Sometimes I sense an elemental spirit when I’m out on lonely moorland. An inconsistent wind rocks me and the camera; layers of cloud opening up then slamming shut, creating an ever-changing picture before my eyes. This weather-beaten old barn has stood for centuries but has been long-abandoned by a long-forgotten smallholder. Beneath my feet spongy peat and moss soak up recent rain. If you look closely you’ll see a second framed picture within the photograph, created by the brighter light, left centre, as it meets up with the barn wall and roof. It neatly captures Lancashire’s Pendle Hill here on the very edge of Yorkshire.
I’ve yet to be convinced that wind farms are of much use to the majority of us; rather that they mainly benefit those involved in the manufacture of turbines and landowners looking to make a quick and easy profit. Enormous turbines are springing up all around the Yorkshire Dales National Park with little regard to those like me who treasure the views and care for wildlife and the rural way of life. Although I now live in the Dales my childhood was spent in the West Riding and I still travel regularly to Huddersfield to pay homage to Yorkshire’s greatest football team. One of my favourite places in the town, after the John Smith’s Stadium, is Castle Hill and the Jubilee Tower. The 360 degree view from the top of the tower, even with its industrial aspects, is one to behold. For hundreds of years Castle Hill has provided for ordinary folk an escape from the mills and the daily grind. To me and most residents, the surrounding moorland is just as precious and personal as that of the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors. The Pennines hills around Huddersfield offer beauty, solitude and drama which can’t be assessed in terms of pound coins. The number of wind farms appearing or planned for the region disturbs me greatly and I hope the local authority sees the deeper value in our countryside when considering wind farm applications. Pics: above a view from Jubilee Tower; below, one of a crop of 93m turbines towering above grazing cows near Harrogate.
