Banburyshire Rambles Photo-Journal

The footpath to Park Farm leaves the dry bed of the River Misbourne, and via a convenient underpass, rises up the side of the valley towards the top of the ridge. I've come here today to make a photographic baseline of the area before construction… Too late! It's started!

A tree on the way up has been decorated with a colourful scarf and a notice, warning that HS2 is coming at the top of the hill. A little further up, where the wire fence runs along the back of what was once a garden, groundworks have already started.

As I saw at Halse a few weeks ago, the boundary fencing was up and diggers were clearing topsoil to create access and hardstandings, and to expose the geology below. By the wilting of the cleared vegetation it may only have been a matter of days since the work began.