For those gathering at the weekly Spud Club at the village’s Methodist church, which organises social events, there were concerns about air quality getting worse in the area.
Maddie Riley moved to Water Orton two years ago and said her partner’s asthma had deteriorated and now required medication.
“He needs his inhaler a lot more and when he’s resting he can feel his chest hurting on evenings,” said the 27-year-old.
Chris Baker has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and said it had “been exacerbated by the contaminants in the air”.
The 81-year-old said it was hard to avoid the “dust, sand and white powder, it was everywhere”.
He noticed an improvement in his health when he went away on holiday, saying: “My breathing is far better.”
HS2 said it monitored dust and nitrogen oxides in the area and published the results on the government’s website, external.
Luke Nipen, its head of engagement, said: “We take the health and safety of residents with the utmost importance and work in line with industry best practice to make sure we’re doing all of the right things on our sites.”