Pylon of the Month

After a pylonless March, April's Pylon of the Month was sent in by a fan of the blog and comes from the grounds of Painshill in Surrey, a place I'd never heard of before, but it looks well worth a visit. The gardens were designed by The Hon. Charles Hamilton after his return from the Grand Tour 'as a living painting..............a work of art [with] dramatic follies, calming waters and stunning views'. It is regarded as one of the foremost and finest examples of the English Landscape Movement, a style of landscape design described, by architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner, as “Britain’s’ greatest contribution to the visual arts”. In the background of the photo is the eye catching Gothic Tower, but pylon fans will of course instead be drawn to the 132 kV tension pylon on the West Weybridge to Leatherhead line. These smaller pylons have might not possess the majesty of the giant 400 kV pylons, but they have a squat charm all of their own and 132 kV was the original voltage of the National Grid when it was rolled out in the 1920s. One of these early 1929 pylon lines in Scotland was in the news this month when, it was pulled down to be replaced by wooden trident pylons which I have to say, I rather like. You can see them as well as a video of the original towers being toppled on the STV website. The trident pylons will, of course, only carry a single circuit, as did the original PL1b pylons they replaced. 

That's all for now. I've already got a shortlist for May, so come back soon to see what turns up next month.

Here in the UK we are reaching the end of a cold spell, so this pylon sent in a few weeks ago immediately sprang to mind as I sat down to write February's post. With spring hopefully just around the corner, it might well be the last winter-themed pylon for some time. This was not a picture taken from the side of the road - it involved a trek and a faint whiff of adventure, so I will quote from the email that sent it my way:

On the morning of Saturday, January 11th, I embarked on a journey across frozen terrain in order to take this picture...........After the long trek across streets and eventually rarely traveled hills, I reached the highest peak along this line. This point is on beside the fence separating the Oak Ridge National Laboratory from the rest of the community, which can be found on Google Maps by fallowing the D O E N Patrol Rd. The pylons shown are part of a 161 kV line running to the National Lab, and more information can be found here.

As soon as I saw the name Oak Ridge and the reference to the National Laboratory, I immediately thought of the Manhattan Project and the role that it played in seperating fissile U-235 from naturally occuring Uranium. The fact that Uranium in its natural state is  99% U-238 makes this technologically difficult and the electromagnetic seperation and gaseous diffusion techniques used at Oak Ridge were critical for the success of the project. Whilst doing a bit of reserach into this, I even discovered a link back to the UK where the prototype gaseous difffusion equipment was manufactured by Metropolitan-Vickers (MetroVick) at Trafford Park, Manchester.

After that little sidetrack, back to the pylon. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) seems to be the main show in town when it comes to pylons and electricity so I'm guessing the ones above belong to them. According to their website, they are the nation's largest public power provider [serving] more than 10 million people with reliable, affordable and resilient energy. They even have a Transmission Line 101 guide so if you have Ever wondered about TVA transmission lines—where they go, how they’re built or planned for? You’ll want to see every installment of our informative new video series. If you live near the lines, you won’t want to miss it!

I certainly didn't want to miss them and the final video about transmission line construction is particularly recommended. Producing something similar in a UK context wouldn't be a bad idea for National grid given the number of new transmission lines planned in the UK over the next decade or so. That's all for February - see you in Spring!

After a pylonless November, December's pylon brings a bit of festive cheer with a dusting of snow. It's located on a 132 kV line near Huddersfied and if you fancy a trip to see it then look on the open infrastructure map for where the 132 kV line splits into a diamond crossing under the 400/275 kV ZP line near Lindley. The picture was sent in by a fan of the website who has featured before and produces a pylon calendar that has made the news on quite a few occasions. You can still buy the 2025 calendar here on Etsy and if you're a two calendar household then his Views of the M60 calendar would be the perfect companion!

I'm going to leave it there - I've still got lots to do before Christmas! Before I go however, if you really want to geek out on pylons go back and look at the fascinating commments on September's L9 pylon, the latest of which arrived a few days ago. Merry Christmas to pylon fans eveywhere!

October's Pylon of the Month is from a fan of the website who encountered it whilst cycling from Zurich to Rapperswil. He notes that it is a tension tower where the line of cables changes direction vertically as it descends to the valley and lake below. A quick look at the open infrastructure map leads me to believe that it's a 132/110 kV line descending to the Rapperswil substation. If you look closely, you can also see that it hosts a 5G cell site. This strikes me as a good way of reusing existing infrastructure and a quick Google search leads to this article:

E.ON to convert electricity pylons across Germany to be used as radio pylons for the 4G/5G mobile network

It doesn't appear to be a thing in the UK, but maybe there are reasons for that? As well as communications infrastructure, the pylon also has a ladder clearly visible which presumably is used for inspection and maintenance purposes - not something I've seen on UK pylons. Perhaps Swiss citizens are more sensible and so less likely to misuse the ladder? Switzerland ranks sixth in the 2024 Global Peace Index (the UK was 34th), which claims to measure 23 indicators of peacefulness for each country, although the likelihood of pylons with ladders being misused isn't one of them. 

Pylons continue to generate lots of headlines in the UK, with most of them bemoaning plans for new pylon lines and failing to understand the financial costs or the limitations imposed by physics of going underground with high voltage lines. This thread on X/Twitter from the fantastic James Watson @EngineerLondon should be compulsory viewing for anyone who wants to partake in a debate about pylons vs underground transmission lines.

September's Pylon of the Month is one that I've wanted to feature for a long time but until now, I've always been driving when passing by. This time, I was more organised when returning home after visiting friends in Bath and grabbed my chance as a passenger. You can find it when heading North on the A46 just before joining the M4 at junction 18. What has always caught my eye is the squat appearance and the unsual v-shaped arrangment of the insulator strings. These pylons are on the 400 kV line labelled "Melksham-?" on the open infrastructure map which heads west into Wales, with a short branch line to Seabank power station in Bristol. I don't know why these pylons are squat - to reduce visual impact? Because Bristol airport is not that far away? Because there are other things often flying around the area of which I'm unaware? And is the unusual insulator string design a consequence of their lower height or because of some other factor - the fact that there are two cable bundles on each side of the pylon on the lower cross arm? I drive past these two or three times a year so it would make me very happy to have a definitive answer! It would also be great to know if they are unique or if other UK pylons have a similar design¹.

With pylons in the news quite a lot at the moment, it was interesting to read an article in the Guardian, Pylons v property: power line in Scotland caused divisions but did house price fears materialise? about the Beauly-Denny pylon line. You can a bit of background to the controversy that surrounded the building of it in the Guardian article and also in the Pylon of the Month from August 2017 which featured one of the pylons. There is (of course) nuance in the conclusions of a new report but the general conclusion was:

An analysis of property sales since the line began operating in 2015 showed property price trends along its route mirrored those of the wider local authorities and appeared to be influenced by wider macroeconomic factors rather than the appearance of new power lines.

So no need to panic about all the new lines planned as part of the National Grade upgrid. I suspect, however, that won't stop the headlines.

1.    Twitter/X provided answers to all these questions in the days after this article was posted. This month's pylon is an L9 model and a total of fifteen exist in the UK. Six near Bath (of which you can see two in the photo above), two in Withington (in the Cotswolds), two near Filton (Bristol) and two near Sunderland. The remaining three are in Scotland. The design is indeed intended to reduce the visual impact where the line crosses (in the case) the escarpment. The v-shaped insulator strings explanation deserves to be quoted in full: As for the V-shaped insulators, they were first developed by Hydro-Québec in 1962-65 for use on their first 735 kV lines, to reduce conductor sway in wind, so I assume were used for similar reasons on the L9 (Cit. 'Charging Ahead: Hydro-Québec and the Future of Electricity')

June's Pylon of the Month comes with a splash of colour. The fan of the website who sent it in said:

It’s not a very impressive pylon, but I thought it looked nice amid the yellow rapeseed.

I beg to disagree with the first part of that sentence! It's a perfectly lovely pylon - small but perfectly formed.  The contrast between the dark blue sky and the rapeseed is rather beautiful and reminds me of the colours of the Ukrainian flag. The pylon is located to the East of the village of Thoroton in Nottinghamshire and a quick look at the open infrastructure map tells me that it is probably a 132 kV line that runs North from Corby power station to Staythorpe power station. There is a 33 kV line nearby but those lower voltages are usually carried on wooden poles. Maybe not in this case, I've certainly seen 32 kV lines on pylons on X/Twitter/X, so clarification is welcome! 

The Countryside website is keen to encourage more of us to Buy British when it comes to rapeseed oil and provides lots of good reasons to do so. Here are three of them:

• Rapeseed provides a key and early food source for bees and pollinators.
• Rapeseed oil is a high-quality oil with a shelf life of approximately 12 - 18 months.
• Cold-pressed rapeseed oil contains around one third of the saturated fats of olive oil and is naturally rich in omega oils, vitamin E and antioxidants.

Thoroton also looks rather lovely if you find yourself in the area. It has a Grade 1 listed church and is on the banks of the River Smite and from there, it's only a shortish walk or a 5-minute drive to Orston and the Durham Ox Inn. 

That's all for now. If you want more pylons in your life before July's pylon makes an appearance, head to @pylonofthemonth on X/Twitter where you can keep up with the latest news and views on electrical infrastructure!

April's Pylon of the Month is one of those in the picture above. It's not like the old newspaper Spot the Ball game where I've chosen one secretly and you've got to guess which one it is and win a prize¹. Rather, you can choose your own favourite using whatever metrics you want. I'm going for the one on the right of the two reflected in the puddle. If you've found this page via X/Twitter, feel free to let me know if you chose a different one! 

The picture was sent to me by a colleague and fellow physics teacher and is located north of Kennington near Oxford. Eagle-eyed pylon fans will already have spotted the fact there are two different transmission lines in the photo. One at 400 kV and the other in the foreground with the less substantial pylons, at a mere 132 kV. The lower rated line heads to the West Oxford substation near Osney whilst the 400 kV Cowley-Seven Springs marches west to Gloucester and beyond. The picture also caught my eye as I sat writing this post with the rain coming down outside, because of the standing water. It's been a very wet year so far, but in this field, there were stripes of flooding that caught the eye of my colleague. A bit of research led to the conclusion that is an archeological remnant of a ridge and furrow ploughing:

Ridge and furrow is an archaeological pattern of ridges (Medieval Latin: sliones) and troughs created by a system of ploughing used in Europe during the Middle Ages, typical of the open-field system.

The stripes caused by the ridges and furrows can clearly be seen on the LIDAR image of the area below courtesy of https://www.lidarfinder.com/.

That's all for this month. See you in May when the weather will hopefully have improved!

1. According to this Guardian article from 2014, a jackpot hadn't been paid out for over 10 years in the Spot the Ball competition because so few people were entering the competition. As far as I'm aware, it isn't in any newspaper nowadays but there are, inevitably, online versions. This is one of them. https://playstb.com/

Sometimes in February, I just want a reminder of sunnier times to come, but this month's pylon sees me hunkering down with a seasonally appropriate pylon sent in by a fan of the website. He is such a fan that a 2024 calendar he produced to celebrate Yorkshire pylons made the news! Anyway, back to February and Blackstone Edge on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border where this picture was taken.  The pylon in the foreground is a tension pylon, specifically a D90, so called because the transmission lines are Deviating by 90 degrees. There was lots of detail about the difference between tension and suspension pylons back in February 2017 and it is worth visiting to see one of the most spectacular photographs to feature on the blog. The email that accompanied this month's pylon pointed out a detail that would have escaped the notice of all but the most eagle-eyed:

....the line coming from the left (from Padiham substation) is dual bundles, but about half-way along one jumper on each arm, another jumper has been added, the 3 then going to 3 glass insulators on the other side of the tower, meaning triple bundles going off into the distance towards Halifax.

I don't understand what is going on with this dual to triple bundle change but as always, I'd be delighted to find out more!¹ Sometimes my requests for further information do bear fruit. Back in September 2022, I wrote:

This type of pylon is (according to the French pylon Wikipedia page) a cat pylon (Le pylône Chat) and you can see why with the triangular features on top looking like ears. Whether that is a name recognised across international borders I have no idea - well travelled pylon experts please do get in touch and let me know.

A well travelled pylon expert did get in touch to point out that page 187 of a World Bank Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Study on the proposed 225 kV Bolgatanga-Ouagadougou Interconnection Project (Ghana side) contained a reference to a cat's head configuration tower.

Just one more thing I sign off. Any new pylon spotters who need help identifying the different pylon types should take a look at this excellent Spotters’ Guide to Pylons. It was published by the Pylon Appreciation Society, and although the website still exists, the society is sadly no longer active because the founder, Flash Bristow, died in 2020. See you in March!

1. Pylon enthusiasts did get in touch via Twitter: "I think the change is due to wind loading. The twin bundles are offset from each other with no spacers either. They start here where the line turns north, and has full exposure of the east-west wind over the Pennines." You can read all about it on Twitter.