Jim Perrin, the well known author and rock-climber leads a large group up the slopes of Pumlumon, to protest at the proposals to construct a wind turbine power station on this Mid Wales mountain.
Bathed in glorious sunshine, Writer and rock climber, Jim Perrin, led over 250 people on a short walk into the foothills of Pumlumon, in the heart of the Cambrian Mountains yesterday. The walk, a protest about the possible desecration of this magnificent mountainous upland by a proposed wind power station, concluded on a grassy hillside high above the glistening Nant y Moch Reservoir. With views that stretched across much of upland Wales, it was easy to see what would be lost should this planned industrial development, that will cover the remote hillsides with 64 giant turbines, each 485ft tall, go ahead.
The area is the most tranquil spot in Wales and is classified by the Countryside Council for Wales as a landscape of outstanding quality – the highest designation possible. The Cambrian Mountains Society is therefore campaigning for it to be designated as an AONB, a title it clearly warrants. Any development of this scale would destroy the chances of this happening.
It is also steeped in history: it was here, at Hyddgen, that an outnumbered Owain Glyndwr won the first battle of his great uprising.
The march was attended by people from all across Wales and well as the Midlands, the South West and even greater Manchester, showing what high regard these mountains are held in. They followed behind Perrin as he rode, in true Glyndwr fashion, into the mountains.
His impassioned address would have rallied any army.
"Nowhere better epitomizes resistant Welsh nationhood than the wild landscape of Hyddgen, north of Pumlumon Fawr. It was here that Owain Glyndwr, hugely outnumbered, won the first battle of his great uprising. It is here that we hope to make our stand against the depredations upon Welsh landscape by heedless, ill-considered government. May the spirit of this place impart its strength to us; and may we in our turn, help preserve it undiminished by threatened environmental atrocity".
The BMC's view on developments such as these, is that as an organsiation it has a duty to campaign and represent its members views on developments that have an impact on landscapes & features that members cherish, and which could impact on the freedoms and enjoyment of walkers and climbers. However there are very polarised views on the subject of wind farms, and an interesting debate can be followed (and joined) on the BMC's
Facebook pages.
Postscript
Since the protest the National Grid have just announced that they have plans for a large new electricity substation in Mid Wales. The substation will collect energy from 10 planned wind farms, and a new 400,000 volt (400 kV) cable will take the power from the substation to the national transmission system.
Meanwhile, ScottishPower will start consulting with local communities about plans to build three new feeder power lines and an as yet unknown number of pylons, about 26m (85ft) high, which will connect the wind farms in Mid Wales to the substation.
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