Not SV's but an awesome day out!!! NOT 56K!

[Cloggsy]

The missus & me when for a little drive to Norfolk today (31st Aug 2005) :love: We ended up in the sleepy market town of Swaffham...

We ended up visiting the EcoTech Centre (http://www.ecotech.org.uk/) just on the outskirts of Swaffham. I have to say I was very reluctant to go, the missus loves Wind Farms etc. But I was VERY impressed, it was well worth the trip :!:

We paid our £5 each to visit the observation tower at the top of one of its two wind turbines (otherwise its free) - VERY tall, but the size of the things are truly massive... Can't see why anyone would complain about them though :!:

Pictures

http://www.hvweb.co.uk/cloggsy/ecotech1.jpg
The wind turbine with the observation platform

http://www.hvweb.co.uk/cloggsy/ecotech2.jpg
Closer view of the observation platform - On windy days this thing moves upto 3 feet from side to side :sick:

http://www.hvweb.co.uk/cloggsy/ecotech3.jpg
Turbine data recorder

http://www.hvweb.co.uk/cloggsy/ecotech4.jpg
17.1 RPM equates to the rotors doing 140mph at the tip :shock:

http://www.hvweb.co.uk/cloggsy/ecotech5.jpg
View from the top (with gigantic rotor in view)

http://www.hvweb.co.uk/cloggsy/ecotech6.jpg
View of the A47 disappearing towards Kings Lynn (Y'Allright boy :?:)

http://www.hvweb.co.uk/cloggsy/ecotech7.jpg
View from observation tower onto the on-site veg garden (notice the Poly-Tunnel greenhouses, these stand 8" tall & 10" side to side :!: Like I said, VERY tall :shock:

http://www.hvweb.co.uk/cloggsy/ecotech8.jpg
View from bottom looking up :shock:

http://www.hvweb.co.uk/cloggsy/ecotech9.jpg
My missus stood at the doorway to the turbine (she is there, honest ;)) - even caught a butterfly in flight too :D

If you're ever down that way, give it a visit... Well worth it :wink:

[MitchC]

Hey Cloggsy,

Cool pics mate! 30 minutes from here there are about... 20 of those. They look alittle taller mind you. Though, you cannot go inside it like that, that is cool! :thumbsup: Looked like a fun day!

Mitch

[Scoobs]

That butterfly is HUGE! :lol:

[454697819]

been there.... tis quite good i have to say.... it is a smaller one than the ones for the national grid.... however it does supply the NG with sum power.....

did hear on the news tothere month it was at risk from closure.....??

[Daimo]

NOt bad, always been impressed by wind turbines, but the amount of £ it takes to build them stops more of them going up. Palm Spings in the USA was FULL of them. The whole city runs off the power produced (and by water dams etc).

There was a load driving into San Francisco as well going up the freeway. Loads had fallen over, blades missing etc. Like a junkyard, but lots of them were still working. Madness....

http://images14.fotki.com/v194/photos/4/48802/2473694/DSC01126-vi.jpg

http://images12.fotki.com/v202/photos/4/48802/2473694/DSC01127-vi.jpg

There were thousands more though that I never took pictures of though...

http://images12.fotki.com/v202/photos/4/48802/2473694/DSC01131-vi.jpg

[jonboy]

Looks interesting, excellent excuse for a longish ride-out. Great pictures too.


.

[Cloggsy]

did hear on the news tothere month it was at risk from closure.....??

Don't think so... They're building another 12 of them in a field adjacent to their current site :!:

They cost £1.25 million each to build & they make the money back within 7 years. The two turbines on site produce enough electricity to power 3000 homes - they reckon 'green' energy will be sustantially cheaper than conventional power within 10 years too :!:

Have you seen what British Gas (http://www.britishgasnews.co.uk/index.asp?PageID=16&Year=2005&NewsID=670) are going to be selling in the near future :?: I'll certainly invest :!:

[Ed]

Cloggsy - this one looks very elegant I think. I have no problem with wind farms, the environmental lobby have got to recognise that we can't go on burning fossil fuels for ever, they oppose nuclear, and then complain that turbines are a blot on the landscape :roll: The American one above is a bit big TBH but I don't see an alternative.

[Skip]

Hehehe, the road that runs past the car park to the EcoTech Centre in Swaffham is where I did most of my CBT earlier this year! Nice background! :D

[Cloggsy]

Hehehe, the road that runs past the car park to the EcoTech Centre in Swaffham is where I did most of my CBT earlier this year! Nice background! :D

Marham was my first posting in the RAF way back in 1990...

Is the 'Greyhound' pub still there, in the market place :?:

[Skip]

Is the 'Greyhound' pub still there, in the market place :?:
It is indeed... still just as shady too... :lol:

[Cloggsy]

Is the 'Greyhound' pub still there, in the market place :?:
It is indeed... still just as shady too... :lol:

I though people were takin' the p155 when they said it had sawdust on the floors :shock: Proper 'spit & sawdust' pub... Easier to clean up the blood I suppose :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Cloggsy]

:-dd