This was written by Gloria Dales:
How beautiful it is to see,
This picture here in front of me,
It makes me smile and makes me feel,
It’s so enchanting – it can’t be real.
Through fields of cattle, wheat and maze,
My tender eyes are lead to gaze,
At distant hills and at farmsteads spread,
Proving us our daily bread,
Our meats and oils, breakfast fare,
It makes me grateful they are there,
i walk among this patchwork quilt,
Absorbed by all that nature’s built,
Small creatures, flowers, birds and trees,
All changing as each day decrees,
Natural cycles trundle by,
Beneath the ever changing sky,
My contentment raised as I take a look,
At this page of my picture book,
It stretches far as my eye can strain,
Spoilt only by that high speed train.
It’s just a vision in my head,
That fills my heart with utmost dread,
That soon my picture will contain,
The construction belt of the high speed train,
I have been told that when enhanced,
Surrounded by mitigating plants,
It will be pleasing to the eye,
This straight line reaching to the sky,
But yet I know that once complete,
There’ll be less grass beneath my feet,
More man made mess will grace the frame,
With nature’s picture never seen again.
Once again, “well done” to Gloria, a poet for all seasons- and landscapes.
Of course, it was William Wordsworth who raised his voice and pen in opposition to railway development thrusting through his beloved Lakeland…though in recent days many people and even local authorities have wished that the line which used to link William’s birthplace of Cockermouth with Keswick and Penrith had never been abandoned and have even contemplated the possibility of reinstatement.
Alas, William lived long before the days of Henry Ford, Austin, Morris et al. and could not have imagined his upland lanes with traffic nose to tail, choked and gridlocked…
“She dwelt among untrodden ways…Not any more she doesn’t.
With the einy miny miny moe of HS2 and Hybrid Bill and Select Commiittee people can you determine the incompetence of the PMs, MPs; SOS Transport and Ministers and of Civil Servants and Permanent Secretary, of HS2 and its Chairmen, CEO and Technical Director Chief Engineer and DFT representative as well as of the Select committee for accepting the SO limitations, lack of powers to mitigate effectively. The announcement to reconsider the HS1 HS2 link suggests that HS2 and the Government have not got a grasp of objectives and have selected the wrong side of England for a route upgrade to ECML instead of WCML and that the Government have a very low level of planning understandings in practice. What Greece is to the Euro the UK is to railway networks. Silo thinking and group behaviour have together squander millions to date and threatened businesses and people who were content in their communities with a poor value for money proposition. Cameron and Osborne stubborn obsession is a national weakness leading to future debt burden and excess maintenance cost losses for Network Rail ability to maintain the large route mileages. UK has not achieved the requirements for tomorrow’s railways with HS2 and incompetence does seem very prevalent.
Do not be persuaded to appear in Groups for petitioning. Demand to be heard separately. If you disagree with the HS2 damage to you and your neighbourhood be heard and speak. Why do you collaborate in the damage to your area. The only opportunity you have is to make your specific point yourself or yourselves. More people need to petition to express your points directly and specially. They do not care for you only for themselves. The UK is in such a state as British are displaced from work and welfare to fund HS2. Greeks expressed their feelings you must express yours. Write and refuse the group petition and petition for AP2 also where it impacts you. MPs have created the chaos in the UK and Mps want to silence you. It is upto you to express your feelings and losses directly.