'I've shed tears over the land I lost to HS2'

Farmer whose fields were bought days before rail route was scrapped fears he'll never be able to buy them back

- Patrick Barkham

You might expect the farmer whose farm was going to be split in two by the second leg of HS2 to be jumping with joy at the news of its cancellation.

But Edward Cavenagh-Mainwaring's land was bought through compulsory purchase five days before Rishi Sunak scrapped phase 2 of the high-speed line. He has lost a quarter of his Staffordshire dairy farm and fears he will never be able to buy it back.

"Am I jumping up and down? No, I'm not," said Cavenagh-Mainwaring. "I've gone through bereavement. I worked the land for the last time the day before they took it. I shed tears for it."

"I've lived in the shadow of HS2 for nearly 10 years. My time and mental health has been squandered on this project. I feel sorry for all the people who have suffered - selling their houses, watching woods being felled."

Resigned to the arrival of bulldozers, and unable to witness the land his family had farmed for food and wildlife for decades trashed, Cavenagh-Mainwaring had made plans to move away, selling his dairy herd and renting out the remainder of his divided farm.