#jillmead — Public Fediverse posts

My best ever British holiday: ‘I’ve travelled further, at greater expense, and had nothing like as much fun’
By Max Benato, Kirsten Henton, Jill Mead, Marcel Theroux, Andy Pietrasik

Five travel writers share their favourite holidays at home, from gravel biking in Scotland and a steam train ride in Yorkshire to rowing all the way from Oxford to London

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2026/aug/23/my-best-ever-british-holiday

#UnitedKingdomholidays #Familyholidays #Family #Lifeandstyle #Travel #Englandholidays #Scotlandholidays #Walesholidays #TheGuardian #MaxBenato #KirstenHenton #JillMead #MarcelTheroux #AndyPietrasik

In this Guardian "Long Read", natural-history writer Patrick Barkham travels along the massive construction site for the HS2 high-speed track between London and Birmingham.

The sheer scale of this project is hard to grasp --- I followed Barkham's account on satellite map images, and you can see the track site even when fully zoomed out, a yellow-brown scar cutting through England.

Barkham talks to affected residents, managers, campaigners. We see ruthlessness, we see unimaginable waste, we also see exemplary practices and occasional generosity. A nuanced, thoughtful piece that helps us make the connection between a mega-scale project and its impact on a local level. Very much worth reading.

And good photographs too, by The Guardian's Gill Mead.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2025/dec/16/we-hate-it-its-desecration-the-real-cost-of-hs2

#HS2 #UKTranport #Rail #MegaProjects #PatrickBarkham #JillMead