Harry Potter Fans Prompt Relocation of Multimillion Dollar Submarine Cable
2 sources across 2 countries · Argentina · Taiwan
Who reported this
- elDiarioAR
- Taipei Times
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
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A multimillion dollar power cable connecting the United Kingdom and Ireland was relocated after Harry Potter fans complained that the route would desecrate the fictional grave of Dobby the house elf. The Greenlink interconnector, valued at 430 million pounds, was originally planned to pass through Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales. This location is where the character was buried in the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, leading fans to frequently leave stones marked with the words Here Lies Dobby. The National Trust, which owns the land, has asked visitors to stop this practice because the beach is an ecologically sensitive site.
Project manager Simon Ludlam explained on the Energy Revolution podcast that the company received hundreds of calls after a BBC interview revealed the cable's path to County Wexford. Ludlam stated that he was initially confused by the complaints because he did not know who Dobby was. He recalled telling a colleague that the character was fictitious, though the colleague insisted the matter was very serious. The company subsequently hired planners to find a new route to avoid the site. Ludlam noted that while the new path came close to authentic Bronze Age remains, including burial urns, it successfully avoided the fictional grave.
How each side framed it
- Centre-left
- Outlets of this lean framed the event as a victory for fans and a quirky interaction between a corporate project and pop culture.
Sources
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