Beautiful viaduct, this quality of work compliments the landscape not ruins it. Thanks for the excellent drone photography. Looks like they are making great progress too. I counted at least five sections ready to go in.
Are you serious?! It's ugly and does not fit in. And, as we've seen this week, it's been a complete waste of time and money. Imagine the amount of wildlife that's been disturbed while it's been built.
Yes, these lakes were created by the dredging of gravel from the floor of the Colne Valley. From the old maps it appears this industry began around 1910-12, just to the west of Rickmansworth. Batchworth (now Ebury) Lake shows up on the OS map from 1912. Stocker's Lake was certainly there by 1930. By 1951, they had dredged south to where the Colne cut across the valley from Jack's Mill. And so on and so forth ... As far as I can make out, people are still extracting gravel from the Colne Valley to this day. If you look at the old OS maps you'll see that this area was criss-crossed with irrigation channels because the water table was so close to the surface. God only knows how they built the Grand Junction Canal through there. HS2 needs to be built in full. Anything less will be pointless. Who was it said, "I've started, so I'll finish."? A shuttle service from Old Oak Common to Curzon Street doesn't justify the destruction already wrought on the landscape and peoples' lives.
@@scaryfakevirus The damage is done. The only way to justify the destruction is to build HS2 in full. Manchester, Leeds, the whole works. HS2 connected directly to HS1 and the continent. It's not rocket science. This massive infrastructure project should have been touted to the private sector. If they had said "No can do", that should have been the end of it. Instead, the government has basically said to HS2, "How much money do you need?" It's an utter betrayal of the British taxpayer. The whole railway system in this country was built using private money. Those investors took a punt and maybe made a few bob, maybe didn't. But this is how things got done. The last major new line to be built without the aid of the taxpayer was the Great Central Railway, around the turn of the last century. Dr. Beeching 'decommissioned' it in the 1960s leaving just the East and West mainlines, which are now full to bursting point. Nice one, Doc. HS2 was supposed to relieve some of the strain on the East and West mainlines. Old Oak Common to Curzon Street is not going to increase capacity around Leeds or Manchester. All politicians are idiots.
@@DaveFiggley I'm sorry - but that is a massive misrepresentation of both the past and the present. The reason this country has always had a deficient rail network (first over-built, then over-closed) is that it was driven by the profit motive rather than strategic national need. Victorian developers over-built and made a killing (see George Hudson); that is ultimately why Beeching then happened and threw the baby out with the bathwater. The same ethos is precisely why the existing network was pruned back to the bare minimum in the 1980s and couldn't cope with the subsequent upturn in traffic. Loss of secondary lines is partly to blame for the decline of rural areas. Those countries whose networks were built to a national strategic plan are generally in a far better place than we are now - and that extends to those who had the foresight to build HSR 40 years ago, when it was more affordable. The problem here has been a failure to learn from other countries' experience and in allowing private objectors and private sector profit-seekers in effect to over-specify what was needed. It was telling, last week, when those private companies suddenly started finding all sorts of savings they could make when it looked like the writing was on the wall. And we can add to that a governmental system that is utterly short-termist and unwilling to see that national infrastructure is not just a profit centre for the private sector.
None of those lakes are natural. They’ve all been dugout for industrial purposes. They serve the local wildlife well though, and still will when the construction work has finished and the site cleared. The viaduct may be an eyesore to some but its effect on the wildlife is mostly temporary. HS2 without the connections to central London / Leeds / Manchester is just a waste of £200 billion , just a trunk without its branches.
The architectural design certainly helps it fit in well with the surroundings. It’s an attractive looking structure.
Are you serious?! It's ugly and does not fit in.
I agree… obviously a lot of thought and energy has gone into the design process. 👍
Beautiful viaduct, this quality of work compliments the landscape not ruins it. Thanks for the excellent drone photography.
Looks like they are making great progress too. I counted at least five sections ready to go in.
Are you serious?! It's ugly and does not fit in. And, as we've seen this week, it's been a complete waste of time and money. Imagine the amount of wildlife that's been disturbed while it's been built.
When it’s finished it will be a game changer for Birmingham.
Agreed and anywhere even near solihull
Yes, these lakes were created by the dredging of gravel from the floor of the Colne Valley.
From the old maps it appears this industry began around 1910-12, just to the west of Rickmansworth.
Batchworth (now Ebury) Lake shows up on the OS map from 1912. Stocker's Lake was certainly there by 1930.
By 1951, they had dredged south to where the Colne cut across the valley from Jack's Mill.
And so on and so forth ... As far as I can make out, people are still extracting gravel from the Colne Valley to this day.
If you look at the old OS maps you'll see that this area was criss-crossed with irrigation channels because the water table was so close to the surface. God only knows how they built the Grand Junction Canal through there.
HS2 needs to be built in full. Anything less will be pointless. Who was it said, "I've started, so I'll finish."?
A shuttle service from Old Oak Common to Curzon Street doesn't justify the destruction already wrought on the landscape and peoples' lives.
It should never have been started and even if finished it will be expensive and slow. It's a Satanic scar on the beautiful landscape.
@@scaryfakevirus The damage is done. The only way to justify the destruction is to build HS2 in full. Manchester, Leeds, the whole works. HS2 connected directly to HS1 and the continent. It's not rocket science.
This massive infrastructure project should have been touted to the private sector. If they had said "No can do", that should have been the end of it.
Instead, the government has basically said to HS2, "How much money do you need?" It's an utter betrayal of the British taxpayer.
The whole railway system in this country was built using private money. Those investors took a punt and maybe made a few bob, maybe didn't. But this is how things got done.
The last major new line to be built without the aid of the taxpayer was the Great Central Railway, around the turn of the last century.
Dr. Beeching 'decommissioned' it in the 1960s leaving just the East and West mainlines, which are now full to bursting point. Nice one, Doc.
HS2 was supposed to relieve some of the strain on the East and West mainlines.
Old Oak Common to Curzon Street is not going to increase capacity around Leeds or Manchester.
All politicians are idiots.
@@DaveFiggley I'm sorry - but that is a massive misrepresentation of both the past and the present. The reason this country has always had a deficient rail network (first over-built, then over-closed) is that it was driven by the profit motive rather than strategic national need. Victorian developers over-built and made a killing (see George Hudson); that is ultimately why Beeching then happened and threw the baby out with the bathwater. The same ethos is precisely why the existing network was pruned back to the bare minimum in the 1980s and couldn't cope with the subsequent upturn in traffic. Loss of secondary lines is partly to blame for the decline of rural areas. Those countries whose networks were built to a national strategic plan are generally in a far better place than we are now - and that extends to those who had the foresight to build HSR 40 years ago, when it was more affordable. The problem here has been a failure to learn from other countries' experience and in allowing private objectors and private sector profit-seekers in effect to over-specify what was needed. It was telling, last week, when those private companies suddenly started finding all sorts of savings they could make when it looked like the writing was on the wall. And we can add to that a governmental system that is utterly short-termist and unwilling to see that national infrastructure is not just a profit centre for the private sector.
@@ijstock Fair comment.
None of those lakes are natural. They’ve all been dugout for industrial purposes. They serve the local wildlife well though, and still will when the construction work has finished and the site cleared. The viaduct may be an eyesore to some but its effect on the wildlife is mostly temporary.
HS2 without the connections to central London / Leeds / Manchester is just a waste of £200 billion , just a trunk without its branches.
Excellent video as usual, pls keep em coming. Any plans for a Copthall Tunnel update? Both portals?
It's probably best the Mancs dont have easy access to London.
Billions for twenty minutes . Ruining some of the most beautiful countryside in England .
Haha if it was only about speed then it would not be worth building HS2.