Ridgeway under threat from high-speed rail link

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Ian Pegler
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Ridgeway under threat from high-speed rail link

Post by Ian Pegler »

from the Guardian (hat-tip - Modern Antiquarian)
Local heartache over route of high-speed rail link

At stake, too, is the preservation of the Ridgeway, Britain's oldest road — a pathway followed since prehistoric times by herdsmen, travellers and soldiers, running from Wiltshire, along the chalk ridge of the Berkshire Downs and on to the River Thames at the Goring Gap. It passes the stone circle at Avebury and the White Horse at Uffington, as well as Grim's Ditch, Wayland's Smithy and Barbury castle. It runs, too, right down Wendover high street, past the clock tower, built in 1842 and now repurposed as the visitor centre, then out towards Wendover woods. There is an ancient feel to this land, something rich and deep and solemn.
CLICK HERE to read the article.

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Re: Ridgeway under threat from high-speed rail link

Post by Helen-Healing »

And the silly thing about this proposed rail link is that as soon as it snows, it'll grind to a halt like everything else & no-one will be going anywhere. :evil:

There's huge opposition to this line; I wonder if it will ever manifest.
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Re: Ridgeway under threat from high-speed rail link

Post by mike »

tHE Ridgeway above Avebury has SO much history there, every few hundred yards are sacred ground in the form of circles of trees that date to thousands of years old,HOW CAN they destroy this Heritage, with perhaps chiefs or Kings buried there in these special places.I know of two sites along the Ridgeway where a High profile buriel site is, this will all be lost if they bulldoze a line here ? Cannot English Heritage contest this move,or dont they know of its importance ?
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Re: Ridgeway under threat from high-speed rail link

Post by arthur hamlin »

I would suggest this is an ideal candidate for BSD to take an interest.
We already know the route and therefore just a matter of getting each section where the disruption takes place onto the forum site for us to have a go. Those that are living close by could go there and report their findings.
The difficulties as I see it would be to find someone who could bring each section to our forum screen to dowse over.
Also to find sufficient numbers of us to take an interest and have our answers sent to the compiler to collate.
It is possible that if we were searching for ancient settlements this would have more clout than almost anything else.
Another difficulty might be to obtain very similar answer to one another hence the need for it to be uncomplicated.
But if we could our efforts/answers could be passed on to those who are running the protest and could be a forerunner of any future exercises on this site.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this please?
Arthur
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Re: Ridgeway under threat from high-speed rail link

Post by mike »

Sounds a good way forward Arthur, unless someone has a better idea ? More knowledge on what the site/area offers in the way of ancient history the better the case to those people who would fight the move I should think...Dont rely on English Heritage, they dont employ a dowser, and as such have no clue whats there,only what they can see and touch that is,and SMELL. :lol:
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Re: Ridgeway under threat from high-speed rail link

Post by mike »

Add to that National Trust, and English Heritage both dont have a dowser employed or working for them to advise, so really they have no idea of what forces pass through ANY of the sites they control. Its blind leading the blind, what they see is to them all that remains at any ancient site, while what remains above ground is just the tip of the iceberg to any dowser finding Earth forces. No ancient site can be found that does not contain wonderful natural forces of the planet and cosmos, its what every site is about really world wide.
So imagine a railway building the train track or something like a tunnel under Stonehenge, dont expect any protection or advice to keep special historic places safe, just look at Silbury Hill, a shadow of what it once was after so called repairs.
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