IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Hodgetts Lane, KENILWORTH, CV8 1PJ

It might be thought that High Speed 2 (HS2) will be a completely new railway but in fact that is not entirely true; here it will use the alignment of a long-closed line, a victim of the Beeching axe. The Victorian masonry arch bridge is something of a give away! The line ran from Kenilworth Junction to Berkswell and was opened in 1884 as a way to avoid the bottleneck at Coventry - it became known as the Berkswell Loop. It was always primarily a freight route and, although a passenger service was provided, that had become very sparse by the mid 20th century. In fact, the 1955 timetable shows just one passenger service each way on weekdays timed to provide a commuter service from Kenilworth to Birmingham; there were no intermediate stations on the loop. These trains were withdrawn in 1965 and the line closed to freight four years later. Most of the land passed to Warwickshire County Council in the 1970s but it was not until the 2000s that the route was developed as the Kenilworth Greenway, in partnership with Sustrans, as a linear country park for the use of walkers and cyclists. While the HS2 works are in progress a temporary greenway has been established but the aim is to restore it to run parallel to the new railway. Here at Burton Green a 'green tunnel' will be built covering the cutting in the vicinity of the village.

A few houses in the countryside.

Looking northwards from the bridge which is traffic light controlled, hence the stop line on the road. Beyond the bus-shelter, a south-facing roof adorned with solar panels.

Cromwell Lane passes over the former route of the Berkswell Loop railway by means of this bridge. The railway closed in 1969 but the trackbed was eventually converted into the Kenilworth Greenway for walkers and cyclists. It is now being converted again, this time for HS2, although upon completion the greenway will be reinstated.

The house here is one of four on Cromwell Lane that will be demolished in connection with the HS2 works; it has been acquired under a compulsory purchase order dated July 2019 and is now boarded up. Earthworks for the new railway can be seen in the foreground; when completed, it will run through a green tunnel at Burton Green.

Cromwell Lane is part of a leafy subueb of Coventry.

An access point to the left leads down to the path. See also http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/787064 (2008)

Work is under way on the new railway, seen here from the Cromwell Lane bridge. HS2 will follow the alignment of the old Berkswell Loop line, closed in 1969, through Burton Green although here it will run through a new green tunnel. The house in the picture is one of four in the vicinity acquired under a compulsory purchase order; in this April 2021 view it has been boarded up but is scheduled to be demolished.