"Dad and
Sandy decided suddenly to walk with me.
At first they hadn`t
been sure that they would have the time – they had come home yesterday
to a
mountain of post and emails – but Dad said, yes, lets do it, we`ll come
a little of the way with you
This
was a hasty
photo
(which is why it is blurred) of them outside the Exponential Dilution
Chamber, about to join me on the first part of my walk to Ashwater.
Sunday was an easy day, partly because I wanted to spend time with
John, and also because - if there was time - I hoped to video record
my father giving his opinion about wind farms.
We set off at about
ten, walking up towards Cross
Green, a couple of miles away, with several steep hills included.
Except for a moment catching his breath after the first mile (uphill
quite a bit) Dad was amazing
I
hadn`t walked with him for a while, and might have expected him
to be slowing down as he is nearly 87, but there was no sign of that
this day, in fact we went at a good fast pace all the way.
Last
week he was presented with the Wollaston Medal
by the Geological
Society
He was
very
pleased and proud about that, especially as the
Citation mentioned Gaia. We talked quite a bit about the hype
surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear accident and all the
misinformation put out that exaggerated the number of deaths following
the incident there. Chernobyl is now an important nature reserve -
wildlife thrives there in the absence of humanity.
We are
all of the same opinion as far as wind farms are concerned, and they
were very supportive about the walk. Sandy took some photos of
Dad and I at the Cross Green signpost (which unfortunately didn`t turn
out very well), then they said goodbye and went back down
the hill to carry on with their
work, while I continued towards Ashwater. Once they had gone I realised
that I was actually a little tired (from the day before) but walked on
at a good pace
Every
time
there was
a gap in the hedge, I looked across towards Broadwoodwidger. I
could see Brent Tor, and Dartmoor, as well. There had been 3
turbines
proposed at Broadwoodwidger too at one time – according to some records
I have seen - we are still trying
to find out details about that proposal. One of the things wind
developers are fond of doing is choosing obscure names for their
sites, such as Forrest Moor for Bradworthy, Fullabrook Down for the
area north west of Branstaple, and Higher Darracott for Great
Torrington. Not many people know where Higher Darracott or Fullabrook
are, and because of this they sometimes never even realise that a
wind farm is planned near where they live.
Ashwater
was about three miles further on. It became much warmer, and I had to
take off my Polo shirt (I had a singlet beneath it. ) I`d forgotten
to bring water with me, and felt very thirsty. It was what I call a
“white cloud day” – the light was bright but there were no
shadows.
Ashwater is a proper little village, with a bridge over a small river in the valley, a church, and a village green. I had arranged to meet another person who had been involved in the fight against the local turbines at 12, and the church bells chimed the hour as I reached the top of the hill before the church..
Although
we have communicated a few times by email, I hadn`t met him
before, so it it was good to do so. He took me on a short
tour over to the site of the Swingdon turbine, north west of
Ashwater. It has actually been approved, but not been built. We saw a
water tower on the site that was 20 metres high, and stood out in the
landscape even at that height.
He
said I should have been able to see the Bradworthy turbines as I came
down into Ashwater, but it had been too hazy - the visibility was
poor . I had thought I could see a faraway line of hills to the
north – through the haze - that could be the Fullabrook down area
but perhaps that had been imagination. He gave me a lift back to
my father`s, there being no buses on this route. That seemed
permissable, as it was only a matter of retracing my steps.
Forward to a walk with John
or back