady, the MP for Altrincham and Sale West and (it just so happens), Chair of the 1922 Committee, which oversees votes of no-confidence and who’s constituency the Golborne link would have passed through! What an amazing co-incidence!
The Golborne link was crucial to improving Anglo-Scottish train times and services as it would have helped make HS2 competitive on what’s Europe’s busiest internal air route. That from The Scottish central belt to London and the South-East. So, now – instead of a firm plan that was due to be passed by Parliament this year, we’ve a series of vague promises to “look again at alternatives”. in line with suggestions in Sir Peter Hendy’s Union Connectivity Review. What this naked bit of political pork-barreling will do is set back that section of high-speed line by years – IF it ever happens. It makes a mockery of the Government’s supposed commitment to carbon-reduction. Getting air passengers off those short-haul planes and onto trains would be a huge reduction in the worst kind of carbon emissions.
IF (and it’s a huge if) the Government did actually come up with a plan to move the connection between the WCML and HS2 further North to (say) just South of Preston, that would be better than the Golborne link as it would speed trains up even more and relieve more WCML. But Johnson (and his Transport Minister, Grant Shapps) have proved his Government simply can’t be trusted.
I suspect we’re going to see further rowing back on promises made in the (dis)integrated rail plan as this line was going to be funded from the HS2 budget but any revised route would be expected to come out of the supposed £96bn IRP pot.
So much for ‘leveling up’ eh? I only hope Northern voters see through this charade but I’m not holding my breath. Even some Labour MPs are welcoming another Tory cut – hence this nonsense from the Labour MP for Warrington North, Charlotte Nicols, who either doesn’t understand what the Golborne link was, or does but has played Nimby politics as the route passed through her constituency too. It’s worth of the ‘Green’ party in it’s hypocrisy, ‘supporting’ HS2 in principle, but welcoming cutting it in practice.
Reaction to Nicols Tweet wasn’t what she was expecting! Many people replied, pointing out what the MP was seemingly deliberately misunderstand and misleading. The Golborne link “not part of the line”? Oh, please!
I’ve no doubt this saga will continue…
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Theis blog was written in 2022 when the anti HS2 campaign finally collapsed. I’ve added a 2023 update to the end.
Over the weekend the final act in the hopeless anti HS2 ‘rebellion’ (and I use that word very loosely indeed) came to a shambolic end when the last few squatters and protesters were evicted from their refugee camps in Staffordshire. The camps had been dying a slow death over the past three weeks, but the final act came quickly when bailiffs and security moved in and the few remaining protesters were dispersed. The farce was announced on the defunct Bluebell camps Facebook page thus:
Forget the attempt to play the homeless sympathy card. Most of these people do have real homes to go to – either back to their parents, or to the vans and caravans some of them lived in. They squatted and occupied this land, it’s not their home. In fact, the last squatters were damaging someone’s farmland as their own pictures show.
There’s now not a single camp left anywhere on the HS2 route. All that is left is two isolated protesters down tunnels at the Cash’s Pit site (aka Bluebell wood). Both are now in breach of High Court injunctions. It’s only a matter of time until they either give up or are dug out (having achieved the sum total of zilch). They will not be passing go or collecting £200 either. There’s only once place they’re likely to end up…
To make matters worse for the protesters the High Court in Birmingham spent 2 days (Thursday and Friday) hearing evidence for HS2 Ltd’s route wide injunction. Judgement has been reserved and is expected to be announced in several weeks time. Despite the scenes of bravado from the handful of protesters outside, it’s clear from the evidence offered by them that many hadn’t got a clue what was really going on. You can find all the legal documentation here – including witness statements and claims from the few protesters who asked to have their names removed from the injunction. In fact, only 2 of the 58 names were removed. Number 47 (Tom Dalton) and Number 56 (Libby Farbrother). Both will have had to sign legal undertakings not to interfere with HS2 property ever again. Other protesters had asked for their names to be removed as they were no longer involved in trying to stop HS2, having drifted away from the campaign over the past months and years. After the shenanigans from the protesters in Court, expect a revised list of names, with more added! The High Court is not to be treated with contempt but the protesters have a habit of doing so, as well as displaying weapons-grade misunderstanding and misinformation of law – which doesn’t endear them to the legal profession. I suspect the judgement (when it appears) is going to make interesting reading.
For reference, here’s a copy of the wording of one of the actual undertakings the defendants are asked to sign in order to have their names removed. The wording makes it clear that it does NOT bar them from public rights of way or the highway. It merely prohibits certain actions. But of course, the truth doesn’t fit the protesters narrative…
Another document deals with the protesters accusations of ‘wildlife crimes’ and completely skewers them. Firstly, it says;
“I understand from the Claimants’ legal representatives that a number of allegations were made in Court today by named defendants and other individuals that the First Claimant has been prosecuted / fined for “wildlife crimes”.
As the protesters haven’t defined what a wildlife crime the document helpfully says this:
“The Crown Prosecution Service says: “Wildlife crime can be defined as any action which contravenes current legislation governing the protection of wild animals and plants.”
Then comes the killer…
“I confirm that the First Claimant has never been prosecuted (whether by the police or any other relevant regulatory or other body such as the Environment Agency or Natural England) for a Wildlife Crime. It follows, but again I confirm for completeness, that the First Claimant has never been fined in relation to the commission of a Wildlife Crime”.
In the light of such simple legal facts, you can imagine what weight the Judge will be giving to the protesters ‘evidence’….
The hundreds and hundreds of evidence bundles made for voluminous and often tedious reading – especially the overlong and bombastic nonsense from Mark Keir. But there were a few interesting nuggets in some of it (such as the above) including statements from former StopHs2 ‘Campaign Manager’ Joe Rukin, who was forced to admit what we’ve all known for quite some time. StopHS2 is dead. It died several years ago.
Rukin’s evidence is hidden away in document No 50. Bundle D – Volume A. All 177 pages of it! Here’s a link just in case you’re suffering from insomnia at any time! The relevant parts of Rukin’s confession is reproduced here.
Rukin goes on to say…
And, finally…
So there we have it. “StopHs2 has had no part in organising or coordinating any campaigning activity for the last two years.” They’ve joined all the other anti HS2 groups like the HS2 Action Alliance, AGAHST and dozens of local (in)action groups up and down the route that folded many years before.
There’s now no campaign to stop HS2 – just the remains of a rag-bag of baseless protesters, many of whom are now scattered to the four winds or gone to join other lost causes (two of the names on the injunction ‘Digger Down’ and Larch Maxey are now at an oil protest site in Surrey). It really is all over bar the moaning now. And, if the High Court grants HS2 Ltd their injunction (which is very likely, although their may be amendments), there won’t be any more camps either. No doubt their might be the odd protest and banner-waving here and there, but that’s meaningless. The only way HS2 was ever going to be stopped was by what never existed from day one – major political opposition to the project. The protests have never been anything more than a very expensive circus.
UPDATE: 19th June.
Today what’s left of the protesters are boasting that the two in the tunnels have been underground now for 40 days. Their problem is, no-one cares! The media lost interest weeks ago and so did most of their social media followers. Now all the camps have gone, so’s much of their attention.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the HS2 Phase 2B Hybrid Bill will fly through its second reading in Parliament. There’ll be no protests, because there’s no-one left to organise any and little interest if they did. Stop Hs2 is dead.
UPDATE: 25th June.
After 47 days of attracting hardly any publicity the tunnellers gave up and slinked off, claiming a ‘victory’ despite not having achieved a single thing other than being in contempt of court and facing jail time. This brings an end to the HS2 ‘rebellion’. There’s not a single camp left along the entire route of HS2, nor is there likely to be another as most of the tiny bunch of people who were involved have scattered to the four winds…
UPDATE: 6th July 2023.
So, what’s happened since this blog was written? Nothing from a protesters perspective. They really did scatter to the four winds and the only time some of them have been reunited since was when they’ve been up in court to face various charges relating to their futile protests. Some received jail time (like the hapless ‘Jelly Tot’ who was arrogant enough to think he was above the law), many others have received suspended sentences and/or community orders. HS2Rebellion is reduced to a couple of kids who’ve got the keys to the social media accounts posting the occasional news article that’s critical of HS2, or the odd bit of nonsense from the likes of Mark Keir or Sarah Green (who’s about to fail to be elected in the Uxbridge by-election). It’s got so bad that HS2 rebellion haven’t posted anything for a month. It’s the same with ‘StopHS2‘ – who’re are really one woman (Penny Gaines) in Bournemouth. From once posting several articles a day they managed seven in the whole of 2022 and three so far this year, with nothing appearing since March 9th. They’ve even removed the link to HS2 news updates now as all that was appearing was positive stories about HS2!
All that’s left now is a continually shrinking number of hard-core Nimbys and a few mad attention-seekers and unpleasant individuals who’re posting stuff on Twitter and Facebook – to absolutely no effect. Laughably, they’re trying to claim the present Governments dither and delay on building sections of HS2 as being down to them! What they can’t explain is why (if they’re so feared) the Labour party – who are almost certain to form the next Government (and not a moment too soon, Ed) are continually restating their commitment to building HS2 in full. Meanwhile, construction of Phase 1 of HS2 will be way past the half-way mark by the end of this year with many of the major civil engineering features nearing completion. It’s phase 1 that was the stronghold of the anti Hs2 campaign. With that section complete what’s left of the opposition to HS2 will die completely as there’s no organised campaign anywhere else.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
This feature makes its first appearance in 2022. Mainly because there’s so few anti HS2 people left out there and the ones that are are nearly all crazy! However, this one is such a classic self-own I couldn’t resist.
Meet Iolo Williams, a minor celebrity in the Chris Packham mould. Like Packham he never lets facts get in the way of his occasional rants about HS2. This time with hilarious consequences! Here’s his tweet from yesterday when Williams channelled his inner Jeremy Corbyn to have himself photographed sitting in the vestibule of a train.
Ignoring the fact he managed to link in a spoof Avanti West Coast Twitter account, not the real one (attention to detail, much?) there’s several problems with his tweet which is just a cut and past job of anti HS2 soundbites. Let’s start with the fact that the new HS2 railway IS “investment in the current network” as it will be part of it, not separate to it. And most delicious irony? HS2 will relieve the very line that Williams is travelling on and complaining about having to sit on the floor! Without HS2 Williams would be doomed to sit on floors forever (as he seems incapable of reserving a seat) because there’s no extra capacity to be squeezed out of the West Coast Main Line. Of course, Williams also seems ignorant of the fact we spent £9bn upgrading that line just 15 years ago, which caused massive disruption for years that led to the service hemorrhaging passengers as it was closed nearly every weekend to allow the upgrades to happen. Those people transferred to far more polluting road transport.
This isn’t the first example of cognitive dissonance and complete absence of knowledge or fact we’ve seen from Williams. I’ve blogged about him before this time last year here when I had to look him up because I’d never heard of him. That’s when I found out he shares other traits with Chris Packham. Both of them fly people around the world on expensive wildlife trips to exotic locations and charge people for their company.
So, we have a ‘conservationist’ who objects to us building low-carbon mass transport that is vital to cutting our biggest source of Co2 emissions (transport) but who’s happy to generate God knows how many tonnes of Co2 flying people around the world. Here’s a list of destinations advertised on his website. Hypocritical, much? Even his Spanish trips advertise flights although it’s perfectly possible to get there by very low carbon transport (rail).
The Costa Rica trip alone involves a round trip flight of just under 11,000 miles!
This is why you should ignore the pronouncements of ‘conservationists’ when it come to the environment. They’re often part of the problem, not part of the solution. Here’s the science these people ignore. What Williams is opposing is on the bottom of this chart. What he’s based a business around is the opposite…
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I thought I’d offer an update on the death throes of the HS2 ‘rebellion’ which is playing out in both Staffordshire and (shortly), in the Courts.
Four days ago bailiffs, security staff and police took over the last remaining protest camp on the HS2 route, the so-called ‘bluebell’ camp near Swynnerton. The few occupants remaining were caught with their pants down and the camp was swiftly repossessed. One lad got up a tree and was removed within a few hours whilst it’s believed that only 2-3 others made it into tunnels on the site. Meanwhile, a slightly larger group were surrounded and fenced-in at another nearby woods which they (complacently) thought was a ‘safe-haven’ for them. Cut off from supplies and any reinforcements, they’ve been told they can leave anytime they want, but they won’t be allowed back in.
This fiasco made local news on day one but since the media have shown little interest – and why would they? The unprepared tunnel rats have no communications with the outside world so aren’t producing any propaganda. Instead, the ‘campaign’ are relying on dire Facebook rants from two of the protesters ‘Drew’ (not his real name) who’s corralled inside the ‘bluebell B’ camp and who (judging by his video’s) seems to spend most of his time pissed and on Jim Knaggs who was at ‘Bluebell A’ but not on site when the eviction happened. If you’re suffering from insomnia you could always find Knaggs 20 minute long polemics where he invents a long (long!) list of HS2 ‘crimes’ and whatever else he can think of to fill the time with – including constant appeals to mugs to part with more of their money to fund no-hope court cases and fund the squatters beer, ‘baccy and food bills.
27 shares and 12 comments. Not much of a ‘rebellion’ is it?
Quite how any of these people are meant to be stopping HS2 when they’re hiding in tunnels or corralled behind Heras fencing away from the route is a mystery, but then sense is always in short supply when it comes to trying to talk to these people.
Meanwhile, HS2 contractors and security are busy demolishing the ‘Bluebell A’ camp and preparing to dig out whatever tiny number of tunnel rats remain. Over at ‘Bluebell B’ the impotent protesters bluster (and get pissed) in their cage whilst not being able to do anything else until they get bored, run out of food, fags and alcohol (and whatever other exotic substances they possess) and go home – or get evicted.
It’s farcical. The HS2 ‘rebellion’ has ended not with a bang, but with a whimper. There are no other camps anywhere on the route of HS2 and there’s not likely to be either. On Thursday 26th May HS2 Ltd’s legal team will be back at the High Court in Birmingham where their application for a route-wide injunction will be heard. The Final Hearing is estimated two last 2 days. If the injunction is granted (and there’s every reason to believe that it will) then any further trespass on HS2 land will become a criminal matter. The protesters claim this will make protests against HS2 ‘illegal’ – which is not the case at all. Here’s the wording of the injunction.
Protest will still be legal. Trespass, vandalism, interference and obstruction will not.
There’s another court case pending which has interesting ramifications as it will clear up the legality of protest. The Lord Chief Justice has granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court the case of an HS2 protester (Elliot Cuciurean). The LCJ has certified points of law of public importance for the Supreme Court to adjudicate upon, these are;
(1) Does the Human Rights Act 1998 require a court when determining a charge of aggravated trespass contrary to section 68 of the Criminal and Public Order Act 1994 to undertake a proportionality assessment when the actions under scrutiny occurred during a protest?
(2) What are the circumstances in which a court is required to carry out a proportionality assessment when determining a criminal charge when the actions alleged to constitute the actus reus* of the offence occurred in the course of protest?
*actus reas – action or conduct which is a constituent element of a crime
(3) What principles should a court apply both at first instance and on appeal when a proportionality assessment is required?
The Supreme Court ruling on these matters will remove any ambiguity in the future which is important as it establishes the law around aspects of the right to protest. This may help or hinder the protesters, but it’s important that it’s established.
Either way, it’s not going to save the HS2 rebellion, which is on its death-bed anyway.
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’m reprising yesterday’s trip to London, only today I’m hoping no-one’s been out cutting signal cables and the day’s punctual and hassle free. Today’s itinerary includes a media visit to a High Speed 2 construction site in the capital. I’ll add details later once it’s done.
Right now I’m en-route to Leeds only this time with a fully functioning laptop – even if it is light on a few programmes and features for now. The main thing is it’s fit for picture downloading and editing.
I’ll blog more later once I’m settled in on the London train…
I have this strange feeling of deja vu…
07:05.
I’m now at the part of the journey where it all went a bit ‘Pete Tong’ yesterday but (fingers crossed) there’ll be no repeat and I’ll be back in London in a couple of hours. I’m on another Azuma and everything is fine and dandy at the moment. My coach is only about a 1/3rd full so I have a table bay to myself. Now I’ve time to catch up on some work and maybe have a doze later. I must admit, I’m looking forward to having a lie-in tomorrow! The weather here in Yorkshire is glorious. Unlike yesterday it’s a fine sunny day. Hopefully London will compete…
08:40.
The trip to London’s gone without a glitch today. We’re now on the outskirts of London and I’ve plenty of time in the bank which will give me time to get pictures before I head off to the media call.
09:21.
Kings Cross looking busy.
10:30.
I’m getting nearer my next appointment and stopped off at Kilburn High Rd on the ‘DC lines’ out of Euston. It’s not a service I use very often nowadays but it has a lot of interest. I noticed this example of railway archeology on the opposite platform. The original station building perhaps (if much altered)?
The old Class 313s that worked the DC lines were replaced by Bombardier built ‘electrostars’ back in the 2000s. Now those trains have themselves been replaced with these ‘Aventra’ trains (also from Bombardier).
13:45.
OK, I can come clean on where I’ve been now. I’ve visited the HS2 tunnel vent construction site at Canterbury Rd in Kilburn, London. I was there along with the HS2 Minister Andrew Stephenson MP. Canterbury Rd is the first diesel free construction site. All the vehicles run on HVO or electricity – including this enormous electrically powered crane.
Before you ask – yes we did go down the vent shaft. It’s only 22 metres deep right now When it’s finished it’ll be 55 metres deep…
15:00.
Whilst I was in London I couldn’t resist a trip on some old friends who are being retired this weekend. The 46 members of the Southern Class 455 fleet have served London and areas South of the Thames since 1982. Now government cost-cutting has forced them into retirement and a one-way trip to the scrapyard from this weekend’s timetable change.
A familiar sight that will disappear this weekend. 455813 on the blocks at London Victoria having worked in from Epson Downs.
I travelled out as far as another old haunt (Wandsworth) photographing several units on the way. I’m sad to see them go as they were part of my London life for so many years and often carried me across the Thames from Victoria to visit friends in South London. It won’t seem the same without them.
Here’s an earlier blog which looks back over their lives and times.
19:00.
Much as I’d have loved to have hung around the rush-hour was starting so it was time for me to begin my journey North as I’ve a lot of things to catch up on. Besides. I’ll be back in London again next week, even if the Southern 455s won’t be!
Right now I’m speeding up the East Coast Main Line on another trouble-free journey. Rather than wait for the 17:33 to Leeds which is often very busy I tried a slightly earlier LNER service to Hull which enabled me to bag a table and begin downloading today’s mass of pictures. I have to change at Doncaster, but I’ve had a productive time so don’t mind.
19:21.
‘Kin hell! The curse of the ECML strikes again! The direct train I swerved (but would have picked up at Doncaster) has been cancelled due to a train fault. I now have over 30 mins to wait. There’s only one thing for it – a pint in ‘The Draughtsman’ on platform 3…
20:05.
My Doncaster sojourn’s been ended by the arrival of the next Leeds train, which is just as well as ‘The Draughtsman’ closes at 20:00 and the temperature’s starting to drop. I’m obviously not a ‘proper’ Northerner anymore, many other occupants of the platform are dressed as if they’re in Greece in June! Me? No, I’ve spent too much time in tropical countries which has obviously thinned my blood!
20:45.
My final train of the day is old school – a Class 158. This one’s working Halifax – Hull shuttles. The unit’s been refurbished with new seats, PIS and USB sockets so it isn’t too bad but you have to wonder how much longer these BR built units have a future.
That said, I’d hope the Class 150s would be for the bin first!
22:27.
It’s time to bring this blog to an end. I’m back at home which is where I’ll be staying tomorrow as I’ve a huge amount of pictures from Germany and the UK to edit – plus a couple of jobs have come in which will see me on the move a lot over the next couple of weeks – and I’ve still a few magazine articles to write. Oh, and there’s a lot more slides and other rail memorabilia to add to eBay…
There’s lots to look forward to but right now that means one thing for me. Sleep! There’s only so many 04:30 alarm calls I can cope with in a week!
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’m currently sat on Northern’s 06:00 from Halifax to Leeds en-route to London to join day 2 of the Railtex/Infrarail trade fair in London.
195128 arrives at Halifax on the 06:00 to Leeds
It’s a busy time that’s being made far more complex than I’d have liked by the fact so many things are hsppening at once (fairs, press trips and HS2 protester evictions) and to put the cherry on the cake I’ve got ‘technical issues’. The local cable network went down last night – just as my laptop was installing new updates. Now the machine’s having an attack of the vapours which means I’ll have to take it back to factory settings then waste a whole day reinstalling programmes and software on the damned thing! Ho bloody hum! On the bright side, I had time to copy all my files off the machine (just in case) as I’ve learned that the wifi being kaput is the first sign of issues.
So, this blog’s being brought to you courtesy of my smartphone. The weather’s doing its best to add to the gloom as it’s wet and miserable here in the Pennines snd it’s meant to be the same in London where I’m heading. Oh, and I’m also ‘cream crackered’ due to yet another early start after a late night trying to sort out the laptop. Still, as the old saying goes – you can sleep when you’re dead!
Moan over I’m actually looking forward to the next few days. There’s lots to see/do and friends and colleagues to catch-up with. But first, I have to get there…
07:15.
My transfer at Leeds between Northern and LNER was painless as everything was running to time so I had 20 mins to catch the 07:00 to London Kings Cross. This is the fast service that only stops at Wakefield Westgate before running non-stop to the capital, arriving into London at 09:00. LNER run another (slower) departure just 15 mins later which stops at Doncaster Grantham and Stevenage to arrive in London 30 mins behind the 07:00.
Today the train’s quiet. I’m relaxing at a table in coach C where I’m going to try and grab a little more sleep. See you later…
07:25.
So much for sleep! The Train Manager’s just announced we’re stopping at Doncaster where the trains terminating at Doncaster due to cable theft on the line “further down South”. No-one’s any idea what’s happening but the 07:15’s cancelled too…
07:45.
Well, I didn’t expect to be in Doncaster today! Apparently, the theft of signalling cable is between Peterborough and Stevenage, which screws up any chance of diverts via Lincoln. The station staff did a very good job of keeping disgruntled passengers informed and a plan B was soon put in place as LNER tickets are been accepted for travel to London on the Midland route from Sheffield to St Pancras – which is why I’m now sat on a Trans-Pennine Express 185 heading for Sheffield. Judging by how empty the rear set is some people are taking their chances that the ECML will reopen quickly, but as it’s cable theft I’m not risking it.
LNER passengers streaming off the 07:00 to catch unfamiliar traction to Sheffield…Many didn’t bother heading for the rear of the two sets. I did!
08:25.
The miserable weather’s followed me to Sheffield where I’ve swapped to a rather battered and careworn East Midlands Railway 5-car diesel ‘Meridian’ – a far cry from the smart LNER ‘Azuma’ trains we had to abandon at Doncaster.
Needless to say, the train is very busy as it’s the only way for folks to get to London right now.
14:45
Well, that’s been an interesting few hours but not in any way that I expected. By the time I arrived in the capital I was running over two hours late. Plus, the weather was crap. Taking stock, I made a series of phone calls that meant I didn’t need to be at Infrarail after all. Whilst I’m going to miss catching up with some people I’ve had different priorities to think about. Plus, I’m going to be back in London again tomorrow anyway as I’ve now got a ministerial site visit in the calendar…
So, instead of looking at an arena full of sales stands I quickly nipped over to London Victoria for a last chance to get shots of some of the old ‘Southern’ Class 455s before they disappear after next weeks timetable change. Whilst I was at Ebury St I bumped into an old friend, the former Editor of The Railway Magazine – Chris Milner – who’d had the same idea as me!
Shots in the can I made my way back to Kings Cross to ponder my next move and see what the options were. East Coast services were still disrupted with services to most Yorkshire destinations canned through cancellations so heading back before rush hour and whilst I could seemed like the most sensible plan. I’m now sat on the 13:30 from Kings Cross to Edinburgh which I’ve been using as a mobile hospital whilst I nurse a sick laptop back to health. So far, so good. Restoring it to factory settings has cured the glitches and allowed me to connect to the internet (hence you reading this) but I’ve a long evening ahead of me reinstalling a multitude of programmes to restore full functionality ready for another busy tomorrow. Still, at least I’ll be able to have a good night’s kip tonight!
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
The eviction of the sole remaining outpost of the HS2 ‘rebellion’ began in the early hours of this morning when Bailiffs, security and Police moved in on the woods known as Cash’s Pit near Swynnerton in Staffordshire. It appears the few remaining protesters were taken by surprise, not only at ‘Bluebell’ camp (which was already under a High Court injunction) but also at the protesters satellite camp nearby, which they’d assumed was safe. Their ignorance and complacency was their undoing as HS2 security soon began to surround ‘Bluebell B’ with Heras fencing. The message to the protesters was simple. You can leave, but you’re not coming back – and you’re not getting supplies or reinforcements.
Meanwhile, at the original Bluebell camp Bailiffs and security moved in to begin dismantling the camp and removing any people foolish enough to have defied the High Court injunction. This is believed to be a mere handful as many ‘old faces’ had slunk off recently, leaving only a skeleton presence behind. It’s unclear just how many there are in either camp but the total is looking like it’s less than a dozen.
Of course, the protesters are trying to exaggerate these totals and claim that many people made it into tunnels and up trees. Not that it really matters as this is only going to end one way – just as it did in the other camps that were evicted one by one. Now this is the last act in the farce as there’s no more camps left and later this month the High Court in Birmingham will rule on HS2 Ltd’s application for a route-wide injunction which will ensure there won’t be any more if the injunction’s granted. You can find details of the injunction here.
What’s very telling is that on this occasion there’s so few livestreams coming from the protesters or their remaining supporters. Plus hardly anyone’s watching the ones that are being streamed. Mind you, as much of what’s being broadcast is coming from boring motor-mouth and ‘barrack-room lawyer’ Jim Knaggs that’s hardly surprising. There’s more repetition here than in morning prayers at a Monastery! What’s also clear is that the Bailiff’s and Police have already removed and/or arrested several people. How long the farce will drag is anyone’s guess, but I suspect it won’t be long – especially as the ‘rebellion’ is so weak nowadays.
Here’s one of the handful of people at Bluebell ‘B’ being detained, arrested and taken away earlier this afternoon as reported by ‘Drew’ (not his real name) who’s one of the few who were in the camp at the time.
Note how few comments and shares there are!
I’ll keep you posted on events…
Day 2 update.
The protesters were caught with their pants down. Both camps were virtually deserted. Several people have already gjven up and either been arrested or left voluntarily. No-one is in the trees and it’s believed there’s only two people in tunnels. Bailiffs are in possession of everything above ground at Bluebell and Bluebell B is cut off.
Morale is clearly at rock-bottom as even the protesters realise it’s a lost cause. They’re isolated and alone, completely outnumbered – and wasting their time. This could all be over very quickly.
I’ve a favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
It’s been a dank and dismal day here in the Calder Valley which was a shame as I’d hoped to start a new week in positive fashion. Sadly it wasn’t to be. Added to the gloom was the bounce I felt yesterday as I thought I was shaking off Covid bounced the opposite way today! This isn’t uncommon apparently. You have good days and bad days, it’s just the bad days get less bad. I’d tried to keep busy with paperwork and preparing for the week and even ventured out for a walk on my own through the local woods where I wasn’t likely to come into contact with people, but by the time I got back I was knackered! The stamina levels obviously still need a bit of tweaking. To that end I’ve loosened the reins on eating and drinking. After all, there’s got to be some pleasures left in life. Thankfully, Dawn still seems to be Covid free even though she feels that not all cylinders are firing.
Away from our own concerns there’s the tragedy of the Ukraine still unfolding. I’m resisting blogging about this (for now) as I need to be in full spleen-vent to describe my feelings about what’s going on, the atrocities occurring and the senseless waste of life on all sides. Because of this I did snap at one point earlier today when I saw a young HS2 opponent tweet about how the protesters were suffering ‘lifelong trauma’. What? from events that never happened? For years the protesters have complained about ‘brutality’ from police and security. This ‘brutality’ happens just as soon as someone says ‘no’ to them. A classic example would be a trespasser refuses to move despite several requests to do so, so the police/security use their powers and exercise reasonable force (as they’re legally entitled to do). As soon as the protester has a finger laid upon them they start screaming about being ‘assaulted’. Oh, please! Despite these protests having lasted for 5 years the only convictions for assault have been of protesters. Several charges and arrest warrants are outstanding but certain people have ‘disappeared’ in the hope of evading the police. Even though said protesters nearly all carry camera-phones to record their antics they’ve never yet managed to film a single genuine assault and the video they do produce often leads to the exact opposite result in court. Now, I’m not taking sides here (other than that of the law). If any member of HS2 security or the police does actually assault a protester they should have the book thrown at them. But that’s up to a real court to rule upon, not the court of social media. Frankly, I find it insulting that people who’ve suffered genuine traumas in their lives are being compared to a protester being told ‘no, the law applies to you too’ who them makes stuff up. It’s disappointing to see some mainstream greens supporting this position but I can see their dilemma.
The Green party began from a protest movement and it’s struggling to be a mainstream political party with aspirations of political power. It’s torn in too many directions. Because with power comes responsibility. How could you pass laws when you encourage people to break laws? It’s a question some greens would rather you don’t ask – especially coming up to the May elections. How can they reconcile support for the tactics of people allied to the Extinction Rebellion banner who routinely break the law (sometimes receiving custodial sentences) and at the same time criticise the Johnson Goverment for its law-breaking without looking like hypocrites. Clearly in ‘green’ eyes some laws are more equal than others. This leaves a huge hostage to fortune and the right-wing media an open goal.
Anyway, enough of these musings. I’m sure I’ll be revisiting them again in the future. In the meantime, here’s the picture of the day which relates to some of my earlier comments. We spotted this on out walk on Norland Moor yesterday.
The sooner this war criminal’s in the bin the better…
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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 