the roamerDec 16

In this Guardian "Long Read", natural-history writer Patrick Barkham travels along the massive construction site for the HS2 high-speed track between London and Birmingham.

The sheer scale of this project is hard to grasp --- I followed Barkham's account on satellite map images, and you can see the track site even when fully zoomed out, a yellow-brown scar cutting through England.

Barkham talks to affected residents, managers, campaigners. We see ruthlessness, we see unimaginable waste, we also see exemplary practices and occasional generosity. A nuanced, thoughtful piece that helps us make the connection between a mega-scale project and its impact on a local level. Very much worth reading.

And good photographs too, by The Guardian's Gill Mead.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2025/dec/16/we-hate-it-its-desecration-the-real-cost-of-hs2

#HS2 #UKTranport #Rail #MegaProjects #PatrickBarkham #JillMead

‘We hate it. It’s desecration’: the real cost of HS2

The long read: Ten years after I first followed the proposed route, I retraced my steps to see what life was like along the world’s most expensive, heavily delayed railway line

The Guardian
Justin (koavf)🌻🍉🇪🇭🌿Dec 22, 2022

The flying insect population in the United Kingdom has evidently dropped off by 64% since 2004: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/15/flying-insect-numbers-plunge-64-since-2004-uk-survey-finds

#patrickbarkham #insects #guardian #theguardian #populationcollapse #catastrphicdieoff #uk #unitedkingdomofgreatbritainandnorthernireland #unitedkingdom

Flying insect numbers plunge 64% since 2004, UK survey finds

Scientists behind car number plate study say ‘potentially catastrophic’ decline must be reversed

The Guardian