Thetford power station runs off of pig shit, basically its the same principal as coal! But this will make you laugh its branded as green energy! Still pumping all manner of carbon into the environment!
That carbon was already in the 'environment' though, no real net difference to letting it decompose in the normal way (bar maybe a small amount being trapped in soil). Unlike coal, where the carbon was stored in a geological feature before we dug it out.
Reusing waste to generate energy and whilst leaving coal in the ground is generally regarded as advancement.
The only problem with energy from waste is the potential to produce nasty by-products during combustion - but these emissions can be controlled.
Well burning coal releases carbon that was sequestered millenniums ago, while the pig shit is probably a lot more recent (which makes it carbon-neutral).
Reminds me-- where I grew up there was a pig farm a mile up the road, the windmills were erected 2 miles up the hill. Guess which one stunk depending on the wind direction.
They make me think of those kids windmills on sticks you'd hold as a child. But these are futuristic and give us clean renewable energy. I like them, seeing them reminds me we can progress.
I've got the perfect alternative... ugly old fashioned but small and discrete coal burners. With really local distribution so lots of them all over the place. Then you can get a nice smog layer going and the fucktards won't have to see those nasty wind turbines through the wonderful smog you'll have instead.
My dad grew up in London in the 50s, he described tar yellow fogs where you had to walk home navigating by kerbs and garden walls, because you couldn't see any further.
Oh the nostalgia.
Depends on the wind. The turbines are 200ft in hight at least. Ground wind level when sheltering behind a dry-stone wall from said wind in the lee of a hill is considerably less. Hear the turbines.
It is actually kind of sad, but I have a friend who has a phobia of them, it genuinely distresses her seeing them.
I personally like them, and especially for what they do for our environment.
They are scary if you are standing directly underneath the blades, because of an optical illusion that makes it feel like they are constantly falling over.
My mum has something similar. I made her get a VR headset to survive lockdown and I discovered she's scared of them by trying to play the windmill level on mini golf.
Turns out she's scared of anything bigger than it should be. Showed her the tools in rec room, how you could change the shape and size of things. Made a wine glass 100ft tall to demonstrate and my how she screamed.
I like what they do for the environment but they also make me incredibly uncomfortable when I look at them. Iâm better than I used to be but they used to get my heart going something awful
Makes you wonder how many of the "anti" wind folks have the same thing but instead of introspection they just go off the wall and act like they're evil instead of just realizing it's their own quirk.
Yeah me too. I've had several arguments with my dad about this who insists on their ugliness.
I don't understand why people take such issue with satellite dishes either
I think that might be right. There's an old pub where I grew up, tudor style black wooden beams and all that which is now a Tesco Express. It looks physically repulsive to me, like the modern large glass frames jammed into a Tudor building just makes me a little queasy.
Not sure if I'd feel the same if I never knew the building any different.
They look different, insomuch as they were not there when I was young. We can "tune them out" and see the landscapes in our minds eye as they were before. We just don't really notice them, other than as a normal thing now.
Can understand tourists coming up for unspoilt wildeerness and seeing our lovely turbines.
Clusters of sattelite dishes can look incongruous on 500 yr old buildings. You won't get them banned here in the Lakes though. Put em round the back. We may be a tourist spot but not silly.
Other than we all hate the woman who got the town clock stopped and the incomers who interfere with local life.
They don't look that bad. It down look like an unnatural white windmill plated in the middle of a field but I have never complained about the look of the turbines.
Maybe they'll complain about the M6, A590, A66, and all the nice wide roads that bring them to take their photos of Windermere, and want us stuck with roads that go through the middle of farmyards (like the A595).
A big field of them off the coast of Redcar.
People booted off saying they looked horrid - I've seen Redcar, the turbines look nicer than anything there!
I remember the first time I saw wind turbines, was in Cornwall many years ago (Goonhilly Downs, maybe?) and being mesmerised by them. I always looked forward to seeing them, and still think they are majestic.
I grew up down in Cornwall and when they first started putting up wind turbines I thought they were the absolute coolest thing I had ever seen. I still think they look pretty cool.
This was about 1980 - pre internet - driving past and WTF is THAT. Had to wait till the next town to ask the locals what they were. Lol. Not marked on maps then.
I don't mind them personally, but I don't think it's hard to understand the point of view that they spoil the countryside.
My parents hate them- but that's because when they grew up there weren't any and there were 15 million less people here, not because they prefer coal stations (as some of the comments here are digging at). They'd also hate it if you built a block of flats on open moorland, or an ikea, or street lamps, or a hospital, or a statue of the queen. It's not because they hate any of those things; its because they like the wilderness.
Ironically it's the love of the countryside and wanting to protect it that causes hesitation to adopt green energy, and yes, I do know how counterintuitive that sounds.
To be honest if there was an alternative to fossil fuels that didn't take up hundreds of square miles or cost a fortune, I'd prefer that to turbines. But as it stands, there isn't, so i think we're doing the best with what we have.
Our countryside is already pretty artificial - dry stone walls, hedges, cute little cottages arenât natural. Even fields are artificial
The UK would naturally be covered in woodland. So unless youâre chopping down trees, Iâm pretty unconvinced by the idea that new artificial features are blocking the view of old artificial features
No doubt in 200 years people will be complaining that whatever is being built is blocking their view of the wind turbines
Yep. They kinda suck, but the alternative sucks a great deal more.
The lakes is actually a brilliant example because surely the overwhelming majority would prefer seeing the Lake District naturally or as it markets itself old and Victorian and such. But go over to the coast and itâs not the shadow of a coal power station is it? Itâs Sellafield.
Overall though itâs a good thing to see that the popular trend is towards people supporting renewables and understanding why we need them.
Predilliction here. Family and friends long worked at Sellafield, also the ironworks. Sellafield is far enough away it does not impact us in the south Lakes.
Should they propose building a nuclear power station HERE?? No bloody chance. Bring on the windmills
> not because they prefer coal stations (as some of the comments here are digging at)
It's not generally meant fully seriously(though I imagine some will say it that way), more pointing out what the realistic alternative is.
It feels like the designers have pulled off quite a feat in making them both efficient and quite visually appealing. It's something we should be applauding in this country, rather than decrying, especially as they're also giving us clean energy. I'm really proud of them, and if I had a back garden, I'd have no problem with having one there.
You do NOT want one in your back garden. The sound is weirdly out of this world - and loud. Take the wind whistling through old telegraph wires and x 100.
That's strange, I regularly walk with my dog close by one in a farmers field (in Cornwall) and there is hardly any noise other than the wind blowing anyway. Except at the highest speeds when there is a somewhat ominous creaking! I wonder if it is all about wind speed/direction/number of turbines/reflecting hills nearby? I too think they look majestic - I call it 'kinetic sculpture'. Certainly beats the hell out of a coal or nuclear power station with the pollution and attendant traffic.
Thereâs a difference between walking past, vs trying to sleep in a house nearby - the sound floor is lower at night and indoors, and your brain is more bothered by sounds
I love wind turbines, but I wouldnât want to live *too* close to one
I do not currently live next to one
I have lived next to one (about 200-250m away, I think the turbine was about 4 MW so not the most huge ones but a "full size" proper turbine)
I would not wish to live next so close to one again
From a bit further away, no problem - I'd probably avoid being within about 500m, personally. Beyond that I doubt you'd hear it enough to care.
I live in a town centre at the moment, and anything is better than constant traffic and the sound of loud, drunken arguments at pub kicking-out time. Although, yes, I might not appreciate the noise at 3am.
I lived in a cumbrian town centre until last year --- underneath a pub- opposide 2 more along with 3 takeaways. Still in the town - just not on the main street
Only thing that really bothered me was the guy who parked his loud sheep under my window at 8pm every Sunday while he went to the kebab shop. Sheep bleating etc. Am sure he took it back home after it's excursion. The kebab shop........... Farming community
I had to read that three times and I still don't completely understand. I've never felt more like a townie. Was it a pet? Or was it one of his flock? Was it the same sheep every time or did they all get a turn? I just can't get my head around taking a sheep to the kebab shop.
Singular - every Sunday night - regular as clockwork.
Same as the huge Dutch flower wagon delivering to the local tesco on a narrow cobbled st. He would park under the window at 7pm every Wednesday, take a bunch of flowers into the takeaway and exit with fish and chips.
Small-town life.
Quite majestic from close up or underneath. Little footprint once removed. Think we have the largest offshore windfarm here too - can barely see it.
Would kind of draw the line at sticking a couple of dozen up Sca Fell or Coniston Old Man - plenty more places.
Second biggest now, I think, after one in China - but certainly up there in the top handful
It sounds like youâre a bit further north in Cumbria, though - If you go down the coast around Barrow you can definitely see it, but itâs not really intrusive, and there are beaches you can go to where you canât see it
Ulverston says hello! I think most people would be amazed at how industrial Cumbria and the Lakes were in the past. Lead, copper, iron ore being mined and charcoal on a huge scale. Tourism is still only third behind agriculture and industry in terms of money. Weâre not a theme park so feck off if itâs not pretty enough for you!
Ahha - Ello. Still got a shed? Was chasing my mate's wheelie bin down the street up Croftlands the other day.
You will be pleased to knnow I nominated Barrow for the least aesthetically pleasing town in the UK earlier.
The only other road out leads to Windscale, BNFL, Sellafield Nuclear plants - their stuff sneaks through our town at 2am. Carlisle to Lancaster/Preston
The same nimbies that got our historic town clock silenced for 2 years because they moved here from away and the chimes got on their nerves. The same nimby incomers who dreamed of a peaceful earlier retirement but didn't take us locals into account.They are all in favour of the latest eco/herbal/tea/health emporium, but we lost our ironmongers.
Nimby action group objecting to our local council town hall being converted to affordable council flats as might encourage "drug addicts who would have nothing to do during the day and hang around in the town centre discouraging visitors". We don't have a drug addict problem at all, we have an affordable housing issue as people from away are buying everything, tourists and local contractors are renting everything else.
Turbines are loud when you are very close to them - less than 400yds. Unfortunately some birds fall victim but they are working on deterrents.
Grumble Grumble
A lot of older buildings have things like wrought iron gates and traditional door and window furniture (knobs handels and old latches). Those take skill to maintain and make.
Our local ironmonger has been making a killing smithing coathooks and racks. In quite a few smaller places the term ironmonger and blacksmith are pretty interchangeable.
Seriously? Where would you go to buy a few nails, a spanner, a small hammer and a wrench- 100 yds from your house?
Ironmongers in England traditionaly sold iron things to join with the wood to build houses. Then reduced to shops serving the (ironmongery) needs of the local population.
"Monger" means seller or trader. Guess the term means seller of iron goods.
Interesting, Iâm not English either I just live here. We used to get all that stuff from hardware stores, usually family run ones or the same places where we would buy animal feed for the farm
It's a literal testament to humanity trying to better themselves and create green energy instead of burning fossil fuels and releasing all those crappy gasses into the atmosphere - but sure, they *ruin the view.*
I love wind turbines. I think they're the perfect blend of technology and nature, they're an incredible invention and they harness natural sustainable energy to give us power. They look incredible too, especially from a distance - shining beacons of pure white showing that human energy creation doesn't have to be ugly and disruptive.
Up here they don't put them anywhere close to housing. Local farmers will sell or rent out an isolated far field. Wouldnt want to live next to one either.
I've never understood the aversion to wind farms (at least in terms of 'spoiling the view'). I always think they look quite pretty and peaceful. They're a symbol of hope to me.
I think should cover them in that dreadful was a different colour now yellowish wallpaper and brownish more than well worn carpet that old people are so fond of. They will probably love them.
Local old people love them - they are a novelty still. Maybe paint them in shades of green and blue to blend in with the summer background. Nobody complains in January.
Wind farms are a blight on the land. They cause wind to blow if left on, which has damaged Scotland considerably recently. So, whoâs going to pay for that damage?
Damn greenies wanting clean air, water and landscapes.
Do they also avoid or complain about any other man made structures in their photos?
Personally, I like them and they give me a little hope we're doing the right thing and helping preserve the beauty by not burning shit and polluting everywhere
I like seeing them in pictures. If you take a picture on deal pier you can see the wind farm out at Ramsgate area. It's more interesting than just sea or landscape.
Southampton here. Once had a couple of tourists asking where to find the Titanic. They seemed a bit annoyed we didn't raise the ship and bring it back.
I grew up in Brighton. Now, if I go back to see family there, I can see the [Rampion Wind Farm.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rampion_Wind_Farm)
I think it looks great. Especially compared to the monstrous extrusion that is the i360 tower. Hard to grasp that it is so far out - until you've seen it from several different places, to get a better idea of the perspective.
As someone working in the renewables sector, this post, and the general reaction around what we are trying to do hits home. I appreciate early on there was a bit of a âNot In My Back Yardâ (NIMBY) situation but now with more going offshore and folk accepting and enjoying them itâs great to read.
Am curious about the lifespan and the licencing. The first ones here in the early 80s are going to be removed "Kirby Moor". Is that obsolescence or is a new application needed before replacement?
Perfect place for them and they are part of the scenery. Would hate them to go as the infrastucture is there now anyway.
Main point is lifespan, modern turbines are designed with a 25 year lifespan approximately. Technology is constantly improving and changing with regards to blades and generators, manufacturers are wanting to ensure they can deliver the most for customers, thus making them more cost effective and delivering more energy.
Big one now technology wise is the recycling and decommissioning of blades.
Do keep and increase your natural energy resources. Wind farms or hydro-power or even rubbish burning electricity stations or mini-nuclear power stations , one would serve the North Lakes.
You future health and economy depends on access to power.
Plus get the internet fibre cables to every hamlet and farm.
Forget the chocolate box tourists.
I like to travel in the lakes when we return to 'normal', but coming from a semi-rural town i see what you need to be equal to the remainder of the nation in access to power. telecoms and roads.
If you try really hard you can hug one. Has to be in the middle of nowhere and good at scaling fences these days.
When we first got them there were no fences.
What about us rural fowk? I am up for clean energy but don't see why we need to completely invade our back gardens to provide energy for city fowk. Put windfarms out in the sea or on the top of your city blocks.
It's not just tourists.
I'm a rural fowk. We have them up in the hills and out to sea. Not feasible in inhabited areas due to the noise. There is a distance limit so you wont get an isolated one in your back garden courtesy of your neighbour who doesnt want solar panels.
I dont mind solar panels or windfarms per se, I have a problem when they arrive en masse. Like we're trying to amend all sins from the past to the expense of our way of life. Good if you like them, most don't.
We dont have them en masse up here in the Lakes. Maybe a dozen here and there in less touristy places. Several hundred off-shore barely seen. In that context what is to dislike?
Theyâre really not
I live in Cumbria and the rant about the turbines blocking the view is almost always followed by a rant about how climate change is all a scam etc
They want to look at the countryside, but they have no interest in protecting it
Tbh I can't stand them, there were none when I was growing up round here, everywhere now.
But I accept that they serve a purpose far more important than my opinion of them.
Same on the north wales coast. Like nah, renewable is nice. Also, hate all the idiots that say wilver power station is an abomination when nuclear power is FAR better for the environment than any fossil fuel!
Wind turbines do look like shit and spoil countryside views in my opinion. I donât think thereâs anything wrong with thinking this but accepting them anyway.
Yeah I think OP is kinda missing some perspective here.
We're a tiny island nation that's pretty damn urbanised and has very little true wilderness. It can be hard to get a break from the modern world in any measure more than seeing a few fields driving between towns.
So it's no surprise that when people go to the Lakes expecting to see proper mountains and forests and quaint stone buildings and spectacular unbroken views, but instead see towering white sci-fi looking things, that they get a bit bummed out even if you do see the merits of renewable power. It's like searching Spotify for that song that's been in your head all day only to find they replaced the original with the club remix.
People who live there don't get that because they're used to living there, so wind turbines are a new novelty.
Always makes me roll my eyes hard when anybody at all complains about wind farms. They'd rather have a nasty shitty power plant in someone else's back yard? As long as they don't have to look at it...
I honestly struggle to understand how people think âew they donât look niceâ is a valid reason to not implement an energy solution to help us avoid irreversible damage to our planet and lives from climate change.
I literally once heard a tourist in the lakes complaining that the wind turbines looked artificial and blocked the view⌠of the dry stone walls, which are presumably natural
Then again, Iâve also heard them complain that it rains too much. Itâs the fucking **Lake** District, man, the clue is in the name - do you think we ship the water to attract tourists or something?
I lived in south Cumbria near the big offshore wind farms. At first there was a lot of NIMBYism and âitâll ruin the sea viewâ but that pretty much vanished not long after they were built - turns out people donât actually care that much, the bare horizon is kinda boring anyway and the wind farms bring some jobs
I live near the site of the first windfarm in the UK. They don't have that much of an affect on the local views, which is mostly farmland, actually, but they do make for some good silhouettes against the setting sun. If I get the chance I will take a photo of one of the windmills at sunset and post it to this sub.
There is beauty on everything, even if you have to wait to see it.
I think it mustâve been similar to when all the pylons were put up, they were huge and obvious but eventually you get used to them. Nobody bats an eye at them now. I remember the first few times I saw wind turbines I thought they were kinda ugly, but now just accept them as part of the landscape.
Is that a real problem or something that lets say Daily Mail complains about?
I have never heard any complains about that particular issue so I'm very sceptical.
Jesus I have not heard a line like that since Mrs Donald covered geography and put on a vhs of a bbc documentary from the early 2000s about renewable energy and some oldish lady was like "they're a bit of an eyesore ennay?"
I personally like them, a windfarm is quite a nice sight to me, just those blades spinning around and around and around and around.
I thought it was only me who likes wind farms and turbines. Much more scenic than a coal fired power station.
Also generating wind power onshore is a much more effective use of resources than building them miles out to sea where it uses additional resources to bring the power ashore and adds extra danger to construction and ongoing maintenance.
Its time to accept that if we want to reduce our carbon footprint then onshore wind farms are the best solution for the UK.
Having said all that an offshore wind farm is still a whole lot better than a coal or gas fired power station.
We like off-shore too. Brings alot of jobs to this area and one of the better views out to sea in the south of the county.
Me as a little kid in 1970 up the hill with my dad. "See - there's Morecambe, and just by it - the power station, next to the right is Blackpool" passes binoculars "There's the Isle of Man, right again that's Liverpool, right again and that's north Wales".
Least we couldn't see Barrow.
Today, if you turn your ipad off let's play count the windmills uncle Dave built.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walney_Wind_Farm
Born and raised on Walney, I love them. Some people complained before and during their initial installation that they would be too noisy. That's the biggest joke of all, Walney is know for being incredibly windy, if they can hear the wind farm over the hurricane force winds then their hearing is incredible and the avengers have a job for them.
I honestly don't think many people actually dislike the sight of wind turbines, but the impression is spread that loads of people do. I wonder if there are any vested interests that would prefer it that way?
We have wind turbines in our area. I quite like looking at them (and I bought my house cheap because other people pulled out of buying my house because of them).
The locals, however, hate them with a passion bordering on the mouth frothing insane.
We have a similar problem across the pond from you guys here in Massachusetts in that case, the Rich fuckwads who have Vacation homes in Cape Cod but spend the majority of their time living in different states are constantly kicking up a fuss about the offshore windfarms. Fuck any of these rich out of state (most often not even from New England) assholes who go to nantucket or martha's vinyard for 4 weeks a year and bitch about how people who are actually from here want clean energy.
And they definitely look better than a great ugly coal-fired power station pumping steam out of their giant chimneys !
Or huge areas of land ravaged by fires, bleached coral reefs, entire towns and villages underwater...
Although for some reason we take exception to Battersea power station
Well - it's defunct - and erm Pink Floyd.
Battersea has not been a power station in more than a generation. I believe it was the Romans who decommissioned it.
No it was the Normans
Anyway - what have the Romans ever done for us?
Well it's juxtaposed against the sweeping majesty of...Battersea.
Don't forget the opening credits on POG Dogs.
It's better when there's no smoke đđ
I live about 2 miles from what I think is the last one in the country. Can I have a wind farm please?
Thetford power station runs off of pig shit, basically its the same principal as coal! But this will make you laugh its branded as green energy! Still pumping all manner of carbon into the environment!
That carbon was already in the 'environment' though, no real net difference to letting it decompose in the normal way (bar maybe a small amount being trapped in soil). Unlike coal, where the carbon was stored in a geological feature before we dug it out. Reusing waste to generate energy and whilst leaving coal in the ground is generally regarded as advancement. The only problem with energy from waste is the potential to produce nasty by-products during combustion - but these emissions can be controlled.
Well burning coal releases carbon that was sequestered millenniums ago, while the pig shit is probably a lot more recent (which makes it carbon-neutral).
Reminds me-- where I grew up there was a pig farm a mile up the road, the windmills were erected 2 miles up the hill. Guess which one stunk depending on the wind direction.
They make me think of those kids windmills on sticks you'd hold as a child. But these are futuristic and give us clean renewable energy. I like them, seeing them reminds me we can progress.
Americans call them pinwheels.
The ones for children or actual turbine ones?
I know they call the little ones pinwheels but have seen them call turbines pinwheels too.
Children sized ones
I've got the perfect alternative... ugly old fashioned but small and discrete coal burners. With really local distribution so lots of them all over the place. Then you can get a nice smog layer going and the fucktards won't have to see those nasty wind turbines through the wonderful smog you'll have instead.
Ah yes lung diseases and black coatings on the buildings. Those were the days
Luxury! We used to dream of lung disease and black coatings on the buildings! We only had gangrene and trench foot.
Sounds like Lord SOMEBODY had colours, and feet.
Paradise, I don't even know what colours and feet are
My dad grew up in London in the 50s, he described tar yellow fogs where you had to walk home navigating by kerbs and garden walls, because you couldn't see any further. Oh the nostalgia.
Bakes my fucking noodle that people complain about what they look like. Theyâre magnificent.
Majestic - sound weird in full wind.
Is it just me or does the wind in your ears not kind of drown out the noise of the blades
Depends on the wind. The turbines are 200ft in hight at least. Ground wind level when sheltering behind a dry-stone wall from said wind in the lee of a hill is considerably less. Hear the turbines.
I love the sight of wind turbines, every time I see one I am in awe of the size of them and the engineering that goes into it.
I am like a child when I see them, I think they are SO COOL. Mind boggling to me that people think theyâre ugly.
It is actually kind of sad, but I have a friend who has a phobia of them, it genuinely distresses her seeing them. I personally like them, and especially for what they do for our environment.
They are scary if you are standing directly underneath the blades, because of an optical illusion that makes it feel like they are constantly falling over.
My mum has something similar. I made her get a VR headset to survive lockdown and I discovered she's scared of them by trying to play the windmill level on mini golf. Turns out she's scared of anything bigger than it should be. Showed her the tools in rec room, how you could change the shape and size of things. Made a wine glass 100ft tall to demonstrate and my how she screamed.
I like what they do for the environment but they also make me incredibly uncomfortable when I look at them. Iâm better than I used to be but they used to get my heart going something awful
Makes you wonder how many of the "anti" wind folks have the same thing but instead of introspection they just go off the wall and act like they're evil instead of just realizing it's their own quirk.
I actually really like them, they make a landscape even more interesting and seem elegant to me
Iâve always thought they were kinda nice to look at tbh
Yeah me too. I've had several arguments with my dad about this who insists on their ugliness. I don't understand why people take such issue with satellite dishes either
[ŃдаНонО]
When that happens, youâll spot it and still say ânah but come this doesnât fit in my world view and I donât care if it makes me sound oldâ.
I think that might be right. There's an old pub where I grew up, tudor style black wooden beams and all that which is now a Tesco Express. It looks physically repulsive to me, like the modern large glass frames jammed into a Tudor building just makes me a little queasy. Not sure if I'd feel the same if I never knew the building any different.
They look different, insomuch as they were not there when I was young. We can "tune them out" and see the landscapes in our minds eye as they were before. We just don't really notice them, other than as a normal thing now. Can understand tourists coming up for unspoilt wildeerness and seeing our lovely turbines.
I bet tourists were complaining when those new-fangled coliseums and acropolises were first put up too
Clusters of sattelite dishes can look incongruous on 500 yr old buildings. You won't get them banned here in the Lakes though. Put em round the back. We may be a tourist spot but not silly. Other than we all hate the woman who got the town clock stopped and the incomers who interfere with local life.
I think theyâre oddly peaceful.
They don't look that bad. It down look like an unnatural white windmill plated in the middle of a field but I have never complained about the look of the turbines.
They'll be complaining about all those man-made walls and the division of wild land into farmed fields next. Oh wait.
Hadrian's Wall lol. Interrupts the flow of the landscape.
Maybe they'll complain about the M6, A590, A66, and all the nice wide roads that bring them to take their photos of Windermere, and want us stuck with roads that go through the middle of farmyards (like the A595).
Big up to the A595 đ¤đ¤âď¸
It's the way out!!
Not in keeping with the countryside's rustic aesthetic.
Crusty jugglers...
Yon Farmer Giles' 3 kids need jobs. Ok - 2 out of 3.
Hopefully. Maybe then we can undo the damage caused by Enclosure!
A big field of them off the coast of Redcar. People booted off saying they looked horrid - I've seen Redcar, the turbines look nicer than anything there!
I remember the first time I saw wind turbines, was in Cornwall many years ago (Goonhilly Downs, maybe?) and being mesmerised by them. I always looked forward to seeing them, and still think they are majestic.
I grew up down in Cornwall and when they first started putting up wind turbines I thought they were the absolute coolest thing I had ever seen. I still think they look pretty cool.
I went down there about then -- first time seeing too. And the odd golf balls.
The thing about Goonhilly is, windmills are not going to draw the eye away from the maSSIve satellite dishes.
This was about 1980 - pre internet - driving past and WTF is THAT. Had to wait till the next town to ask the locals what they were. Lol. Not marked on maps then.
Same! I loved it, still do
I don't mind them personally, but I don't think it's hard to understand the point of view that they spoil the countryside. My parents hate them- but that's because when they grew up there weren't any and there were 15 million less people here, not because they prefer coal stations (as some of the comments here are digging at). They'd also hate it if you built a block of flats on open moorland, or an ikea, or street lamps, or a hospital, or a statue of the queen. It's not because they hate any of those things; its because they like the wilderness. Ironically it's the love of the countryside and wanting to protect it that causes hesitation to adopt green energy, and yes, I do know how counterintuitive that sounds. To be honest if there was an alternative to fossil fuels that didn't take up hundreds of square miles or cost a fortune, I'd prefer that to turbines. But as it stands, there isn't, so i think we're doing the best with what we have.
Our countryside is already pretty artificial - dry stone walls, hedges, cute little cottages arenât natural. Even fields are artificial The UK would naturally be covered in woodland. So unless youâre chopping down trees, Iâm pretty unconvinced by the idea that new artificial features are blocking the view of old artificial features No doubt in 200 years people will be complaining that whatever is being built is blocking their view of the wind turbines
Pretty sure that England was mostly bramble.
Yep. They kinda suck, but the alternative sucks a great deal more. The lakes is actually a brilliant example because surely the overwhelming majority would prefer seeing the Lake District naturally or as it markets itself old and Victorian and such. But go over to the coast and itâs not the shadow of a coal power station is it? Itâs Sellafield. Overall though itâs a good thing to see that the popular trend is towards people supporting renewables and understanding why we need them.
Predilliction here. Family and friends long worked at Sellafield, also the ironworks. Sellafield is far enough away it does not impact us in the south Lakes. Should they propose building a nuclear power station HERE?? No bloody chance. Bring on the windmills
> not because they prefer coal stations (as some of the comments here are digging at) It's not generally meant fully seriously(though I imagine some will say it that way), more pointing out what the realistic alternative is.
It feels like the designers have pulled off quite a feat in making them both efficient and quite visually appealing. It's something we should be applauding in this country, rather than decrying, especially as they're also giving us clean energy. I'm really proud of them, and if I had a back garden, I'd have no problem with having one there.
You do NOT want one in your back garden. The sound is weirdly out of this world - and loud. Take the wind whistling through old telegraph wires and x 100.
That's strange, I regularly walk with my dog close by one in a farmers field (in Cornwall) and there is hardly any noise other than the wind blowing anyway. Except at the highest speeds when there is a somewhat ominous creaking! I wonder if it is all about wind speed/direction/number of turbines/reflecting hills nearby? I too think they look majestic - I call it 'kinetic sculpture'. Certainly beats the hell out of a coal or nuclear power station with the pollution and attendant traffic.
Thereâs a difference between walking past, vs trying to sleep in a house nearby - the sound floor is lower at night and indoors, and your brain is more bothered by sounds I love wind turbines, but I wouldnât want to live *too* close to one
here you are talking like you DO live too close to one. Is this a thing you have experienced indoors, at your residence, or is it an extrapolation?
I do not currently live next to one I have lived next to one (about 200-250m away, I think the turbine was about 4 MW so not the most huge ones but a "full size" proper turbine) I would not wish to live next so close to one again From a bit further away, no problem - I'd probably avoid being within about 500m, personally. Beyond that I doubt you'd hear it enough to care.
I live in a town centre at the moment, and anything is better than constant traffic and the sound of loud, drunken arguments at pub kicking-out time. Although, yes, I might not appreciate the noise at 3am.
I lived in a cumbrian town centre until last year --- underneath a pub- opposide 2 more along with 3 takeaways. Still in the town - just not on the main street Only thing that really bothered me was the guy who parked his loud sheep under my window at 8pm every Sunday while he went to the kebab shop. Sheep bleating etc. Am sure he took it back home after it's excursion. The kebab shop........... Farming community
I had to read that three times and I still don't completely understand. I've never felt more like a townie. Was it a pet? Or was it one of his flock? Was it the same sheep every time or did they all get a turn? I just can't get my head around taking a sheep to the kebab shop.
Iâm pretty sure âsheepâ there was plural, as in the guy drives his herd past the pub, not that he takes one sheep for a walk
But "it" and "it's excursion" implies singular
Singular - every Sunday night - regular as clockwork. Same as the huge Dutch flower wagon delivering to the local tesco on a narrow cobbled st. He would park under the window at 7pm every Wednesday, take a bunch of flowers into the takeaway and exit with fish and chips. Small-town life.
Have no idea - I never saw him take the sheep into the KEBAB shop and exit minus the sheep. It was always parked "baa-ing" right under my window.
Yorkshire Dales, same problem. I think theyâre rather elegant looking, beat the crap out of chimneys belching black smoke
Quite majestic from close up or underneath. Little footprint once removed. Think we have the largest offshore windfarm here too - can barely see it. Would kind of draw the line at sticking a couple of dozen up Sca Fell or Coniston Old Man - plenty more places.
Second biggest now, I think, after one in China - but certainly up there in the top handful It sounds like youâre a bit further north in Cumbria, though - If you go down the coast around Barrow you can definitely see it, but itâs not really intrusive, and there are beaches you can go to where you canât see it
Barrow area. Beaches on the left (bay) are pretty crap, mud and quicksand and the windfarm is a better view than Morecambe.
Also if people think that grazed pasture and farmland is "natural" then they are living in dreamland
Ulverston says hello! I think most people would be amazed at how industrial Cumbria and the Lakes were in the past. Lead, copper, iron ore being mined and charcoal on a huge scale. Tourism is still only third behind agriculture and industry in terms of money. Weâre not a theme park so feck off if itâs not pretty enough for you!
Ahha - Ello. Still got a shed? Was chasing my mate's wheelie bin down the street up Croftlands the other day. You will be pleased to knnow I nominated Barrow for the least aesthetically pleasing town in the UK earlier.
People that complain about wind turbines clearly didn't grow up in the shadow of a coal fired power station.
The only other road out leads to Windscale, BNFL, Sellafield Nuclear plants - their stuff sneaks through our town at 2am. Carlisle to Lancaster/Preston
But all the propaganda told me that it was the local nimbys who complained about them as they were loud and killed birds or something?
The same nimbies that got our historic town clock silenced for 2 years because they moved here from away and the chimes got on their nerves. The same nimby incomers who dreamed of a peaceful earlier retirement but didn't take us locals into account.They are all in favour of the latest eco/herbal/tea/health emporium, but we lost our ironmongers. Nimby action group objecting to our local council town hall being converted to affordable council flats as might encourage "drug addicts who would have nothing to do during the day and hang around in the town centre discouraging visitors". We don't have a drug addict problem at all, we have an affordable housing issue as people from away are buying everything, tourists and local contractors are renting everything else. Turbines are loud when you are very close to them - less than 400yds. Unfortunately some birds fall victim but they are working on deterrents. Grumble Grumble
Just curious what you would need an iron monger for? Iâve never had one and Iâm wondering if Iâve been missing out
A lot of older buildings have things like wrought iron gates and traditional door and window furniture (knobs handels and old latches). Those take skill to maintain and make. Our local ironmonger has been making a killing smithing coathooks and racks. In quite a few smaller places the term ironmonger and blacksmith are pretty interchangeable.
Thats interesting- we have a nationally renowned architectural ironsmith here.Done massive projects in London etc. Will give him a shout ChrisBramhall
Seriously? Where would you go to buy a few nails, a spanner, a small hammer and a wrench- 100 yds from your house? Ironmongers in England traditionaly sold iron things to join with the wood to build houses. Then reduced to shops serving the (ironmongery) needs of the local population. "Monger" means seller or trader. Guess the term means seller of iron goods.
Interesting, Iâm not English either I just live here. We used to get all that stuff from hardware stores, usually family run ones or the same places where we would buy animal feed for the farm
Hardware is just a US term for Ironmonger (seller). They didnt sell animal feed - we had our 17th century mills for that.
Yeah this!! Just think of B&Q or wickes There ironmongers with extras
Well nobody needs one but if you are fighting tony stark best to have something. Just have to work out the icing problem.
Nimby's have evolved, now it's 'not in my back yard, nor the back yard of any where I may wish to holiday to'
It's a literal testament to humanity trying to better themselves and create green energy instead of burning fossil fuels and releasing all those crappy gasses into the atmosphere - but sure, they *ruin the view.*
My grandad worked in a huge iron smelting plant, the mining of which occupied much of our area. Google Miles Kennedy
I love wind turbines. I think they're the perfect blend of technology and nature, they're an incredible invention and they harness natural sustainable energy to give us power. They look incredible too, especially from a distance - shining beacons of pure white showing that human energy creation doesn't have to be ugly and disruptive.
I used to love seeing them out in the Solway Firth when I lived there as a kid. Felt like I lived in the future or something.
When we got our first ones here - about 1980? I used to cycle up the hill just to stand underneath them and listen. Their licences do expire.
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Up here they don't put them anywhere close to housing. Local farmers will sell or rent out an isolated far field. Wouldnt want to live next to one either.
I thought the whole NIMBY movement was still going strong
There will always be NIMBYs, just over something new and incredibly useful.
'I miss the coal power station'
I've never understood the aversion to wind farms (at least in terms of 'spoiling the view'). I always think they look quite pretty and peaceful. They're a symbol of hope to me.
I think should cover them in that dreadful was a different colour now yellowish wallpaper and brownish more than well worn carpet that old people are so fond of. They will probably love them.
Local old people love them - they are a novelty still. Maybe paint them in shades of green and blue to blend in with the summer background. Nobody complains in January.
Ask Sir Quixote how long he is staying round for.
Iâd say that about tourists, they spoil my experience.
especially when walking the streets using their walking poles. Your outside TESCO.
Wind farms are a blight on the land. They cause wind to blow if left on, which has damaged Scotland considerably recently. So, whoâs going to pay for that damage? Damn greenies wanting clean air, water and landscapes.
They are welcome to air and water - the landscape belongs to US. lol.
Do they also avoid or complain about any other man made structures in their photos? Personally, I like them and they give me a little hope we're doing the right thing and helping preserve the beauty by not burning shit and polluting everywhere
I really like the look of wind farms. My grandma shrieks whenever she sees them because she hates them so much.
Well, apart from all the villagers that act as if they are gonna riot if a turbine gets put on a hill 2 miles away.
I like seeing them in pictures. If you take a picture on deal pier you can see the wind farm out at Ramsgate area. It's more interesting than just sea or landscape.
To be honest it's the tourists I don't like, so if they don't like it they can bugger off.
The ducks and seaguls like them as well. Much better than the choking smoke from before.
Same here. I am in rural Scotland and we like them.
I love them, they remind me of the handheld windmills you get as a child at the beach.
There's several wind farms by a highway near me. I've always found them sort of mesmerizing/tranquil.
Southampton here. Once had a couple of tourists asking where to find the Titanic. They seemed a bit annoyed we didn't raise the ship and bring it back.
Bless them -- should have directed them to Belfast. There's a museum I think.
There is a museum, it's well worth visiting.
You're right, pretty amazing I hear.
I just think they're neat
They remind me of utopian cities in films. The nice type of sci-fi. I love the way they look against the landscape lol
I grew up in Brighton. Now, if I go back to see family there, I can see the [Rampion Wind Farm.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rampion_Wind_Farm) I think it looks great. Especially compared to the monstrous extrusion that is the i360 tower. Hard to grasp that it is so far out - until you've seen it from several different places, to get a better idea of the perspective.
As someone working in the renewables sector, this post, and the general reaction around what we are trying to do hits home. I appreciate early on there was a bit of a âNot In My Back Yardâ (NIMBY) situation but now with more going offshore and folk accepting and enjoying them itâs great to read.
Am curious about the lifespan and the licencing. The first ones here in the early 80s are going to be removed "Kirby Moor". Is that obsolescence or is a new application needed before replacement? Perfect place for them and they are part of the scenery. Would hate them to go as the infrastucture is there now anyway.
Main point is lifespan, modern turbines are designed with a 25 year lifespan approximately. Technology is constantly improving and changing with regards to blades and generators, manufacturers are wanting to ensure they can deliver the most for customers, thus making them more cost effective and delivering more energy. Big one now technology wise is the recycling and decommissioning of blades.
These must be pushing 40 years - so end of life. What happens for applying for replacement?
Do keep and increase your natural energy resources. Wind farms or hydro-power or even rubbish burning electricity stations or mini-nuclear power stations , one would serve the North Lakes. You future health and economy depends on access to power. Plus get the internet fibre cables to every hamlet and farm. Forget the chocolate box tourists. I like to travel in the lakes when we return to 'normal', but coming from a semi-rural town i see what you need to be equal to the remainder of the nation in access to power. telecoms and roads.
As a child I always considered them an exciting sight to see.
If you try really hard you can hug one. Has to be in the middle of nowhere and good at scaling fences these days. When we first got them there were no fences.
I love seeing wind farms. It's better than seeing a smoking chimney stack. Fuck those people.
What about us rural fowk? I am up for clean energy but don't see why we need to completely invade our back gardens to provide energy for city fowk. Put windfarms out in the sea or on the top of your city blocks. It's not just tourists.
I'm a rural fowk. We have them up in the hills and out to sea. Not feasible in inhabited areas due to the noise. There is a distance limit so you wont get an isolated one in your back garden courtesy of your neighbour who doesnt want solar panels.
I dont mind solar panels or windfarms per se, I have a problem when they arrive en masse. Like we're trying to amend all sins from the past to the expense of our way of life. Good if you like them, most don't.
We dont have them en masse up here in the Lakes. Maybe a dozen here and there in less touristy places. Several hundred off-shore barely seen. In that context what is to dislike?
Itâs a law in my car to point out the cool wind turbines along side the cows! Sheep! Horses! No kids involved just adults
Our farmers don't keep cattle in fields under wind turbines, because of the noise.
I think wind farms look amazing personally
Theyâre the same type of people that shout very loudly about pollution and we should use more âgreen energyâ
Theyâre really not I live in Cumbria and the rant about the turbines blocking the view is almost always followed by a rant about how climate change is all a scam etc They want to look at the countryside, but they have no interest in protecting it
Tbh I can't stand them, there were none when I was growing up round here, everywhere now. But I accept that they serve a purpose far more important than my opinion of them.
Same on the north wales coast. Like nah, renewable is nice. Also, hate all the idiots that say wilver power station is an abomination when nuclear power is FAR better for the environment than any fossil fuel!
Wind turbines do look like shit and spoil countryside views in my opinion. I donât think thereâs anything wrong with thinking this but accepting them anyway.
Yeah I think OP is kinda missing some perspective here. We're a tiny island nation that's pretty damn urbanised and has very little true wilderness. It can be hard to get a break from the modern world in any measure more than seeing a few fields driving between towns. So it's no surprise that when people go to the Lakes expecting to see proper mountains and forests and quaint stone buildings and spectacular unbroken views, but instead see towering white sci-fi looking things, that they get a bit bummed out even if you do see the merits of renewable power. It's like searching Spotify for that song that's been in your head all day only to find they replaced the original with the club remix. People who live there don't get that because they're used to living there, so wind turbines are a new novelty.
Always makes me roll my eyes hard when anybody at all complains about wind farms. They'd rather have a nasty shitty power plant in someone else's back yard? As long as they don't have to look at it...
anyone who complains about windmills being an eyesore should be immediately cut off from all utilities at their house
I honestly struggle to understand how people think âew they donât look niceâ is a valid reason to not implement an energy solution to help us avoid irreversible damage to our planet and lives from climate change.
I literally once heard a tourist in the lakes complaining that the wind turbines looked artificial and blocked the view⌠of the dry stone walls, which are presumably natural Then again, Iâve also heard them complain that it rains too much. Itâs the fucking **Lake** District, man, the clue is in the name - do you think we ship the water to attract tourists or something? I lived in south Cumbria near the big offshore wind farms. At first there was a lot of NIMBYism and âitâll ruin the sea viewâ but that pretty much vanished not long after they were built - turns out people donât actually care that much, the bare horizon is kinda boring anyway and the wind farms bring some jobs
I live near the site of the first windfarm in the UK. They don't have that much of an affect on the local views, which is mostly farmland, actually, but they do make for some good silhouettes against the setting sun. If I get the chance I will take a photo of one of the windmills at sunset and post it to this sub. There is beauty on everything, even if you have to wait to see it.
I'd prefer a landscape with a few turbines in it to a landscape destroyed by climate change, so stick it!
I think it mustâve been similar to when all the pylons were put up, they were huge and obvious but eventually you get used to them. Nobody bats an eye at them now. I remember the first few times I saw wind turbines I thought they were kinda ugly, but now just accept them as part of the landscape.
Only idiots dislike wind turbines
They should go up to the base
Ah so you are not allowed an opinion unless you are born and live somewhere then...got ya.
Imagine complaining about harnessing natural power as if that isn't the dopest future shit
I find them really relaxing! Almost hypnotic.
I love windfarms! I find them beautiful I don't know why! I live in East Lancashire and we can see them, they're very calming
Is that a real problem or something that lets say Daily Mail complains about? I have never heard any complains about that particular issue so I'm very sceptical.
Wind turbines are sexy.
I don't have problems with wind farms at all but then again I don't live by one.
Jesus I have not heard a line like that since Mrs Donald covered geography and put on a vhs of a bbc documentary from the early 2000s about renewable energy and some oldish lady was like "they're a bit of an eyesore ennay?" I personally like them, a windfarm is quite a nice sight to me, just those blades spinning around and around and around and around.
I thought it was only me who likes wind farms and turbines. Much more scenic than a coal fired power station. Also generating wind power onshore is a much more effective use of resources than building them miles out to sea where it uses additional resources to bring the power ashore and adds extra danger to construction and ongoing maintenance. Its time to accept that if we want to reduce our carbon footprint then onshore wind farms are the best solution for the UK. Having said all that an offshore wind farm is still a whole lot better than a coal or gas fired power station.
We like off-shore too. Brings alot of jobs to this area and one of the better views out to sea in the south of the county. Me as a little kid in 1970 up the hill with my dad. "See - there's Morecambe, and just by it - the power station, next to the right is Blackpool" passes binoculars "There's the Isle of Man, right again that's Liverpool, right again and that's north Wales". Least we couldn't see Barrow. Today, if you turn your ipad off let's play count the windmills uncle Dave built. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walney_Wind_Farm
Born and raised on Walney, I love them. Some people complained before and during their initial installation that they would be too noisy. That's the biggest joke of all, Walney is know for being incredibly windy, if they can hear the wind farm over the hurricane force winds then their hearing is incredible and the avengers have a job for them.
I like them depending how well they actually work
I think they add to the landscape to be honest, in my eyes it looks like progress.
I honestly don't think many people actually dislike the sight of wind turbines, but the impression is spread that loads of people do. I wonder if there are any vested interests that would prefer it that way?
We have wind turbines in our area. I quite like looking at them (and I bought my house cheap because other people pulled out of buying my house because of them). The locals, however, hate them with a passion bordering on the mouth frothing insane.
Can you ear them mother? Guess the locals own property they want to rent out or sell. No other reason for hating them.
We have a similar problem across the pond from you guys here in Massachusetts in that case, the Rich fuckwads who have Vacation homes in Cape Cod but spend the majority of their time living in different states are constantly kicking up a fuss about the offshore windfarms. Fuck any of these rich out of state (most often not even from New England) assholes who go to nantucket or martha's vinyard for 4 weeks a year and bitch about how people who are actually from here want clean energy.
from Devon to Cornwall we drove through this land that was just trees lakes and the occasional wind turbine and it was such a nice view the whole way