2025-04-07
38 分钟This is The Guardian.
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The Rain and Volcano, a waste dump is constantly on fire in East London.
Why Will No One Stop It?
by William Ralston, read by Sam Swainsbury.
One afternoon in July 2011,
an 11-year-old boy named William Nolden was out cycling with friends when he came upon Arnold's Field,
an expanse of Greenland in Havering, East London.
The site spans about 17 hectares, or 24 football pitches,
and around its perimeter runs a wooden fence with two access points through which vehicles can pass.
Arnold's Field rises much higher than the surrounding land.
Its surface is lumpy and undulating, like a blanket thrown over a heap of cuddly toys.
The land is overgrown.
It has been decades since animals grazed there, and few people have set foot on it in recent years.
But every so often, it is mistaken for a safe place to explore.
As Nolden descended a hill, he lost control and was thrown over the handlebars.
When he came to, he was lying in a small crater and his feet were covered in a powdery residue that resembled ash.
He felt a sharp pain in his left foot.
When Nolden's friends arrived, they removed his shoes and peeled back his socks.