If river meanders were going to straighten themselves they would have done by now. After all its been several millenia ;D

Rather minor environment damage compared to the HS2 genocide i would have thought,which the media don`t make much issue with.

Rather minor environment damage compared to the HS2 genocide i would have thought,which the media don`t make much issue with.

Genocide?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide 

Seems a bit harsh for the kind of thing that the Victorians (e.g. Brunel) did all over the country, which we know and love and protest most strongly when it is destroyed.

Chris.

The Victorians thought big, spent big and built big. There was as much time/money/effort invested in design as there was in quality.
These days the cream goes on consultants and newt fences and ticking boxes. The construction is all subbed out to the lowest bidder while Principle Contractors take an ever larger slice. When you get to the actual product every part is designed and built down to a price and built with little concern for quality.

The Victorians thought big, spent big and built big. There was as much time/money/effort invested in design as there was in quality.
These days the cream goes on consultants and newt fences and ticking boxes. The construction is all subbed out to the lowest bidder while Principle Contractors take an ever larger slice. When you get to the actual product every part is designed and built down to a price and built with little concern for quality.

And that is such a huge shame. When you do the sums, it's about £1,000,000 per meter to build HS2. For that sort of money, you would expect the most fantastic construction, but no, it all goes on 'other stuff', like legal fees, judicial reviews, eco this, natural that, ancient the other', so the amount left for the actual railway is a pittance.

When discussing the new A14 project in this neck of the woods, one of the contractors said it was basically a Health and Safety demonstration that had the side effect of building a new road. I'm sure HS2 is even worse.

Chris.

If river meanders were going to straighten themselves they would have done by now. After all its been several millenia ;D

They do - sometimes - then you might end up with "Oxbow Lakes" formed in the process.

I know. I remember learning that in geography back in the 1970s.

If river meanders were going to straighten themselves they would have done by now. After all its been several millenia ;D

They do - sometimes - then you might end up with "Oxbow Lakes" formed in the process.

... due to the amount of river management we have had for hundreds of years...

I imagine it's rare to find natural oxbows in this country of any size due to the amount of river management we have had for hundreds of years, mainly for navigational purposes. Natural ones form when a meander gets so tortuous, the river cuts through the narrow neck of land it has created.