‘All this will be destroyed by HS2’
Rosa Silverman walks through one of the ancient woods in the path of the high-speed railway line
Hugging the border between Warwickshire and Northamptonshire is a quiet patch of land called Glyn Davies Wood. No farming has taken place on this ancient woodland for at least two centuries, according to the Banbury Ornithological Society, which has owned it since 1999. Instead, the vegetation has been left to grow as nature intended – with oak, ash, sycamore and willow trees forming a verdant canopy.
On the crisp winter’s day when I visit, sunshine peeps through the branches. The sound of sticks crunching underfoot is punctuated by the muffled roar of traffic on the adjacent Banbury Road. But the path that circles the reserve is seldom disturbed by walkers – it sits a mile and a half from the nearest village, Wormleighton. For minutes at a time, the only noise is birdsong.
There are great spotted woodpeckers, song thrushes, redwings, robins, nuthatches, dunnocks and bullfinches. Muntjac deer leave tracks between the trees; wood mice inhabit hidden corners.
But this tranquil scene is in peril: the HS2 route is set to run straight through it, one of 32 ancient woods to be directly affected by the high speed rail link approved by Boris Johnson last week. According to the Woodland Trust, HS2 is the single biggest threat to the UK’s ancient woods, with 108 at risk of loss or damage.
Glyn Davies Wood sits along the London to Birmingham section, which will cut travel between the cities to 45 minutes. Giving it the go-ahead, the Prime Minister acknowledged the decision had been “controversial and difficult” but would bring a “vast increase in capacity” and enable the
Government to press ahead with the Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme.
Some opponents are worried about the spiralling cost, which one estimate suggests could reach £106billion; others, such as residents of Burton Green, a village 22 miles north of Glyn Davies that will be bisected by the line, about the effect on their lives.
Then there’s the environment: while it is hoped that fewer people will drive, the damage to flora and fauna will, it is feared, be irreparable.
“What’s at stake is a treasured part of our natural world, but also our cultural identity,” says Jack Taylor, of the Woodland Trust. “A lot of British folklore is caught up in woodland.”
The signs of disruption are already present. Pink flags mark out the area owned by HS2 Ltd. In a nearby field, diggers are busy preparing the ground. On the other side of the road, two signs hang from a tree: “No HS2 rail link”.
Those behind the scheme have not been completely deaf to the protests. MPs have given their support to a tunnel extension in the Chilterns, saving more than nine hectares of woodland. In October, HS2 Ltd said that work affecting 11 ancient woods would be deferred until later this year to allow for measures to protect wildlife. Seven million trees and shrubs will be planted, covering more than 9sq km, it has promised.
Glyn Davies is not on that list. And campaigners say planting trees won’t compensate for what has been lost. As Helen Franklin, a volunteer with Banbury Ornithological Society, says: “You can’t cut down a 300-year-old oak and plant a sapling… and say you’ve replaced like for like.”
Our walk leads us past a giant English oak, which Taylor estimates has stood for 400 years. “This will go,” he shrugs.
Some 60 per cent of the 3.2 hectare reserve could be sacrificed, the society warns.
A report published last month, based on data from 14 local wildlife trusts, charities and landowners, suggested that in addition to woodland, 693 wildlife sites would be destroyed or irreparably damaged.
HS2 disputed the figures. “HS2 take the environmental cost of construction very seriously,” a spokesman said, pointing out that climate change was the biggest future threat to wildlife and HS2 offered “cleaner, greener” travel.
The Department for Transport says it has tasked HS2 Ltd to “deliver one of the UK’s most environmentally responsible infrastructure projects. That means avoiding ancient woodlands wherever possible.”
The assurances have not assuaged concerns. “You can’t undo it,” says Franklin. “Even if HS2 was halted tomorrow, they’ve already done a whole lot of destruction.”
But it will not be halted. Last week’s decision means HS2 is full steam ahead. Through the trees, we hear the trill of a woodpecker. Beyond, the shiny yellow arm of a digger swings around. Then it stops, and for a moment, all is still in this ancient woodland that may soon be consigned to the history books.
‘What’s at stake is a treasured part of our natural world’