Turbine threat to Taw Estuary and Braunton Burrows 

3 x 400ft turbines on the hill above Yelland and Fremington?

Turbine Site
Mo Mugridge, who lives about 6 or 700 metres from this spot,
standing where one of the proposed turbines would be, on the hill above Yelland and Fremington.  Some houses would be even closer -within 3-400 metres of the turbines.  You can see the Taw Estuary behind, and beyond it are the hills on which the Fullabrook Down Wind turbines will be erected.
See Google map of Estuary

Nigel Farage
Nigel Farage (UKIP Leader) with Mo Mugridge at Bickleton
 May 12th

Nick Harvey and Roger Knapman
  North Devon MP Nick Harvey (LibDem)
and Roger Knapman (UKIP MEP) April 17th

  See more photos of the Bickleton site. taken by Christine Lovelock
(yet one more walk to a wind farm site) on March 17, 2009
    link to multimap (aerial) showing turbine site     
      
walking up to site
  To get to Bickleton, I walked over from Bradiford, coming across the new bridge (catching a bus someof the way, from the top of Sticklepath Hill)  This photo was taken as we walked up the footpath from Yelland towards the little hamlet of Bickleton. .
white house, braunton burrows
Mo Mugridge and her dog showed me the way to the proposed site; A little higher up from the village, we stopped to look back down onto the Taw Estuary. You can clearly see the "White House" near Crow Point, with Braunton Burrows behind it.

Mo at the site
We quickly arrived at the field where the turbines would be. Mo is standing on the approximate location of one of the turbines. The ground was wet, and you can see a small pond behind Sabre.

The turbine field
This is another photograph of the turbine field, which was quite damp, making us wonder about possible problems with the concrete bases, and damage to springs, etc.
Ancient track
At the top of the hill, there is a beautiful old lane, which I believe is quite an ancient one. It made me think of Burland Road, on the Fullabrook Downs. These old lanes are part of our heritage and need preserving.  How safe is this one now?
Hamlet of Bickleton
Just over the rise from the lane, we looked down onto the little hamlet of Bickleton. Some of these houses would be very close indeed to the proposed turbines, maybe less than 400 metres away.

Looking towards Saunton
Coming back down again, here is a view across Braunton Burrows to Saunton. You can see the famous Saunton Sands Hotel.
going back
Mo and Sabre again, at a gate on the footpath, with Saunton in the distance again.
Road works
When I left Yelland, I walked for a short time along the main road, past these roadworks, between Yelland and Fremington. There are plans to build 100 new homes on the land to the right of this photo.  Could all these new homes be at risk from turbine noise?
Fremington Church
This is Fremington Church, in the March sunshine. Just past the church there is a footpath down to Fremington Quay, which I took. I found myself wondering how many people in Fremington - even now - realise that their view across the Estuary towards Heanton and Ashford is going to be marred by giant turbines?

Towards Fremington Quay
The footpath winds down between trees, and I took this photograph when I was close to the Quay itself.
Fremington Quay
I took this photograph from Fremington Quay itself. It had been a most beautiful day, and people sat on benches enjoying the warm sunshine. You can see Ashford across the Estuary.

Primroses Tarka trail
The photograph on the left shows some primroses on the Tarka Trial. The one above shows the view towards Barnstaple. You can just see my son David who walked out to meet me. You can also just see Trinity Church tower, which is a great feature of the Barnstaple landscape. Trinity Church Tower is also under threat.



Geese

Another walk:

The photo on the left  is one I took last summer when walking to Crow Point.
During the walk to Crow Point, on the other side of the Estuary, I took this photograph, looking over at the hills above Yelland (where Mo was standing in the photos above)

See more views of the walk to Crow Point and the Fullabrook Hills.
 

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