2020-09-23 HS2 fell 7 Sisters Oak in Steeple Claydon
44 images Created 24 Sep 2020
Steeple Claydon, UK. 23rd September, 2020. Tree surgeons working with the National Eviction Team on behalf of HS2 Ltd fell a 200-year-old oak tree known locally as the ‘7 Sisters Oak’ alongside the East West Rail route as part of works connected to the HS2 high-speed rail link. A small group of local people and anti-HS2 activists based at the nearby Poors Piece Conservation Project watched the felling of the tree, which was home to bats and other species, whilst monitored by a joint force of around fifty bailiffs, security guards and police officers from Thames Valley Police. The tree had been known as the '7 Sisters Oak' since June when seven women, who were later arrested and charged with aggravated trespass and hiding or obstructing tools on a property under the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act (charges which they deny), had sat together singing songs around the tree in order to protect it at that time from felling by contractors working on behalf of HS2 Ltd.
