We woke up to these snowy scenes from our kitchen window overlooking Bantry Bay in West Cork. There is a sprinkling of snow on Sugar loaf and Hungry Hill and the rest of the Caha mountain range over on the Beara Peninsula.
I think the overhead power lines and telegraph poles are a blot on the rural landscape. There is supposed to be a big storm tomorrow night. No doubt we will have our usual power cuts due to the wires overhead being blown down. Do you think they should be buried underground?
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| Fido the terrier doesn't worry about the weather outside. She would much rather roll on her back and have her photograph taken. That's our Stanley range in the background. It runs off solid fuel: wood and turf and smokeless fuel and coal. It runs 7 radiators and we cook our meals on it. What I like best is we don't have fuel bills and there is always constant heat because the radiators never go off, unlike oil and gas central heating. If we fill it up with fuel before we go to bed, it's still hot in the morning and the house is warm and it's easy to revive with some dry kindling. |
I think the overhead power lines and telegraph poles are a blot on the rural landscape. There is supposed to be a big storm tomorrow night. No doubt we will have our usual power cuts due to the wires overhead being blown down. Do you think they should be buried underground?
I agree that power cables and the like should be run underground Dave, they would certainly be less open to damage and the countryside would look far better after the initial work was completed.
ReplyDeleteThere was a sprinkle of snow in the village this morning but it came to nothing, although the hill tops around Moel Fammau have a white covering now.
Hi John. I think they overhead cables running along main roads could have lights fitted, say every hundred yards. Here in Ireland the elctricity companies have a right of way to put elctricity power cables over or on landowners property. I would gladly let them sink some of the powerlines over our lines below ground. If they compensated me by reseeding where they dug the trenches to bury them.
DeleteHow are you enjoying village life John? I loved North Wales when I lived in the Chester area for three years.
Mmmm the village life does take a little getting use to for a grumpy so n so like myself though I think I'm mellowing towards it.
DeleteIs there a pub or an allotment society John? Why not start a walking group for grumpies? I'd join if I lived near you.
DeleteLoL ya bugger, it would be more a limping group at present, did I mention my knees?.....there is more than one pub fortunately with a most excellent selection of ales and an accommodating landlord to boot, although it has been some time since I last frequented the inn.
DeleteYes I forgot about your knees, John. I do believe I read about them on your blog. Do the serve real ales John? I real miss real ales! If I was you I would be planning a visit to one of your village hostelries! Somebody might drink them all.
DeleteWe would love to lose the pylons at the top of our field, but it's never gong to happen.
ReplyDeleteI love our Rayburn for the same reasons, although we only keep it in overnight if it's really cold
Pylons are awful aren't they SSS? I suppose it would cost a fortune to break rock and dig holes and reseed land. Like you say it's never going to happen, sadly. The Rayburn and Aga have very good reputations. Our Stanley Mourne only cost Two Thousand Euros brand new. We saw second hand Aga stoves for sale for 3000 Euros. We can get away with just burning wood for nine months of the year - thanks!
DeleteFido is so cute, what a poser :) The snow capped mountains look lovely, we've had a few snow showers today and it's flippin freezing. My hubby has been left a little money by his kind auntie, so we are going to use a bit of it to visit your lovely country again in the Summer , can't wait.
ReplyDeleteTwiggy
Hi Twiggy. Yes Fido is a poser and a real character. She's thirteen now and we are dreading it when she goes to Doggy Heaven.
DeleteYes Ireland is a beautiful country isn't it Twiggy? Are you touring round or staying in one area? Thanks!
Hi Dave, we're thinking County Galway this time, maybe Carna. We've stayed there before and think the beaches are ace. We'll have to borrow Grandad's (hubby's Dad's) Volvo cos we'll be bringing body boards, kayaks and all associated sundries. Don't think our old Fiesta could take it, even with a roof rack :)
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I was at Ballybunion (Kerry) on New Years day and there was some giant white horses (waves) to be seen Twiggy. Doolin and Lahinch are also well worth visits. You could do all three is you go on the car ferry over the Shannon to Tarbert. Hope you have a great time.
DeleteYes Dave, cables should all be below ground.
ReplyDeleteI hate pylons with a passion.
If you have power cuts you can play naughty games.
They are horrible aren't they Irene? They have done research in Sweden on cattle grazing under them. Say the cables and substations give off radiation but the power companies say they don't! Thanks!
DeleteLove the snowy pics. I'm not sure about under ground cables- they would look better and be storm resistant but I'm not convinced about the ecological cost.
ReplyDeleteThanks CT. I don't see the logic in flying cables in exposed coastal areas. I wonder how much it costs to repair the cables and poles after the storms? Cars probably cause more ecological damage than the cost of putting in ground cables, through pollution, but most houses have at least one. Thanks!
DeleteLooking forward to our Rayburn heating our house next winter. No doubt our dogs will happily roast in front of it as well, plus us of course!
ReplyDeleteWe have above ground power cables here, but no big pylons, just poles tilting randomly this a way and that a way!
Yes Vera I look forward to reading your blog posts too. Anybody thinking of fitting a range should look at your latest posts.
DeleteThere are electricity poles and telegraph poles here too. I think it's only the starlings and the crows who like perching on them.
Bit of a hailstone shower here today, but no snow (yet) There was a sprinkling on the fells but didn't last.
ReplyDeleteWould love an Aga or a Rayburn, looked into the possibility of installing one at one time, price was astronomical and I would have needed to replace the wood floor with concrete to take the weight.
Fido looks happy, where's Domino?
Icy cold rain today. Supposed to be a storm tonight. Just hope we still have power and broadband in the morning.
DeleteYou can pick up plenty of second hand Agas and Rayburns. Ours is solidfuel and it's called a Stanley Mourne number 7. We bought it brand new (2003) for 2000 Euros. If you have a concrete floor it should be thick enough. There also lots of wood burning stoves with back boilers on the market. Would you go for solid fuel or oil Cumbrian?
Domino likes to sleep on top of the stereo. I managed to buy a brand new one that plays vinyl records from Oxendales online.
Ideally a wood burner, but got to admit it's almost a full-time job collecting, sawing, splitting all the wood it requires.
DeleteNever been keen on oil-fired appliances, I believe they'rs temperamental beasts.
I have heard stories of people buying putting coal in cheap wood burners and they buckled like a tin can with the heat. You could buy a trailer of split logs. There are plenty of people who sell it. But you also have plenty of free driftwood available to you. Oil is unbelievably cheap at the moment. I know somebody who just filled up their heating oil tank for 650 Euros. I have noticed the price of green tractor diesel is dropping also.
DeleteDropping at the pumps as well, first time I can remember this happening.
DeleteYes I noticed that. I wonder if the price of food or drink will follow suit? I bet they don't!
DeleteWe're told that a lot of the price is made up of delivery costs and the high price of diesel, so in theory if diesel comes down, the shelf price should follow.
DeleteBut I doubt it.
Silage and hay making should be cheaper too. I bet the agricultural contractors don't drop their prices. Cheap beer for everybody too?
DeleteLovely snowy pics Dave. We had a bit of snow this morning but it's all gone now and it's slinging it down. Fido was just born to be photographed. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Deb. Wet and wild down here. Fido is one of the family and she knows it! Thanks!
DeleteYou're lucky Dave to have the original Stanley, the company along with Rayburn was bought out by AGA in 2006, we have a Stanley Donard it's supposed to heat 12 radiators, it struggles to heat 8 and we have never been able to keep it in overnight unlike the Stanley 7 that we had years ago. Aga have modified the original designs of the Stanley stoves and not for the better, presumably they want to sell Aga rather than Stanley.
ReplyDeleteYes I agree, all power cables should be underground, they are unsightly and need maintenance which seems only to be done when a power line comes down, these power lines also get stolen as we found out a couple of years ago when the whole of our area had a blackout. some idiots who were prepared to risk their lives removed, at night to remove live power cables! We were without power for 3.5 days before the lines could be replaced.
I read that Stanley had been taken over Anne. The Donard looks a beauty. They still seem cheaper than Rayburn and Aga's when you convert the Euro to Sterling. Do you use solid fuel like smokeless in your stove other than wood?
ReplyDeleteI think telegraph poles will probably disappear because people don't use or need their land lines any more. We cancelled ours because it was always dead and an unreliable service.
How crazy to remove live power cables! Thanks.
Yes the Donard looks great we have the burgundy coloured one but all sorts of faults with it, handles mainly. This year we are trying to use only wood although we still have a load of turf in the barn it makes so much mess and the ash is no good for anything unlike wood which we use on the garden. I'm sure if we used smokeless coal we would get better performance but we try not to use fossil fules. There was an oil boiler here when we moved in but we had that removed, the old boiler room is now the smoke house.
ReplyDeleteI think you would get more heat if you used smokeless coal for a few months of the year and to heat the 12 radiators. We use turf sometimes but it doesn't give off the same heat needed to heat the radiators.
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