We haven’t had a Quote of the Week for ages, but something in the Yorkshire Times prompted us to start it again.
It’s from an article that poses the question “Are there too many wind farms in East Yorkshire?”. If you’re worried about global warming, you’d probably say no. If you’re a windfarm developer you’d probably say no. If you’re a farmer wanting to make oodles you’d probably say no. And if you are a local who wants cheap local electricity and increased employment opportunities you’d probably say no.
But what if, actually, you think some (though not all) heritage sites and their settings need preserving or treating with respect so that some (but not all) can be passed to the future unscathed, what then? What if you think the pendulum has swung a bit too far in favour of people who want to make gazillions and against those who want to preserve some (but not all) such heritage assets? What if you feel that since East Yorkshire has the highest density of wind turbines in England (226 turbines over 50 metres high have been built, approved or are pending a decision), enough is now enough?
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Dr Peter Halkon, an archaeologist and a lecturer at the University of Hull, has spoken for them:
“The landscape of East Yorkshire is varied and subtle. It possesses a beauty of its own. There are very few parts of our region which have not been shaped by human activity since the first farmers some 6,000 years ago. Most of these changes however were in keeping with a landscape created by centuries of settlement and agriculture. Despite intensive use many monuments still survive making this one of the most important archaeological regions in the UK, a heritage which includes the Rudston monolith, Britain’s tallest standing stone, great prehistoric burial grounds and the network of massive linear earthworks.”
He said one of the most important archaeological landscapes in the region is between Market Weighton and Sancton, containing long barrows built five and a half thousand years ago and now home to one of the area’s largest windfarms.
“The views down valleys like this are very important. Now all one sees looking down them towards the Humber are the massive blades of wind turbines. No amount of predevelopment archaeological prospection or excavation can make up for the loss of the visual and symbolic connection between the wider landscape and these significant monuments to past human activities.”
He said he has no objection to small scale, carefully sited single turbines on farms, but said any more large developments “will wreck this beautiful historic landscape”.
The Heritage Journal 
5 comments
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30/07/2014 at 11:43
Andy Baines
Having lived in East Yorkshire all my life I can confirm we have way to many wind farms. It seems a new one springs up every week and there are supposedly a lot more to come. Also there seems to be an increase in the amount of solar farms dotted around the landscape.
30/07/2014 at 23:01
debby
Solar farms, wind farms, tracking – all symptomatic of mankind’s depletion of natural resources and the start of a path of cannibalisation of things we value less than our desire to thrive and expand as a species. Mankind is on a path of self destruction and greedy farmers are at the forefront of this carnival of greed to profit from this self destructive behavior for they are the ones with the power to say NO……until cash is waved in front of them.
31/07/2014 at 16:16
Womble
@ debby
Have to agree. Show a farmer a five pound note and he will sell his grandmother to you if he can. Farmers are now asset rich custodians of the countryside and are selling off their assets as fast as they can, Oswestry being a prime example.
31/07/2014 at 21:36
rambler
We have to deal with farmers not cutting footpaths through crops and unmanaged paths that are overgrown and stiles that are impassable. Here on the cotswold edge my group know of one farmer who leveled what was known to be a burial mound but for some reason remained unscheduled despite a local archaeology group dig in the early 90’s that showed signs of neolithic activty. Farmers are a law unto themselves and the proliferation of huge turbines and phone masts on the landscape shows they don’t give a hoot about the countryside or history. DEFRA need to get involved and say enough is enough. Rambler
01/08/2014 at 12:45
Halcyon Days
Oswestry makes my blood boil.How can a landowner be so greedy? Farmers are sitting on potential goldmines and are selling up as fast as they can whilst they can with little care for what is in, on or around their land. Look how many let treasure seekers plunder history willy nilly. How many are turning farms into housing estates, golf courses or anything else that makes them more money than farming does. How many are destroying the landscape for profit. They don’t care for much other than themselves and the short term.