Those of you who follow me on Twitter will know how much I am against HS2 because of the huge unnecessary cost and in particular the loss of habitat. For example, 61 ancient woods, which are irreplaceable, will suffer loss or damage from the London to Birmingham phase. In my view the money would be far better spent improving current public transport facilities.
D was keen to visit a local wood that will be hacked down at some stage as it stands in the way of HS2.
Wild flowers on the grass verge as we walked towards the wood.
We had decided to visit sooner rather than later as trees have already been chopped down on the side of the road opposite the wood. As it is the breeding season it is to be hoped that the contractors concerned checked for nests before commencing.
Pool Wood
Sadly the entrance to the wood has suffered fly tipping - at times I despair. While driving to the wood to dump rubbish surely people could drive to the local tip to get rid of it? - there is a council tip not many miles from here.
The wood has already been bisected by the M42 motorway and I believe the section on the other side of the M42 will be left in peace.
This is one of my favourite trees which I have driven past so many times. Although it looks as though it survived a lightning strike at some stage I very much fear this tree although on the very edge of the wood will go. At the moment it will be an important habitat for saprophytic beetles.
I did spot a metal disc with a number and wasn't sure what this meant. I tried to access the tree preservation order section of the local council to see if the tree had a TPO on it but that section did not seem to be working and in any case I suspect TPO's may mean little when it comes to a project such as HS2.
We went a wander through the wood and it is so very sad to think that this ecosystem with all its associated wildlife may not exist much longer.
It is depressing to think that in a few days/weeks/months this is what all the trees will look like.
On the way back to the car D spotted what looks like a Devil's Coach Horse.
To cheer ourselves up we stopped off on the way home at a traffic roundabout to take photos of the wild flowers planted there.
E had been given a voucher to afternoon tea at Nailcote Hall near Balsall Common and we went along one afternoon last week. The hall was built around 1640. It was damaged by Cromwell's troups during the English Civil war. In recent years during restoration a priest's hole was found between the Oak Room Restaurant (where we had afternoon tea) and the entrance hall.
The afternoon tea was rather good and the service excellent.
The hall is now a hotel which holds weddings and conferences and has a leisure complex and golf course. I presume they have constructed these "mock" ruins for wedding photos.
I've done a few Big Butterfly Counts around the garden - it is good to see more Peacocks, Red Admirals and Small Tortoiseshell than last summer but I still haven't seen a Painted Lady!
Earlier this week I returned to Temple Fields, the Natural Burial Ground at Temple Balsall to do a Big Butterfly Count there.
The flowers are perhaps now a little past their best but there are still plenty of
insects about.
Comma
Gatekeeper
Possibly a Lunar Hoverfly - you see a hoverfly like this and think the markings are distinctive until you open the field guide and there are several species with very similar markings!
In total over the 15 minutes of the count I saw:
Comma x 1
Red Admiral x 1
Small White x 6
Large White x 2
Meadow Brown x 1
Gatekeeper x 14
Peacock x 1
Essex Skipper x 1 (identified from a photo by the inky black tips to the antennae)
It was good to see bird feeders in a corner of Temple Fields.
I did pop over the road to the cemetery to collect a few Fox and Cubs seedheads. If anyone knows (Rosie was it you who said you had them in the garden?) the best place to plant them in a garden I would love to know to give them the best chance of germinating although I will put a few on the "no mow zone" of the main back lawn and perhaps a few in the wild flower meadow.
Small Tortoiseshell seen in the garden at home.
All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera
14 comments:
It is a real tragedy, and the height of short-sightedness, that forests will be obliterated for highways, when we know with certainty that we have to evolve away from cars. Good sense and politics, it seems, never go together.
I live in America (North Carolina) in an area that is steadily growing each year because of people moving here from outside our state. Though I understand the need for houses for all these transplants, it still saddens me when I see trees torn down. Or a grassy field dozed and torn up.
I wholeheartedly agree with you on the subject of HS2. How many people will actually benefit from it? We can guarantee the original cost estimate will bear little relationship to the final cost. On top of that with all the hype about climate change they then cut down acres of woodland which is absorbing CO2 and producing O2.
The HS2 is just the biggest waste of money and the most pointless destruction of so much, it really is depressing :( It's good to have your lovely photos as a record of the wood.
On a lighter note it's great to see all the butterflies, they really seem to have been everywhere the past couple of weeks.
David M Gascoigne - Thank you. HS2 is actually high speed rail. Apologies I should have made it clearer for people not living in the UK.
Niki - Thank you - there is an awful lot of housing development over here too including on "green belt" land :(
MidMarsh John - thank you. I fear not many people will benefit from it. I went to an exhibition held by HS2 and they couldn't even tell me how much tickets would cost. I would imagine they will be way above the current Virgin cost which at the end of the day gets from Bham International to Euston in around 1 and a quarter hours. All that money and destruction (and, of course you have to remember people who have lost their homes and those on the route who will be affected by construction and the actual line when built) just to save 15/20 mins on the journey. I totally agree with you about cutting down woodland considering huge threat from climate change :(
Pam - Thank you. My son who is a journalist walked the route that HS2 would take on his "patch" interviewing people as he went - he failed to find any of the general public in favour!!!
It is lovely to see all the butterflies doing so well. Still hoping to see PL!!! :)
Tragedy doesn't even begin to cover this. What are we becoming? Driven by greed, money and speed and to what end? I cannot find words right now to express my anger and concern. As for the TPO, here we have someone whose house foundations are in jeopardy due to a single sycamore, but due to TPO the single sycamore involved must be left while a home crumbles. It all makes so little sense.
How sad about the wood and many others too. I agree with you about how absurd it is to build new railways when the ones we have can't be run more efficiently and more effectively, travelling by rail is too expensive now I dread to think how much more fares will cost on the new one. I was sad to see that the second phase of HS2 will run close to both Hardwick Hall and Bolsover Castle - I grew up in a village not far from either and they already have the M1 close by.
You recorded some wonderful butterflies whilst taking part in the count and your afternoon tea looks delicious, what a treat:)
Such a pity these ancient woodlands are going to be ripped up for HS2. Total waste of money, all of it, resulting in the loss of important habitats and people's homes - all for 20 minutes off a train journey. Crazy.
I had a Painted Lady on my Teasels today - she stayed and fed half the afternoon. Then I saw - didn't even know they existed - a Bombus bohemicus - Gypsy's Cuckoo bumblebee, which is a silvery white with black stripes! Amazing. Didn't like me trying to get a better photo so flew off at great speed towards the paddock.
Rustic Pumpkin - Thank you. I just despair also re: HS2 :( Sense needs to apply with TPO's - not right to let a house crumble.
Rosie - Thank you. Yes trains are expensive :( Public transport can be so poor especially in rural areas that HS2 money would have been far better spent improving this, as you mention. That is not good news re: second phase of HS2. I have a feeling it may be going close to NT etc properties in Phase 1 too :(
Yes, afternoon tea was lovely although I must admit at the price of it I wouldn't be treating myself!!
Bovey Belle - As you say the whole HS2 thing is a waste of time and goodness only knows what the final cost will be. Admittedly I don't go to London that afternoon and sometimes drive and sometimes go on train but when I have used Virgin from Bham International I have been more than happy with the current travel times!
Lovely to hear about your Painted Lady and so pleased about your Gypsy's Cuckoo Bee - a great sighting.:)
It's so sad, and I find it hard to take in all the destruction we are causing across the land, it looks a special place. Glad you got to spend some time there before it goes. In the end it will be to expensive for most people to use. Manchester to London it turns out it is cheaper to fly to America!!!!
Beautiful photos of the flowers and butterflies, so glad you have got the painted ladies visiting your garden now. I have never seen a Devil's Coach Horse.
Amanda xx
Amanda Peters - Thank you. I actually hugged and apologised to a tree before I left! I didn't realise that about the cost Manchester to London - how ridiculous :( At the end of day it will only be used by business men commuting whose companies will pay the cost as expenses!
Thank you re: the butterflies :) We used to get Devil's Coach Horses in the garden at one time. They can give you a nasty nip apparently!!
I am always deeply upset when trees get chopped down for modern development.
I live in an area where many trees were planted to reclaim industrial areas and return them to nature.
CherryPie - Thank you and yes it is deeply upsetting especially when it is ancient woodland.
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