Walk in hills and valleys spoiled by a huge wind turbine

My wife and I spent a very pleasant day last weekend, walking in the beautiful hills and valleys around Oxenhope and the Worth Valley.

Pleasant that is, except for one thing; the constant views of a huge wind turbine that now dominates this beautiful landscape.

This ugly monstrosity, painted bright white to maximise its visibility, totally dominates the surrounding hills and detracts massively from what should be pleasing views of traditional Yorkshire.

Why on earth did planners agree to this awful edifice, visible for miles around? It should really be out at sea, in a wind farm with the hundreds of its fellow turbines, not sat brooding down and dominating this lovely valley.

Why also do these turbines have to be painted the most intrusive colour possible?

Could it not be painted a drab olive green and brown to partly camouflage its ugly appearance?

The many thousands of overseas visitors that come to this part of Brontë Yorkshire annually must be less than impressed by how we are spoiling our unique landscape here for the questionable benefits of a tiny amount of electricity it may produce.

I doubt that we will come walking here again, and that means that the money we would have spent in a local pub having lunch, in a car park, in local shops will be lost to the economy of this area and I am sure we are not the only country walkers saddened by this ugly intrusion.

From: Canon Michael Storey, Healey Wood Road, Brighouse.

A FRIEND and I visited Blacktoft Sands earlier this month, encouraged to do so by an article in Birdwatch.

We did see the very rare marsh sandpiper – and many other birds too.

The other day, we followed the South Stainley Circuit, from last Saturday’s Yorkshire Post. What a lovely walk.

This is just to thank you for the Birdwatch and Weekend Walk articles which appear in the Yorkshire Post’s Saturday supplement Country Week.