Steeple Claydon, 23rd September, 2020. Tree surgeons working with the National Eviction Team on behalf of HS2 Ltd fell a 200-year-old oak tree alongside the East West Rail route known locally as the ‘7 Sisters Oak’ 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.