Greenlink cable rerouted to spare Dobby's fictional grave
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- Greenlink interconnector planners rerouted the £430m subsea cable away from Dobby's supposed grave on Freshwater West beach, Pembrokeshire, after fans flooded the project with complaints
- Simon Ludlam, Greenlink's project manager, revealed the original cable path during a BBC interview, prompting "hundreds of calls" from upset Harry Potter fans within weeks
- Ludlam admitted he had no idea who Dobby was, dismissing the fuss as concerning "a fictitious character in a fictitious book" before a colleague warned him the fan response was "very, very serious"
- Dobby's grave exists only in cinema — the elf was buried on the beach in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, yet fans leave stones reading "Here Lies Dobby" despite the National Trust asking them to stop because the site is ecologically sensitive
- The reroute brought the 125-mile (200km) cable linking the UK National Grid to County Wexford, Ireland, "quite close to some real Bronze Age remains" including burial urns, Ludlam acknowledged
- National Trust, which manages the beach, has asked visitors to stop leaving tribute stones at the ecologically sensitive site
Why it matters: A multimillion-pound infrastructure project bent to preserve a pop-culture landmark over genuine archaeology: Ludlam confirmed the cable's new path runs close to real Bronze Age burial urns yet was chosen specifically to spare a fictional grave. For the National Trust, the incident highlights how fan devotion continues to strain a protected Welsh beach that it has already asked visitors to stop decorating.
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