Wind Turbines, Weston Longville

If you squint you may be able to make out the turbines on the horizon

 

If you asked someone to name five things that they associate with Norfolk, there is a good chance that windmills would come high on the list. For most, windmills are icons of a lost but yearned for rustic way of life. For me and doubtless many others of my age, they trigger traumatic childhood memories of Windy Miller of Camberwick Green running the gauntlet every time he wanted to get through his front door. It is the toddler equivalent of Indiana Jones grabbing his hat microseconds before he would be horribly crushed by the stone trap door in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

Windy had the misfortune of working in a windmill whose sails swung sickeningly fast immediately past his front door forcing him to play a type of Russian Roulette every time he needed to come or  go. Camberwick Green ramped up the peril further by making Windy a slow moving fellow with a cider habit.

 

To be fair, the 6 year old me might have taken a few swigs for Dutch courage each time Windy had to make a dash for it if Mum had given me the choice of scrumpy in my sippy cup. Fortunately Windy had a surprising turn of pace and unerring judgement even in his addled state of mind.

Many of the 'windmills' that can be seen around the county are actually wind pumps that were used to prevent flooding. As the old windmills/windpumps fall into disrepair or get converted into Grand Designs houses, it seems fitting that wind turbines have been popping up to take their place. The landscape from here to the far reaches of Russia is extremely flat which means that there is nothing to stop easterly winds as they blow over from Siberia. The high winds that we have as a consequence are frustrating in barbecue season but of course it is perfect for generating wind power.

At 80m the turbines at Weston Longville stand distinct against the surrounding farmland and low trees. A couple of occasions this year they have been very welcome landmarks as I try to navigate some unfamiliar back roads. When I tried to get a bit closer to take some photos though I found it more difficult than I imagined. A quick look at The Wind Power shows that the turbines are actually on RAF land so perhaps I should be relieved that I couldn't get any closer and risk being spotted and have to protest against charges of espionage.

 

The Wind Power also lists an estimated 24 hour electricity production on the day of writing of 27,580 kWh for the Weston Longville turbines. According to power supplier Ovo an average UK home uses around 4,000 kWh/year which works out at 11 kWh/day. That means just those two turbines can supply the electricity for over 2,500 homes today which seems pretty good to me. I was also surprised to see that the turbine developers are Bernard Matthews Green Energy Ltd.

The soundtrack for this blog entry is Like a Hurricane by Neil Young.