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.