| My first visit of May was on the 3rd, when I could see that the first three sections of Turbine 13 had been completed. I thought that this would mean that I would finally get a chance to photograph one of the nacelles being fitted, and I made plans to visit again on the next working day. Because of the Bank Holiday this was on the 6th of May, and with an early start, I was soon over at the site and all set up ready to get my shot. Yet again it wasn't to be, and in spite of it being a lovely sunny day, the strong east wind prevented any lifting from being done, and yet again my efforts to get this shot was thwarted.
With all the work now taking place at the western side of the site near to Edenfield this means a very long walk from here, and I wasn't able to get over again until Saturday the 10th. On Saturdays I often visit Irwell Vale and Ewood Bridge on the East Lancashire Railway, and since they are only a couple of miles from where the site is, it allowed me to kill two birds with one stone and visit both of them. This time I could see that work was now completed on Turbine 13, and construction had moved on to the site of Turbine 24. I was hoping that I might get another chance with this one weather permitting, and hopefully would finally succeed before I managed to burn out yet another pair of walking boots! 
Well I was wrong, yet again the wind ruined my plans, and on a visit on May 12th I saw the work on Turbine 24 held up by the strong east wind. This wasn't helped by a problem with the large crane, which kept it out of action for most of the morning, with the winds worsening as the day progressed. The trip wasn't a total loss though, and I got some nice shots of the crane being repaired. An added bonus was seeing an erection team arrive with the two weather masts for the site, and I was able to get some shots of these being unloaded. The one near the top of the site was left on the ground in sections, but the one at the lower end was put together, but remained in one piece on the ground when the team finished for the day. Another mobile crane was brought into unload and erect the sections of the lattice tower, and this belonged to a company called John Sutch Cranes. The tower sections arrived in a juggernaut with DSV on the side, the original trailer showing a German registration number. Another visit on the 16th of May saw the winds finally drop, and the weather mast at the bottom of the site erected, and also the blades fitted to Turbine 24. Unfortunately I missed some of the lifting of the weather mast, as the crane was initially parked up at the site of the upper mast, and when it suddenly departed for the one at the bottom of the site I found myself facing a two mile walk to get there. The mast was already in the vertical position by the time I arrived on scene, but I will hopefully do better when the upper one is raised. The next visit was on the 19th of May when at long last I was finally able to get some shots of a Nacelle being lifted and fitted. These shots are numbered in the range Scout732 to Scout 813. The east winds continue to cause problems, but in spite of being breezy that day, the winds were just low enough for the cranes to still operate safely. 22nd of May saw yet another visit, and this time it was to see the remaining weather mast erected. This time two cranes arrived on site, and duly unloaded a replacement section for the mast at the southern end of the site to replace one that had been damaged during the lifting. In spite of the bright sunny day, the strong east wind just continued to blow hard all day, and no lifting was possible unfortunately. This was doubly annoying after yet another five mile hike, and as yet I have no idea when another attempt will be made. Image numbers scout814 to scout855 show the cranes and vehicles used during the abortive attempt. Along came the late May Bank Holiday, and thanks to an illegal rave held at the nearby disused Ding Quarry, some of the morons attending decided it would be a good idea to break into Turbine 19 and use it as a toilet. This resulted in a police raid and a lot of publicity in the local newspaper and TV news, and the following week security grills were noted being fitted to all of the doors (scout869/870.jpg). After several days of poor weather and high winds the engineers returned again to finish the weather masts on the 30th of May, and after another early start and long trek, work began on fitting the mast at Higher Hill (scout887-scout895.jpg). After this was completed (and the lift went very smoothly this time with the two cranes on site), the original mast down at the Knowl Moor end of the site was lowered so that the damaged section could be replaced. The work went well, and in spite of the grey, wet and miserable conditions I was able to get some interesting shots of proceedings (about 250 in all, but don't worry I've only posted a few of them here! scout871-scout886.jpg). |
The finished mast. 1250x897 scout895.jpg |
The base section. 1250x834 scout886.jpg |
Solar panel for power 1250x1044 scout894.jpg |
Completed base with 'Wally Screen' erected around it. 1250x841 scout893.jpg |
The big crane departs 1250x834 scout883.jpg |
The small crane departs 1250x845 scout882.jpg |
The 'Wally Screen' is replaced. 1250x907 scout881.jpg |
Back down again 1250x1240 scout880.jpg |
A little work on the anenometers 1250x957 scout879.jpg |
The engineer scales the mast 1250x1209 scout878.jpg |
1250x834 scout885.jpg |
1250x834 scout884.jpg |
The mast is lowered onto its base. 1250x904 scout877.jpg |
The mast is lifted again 950x1262 scout876.jpg |
The new section is fitted. 1250x909 scout875.jpg |
The damaged section is lifted out. 1250x861 scout874.jpg |
The damaged section is removed 1250x831 scout873.jpg |
The mast is lowered 1250x874 scout872.jpg |
Weather Mast on Knowl Moor 1250x862 scout871.jpg |
The sling is removed by the engineer. 1250x916 scout892.jpg |
Nearly done! 1250x907 scout891.jpg |
Almost vertical 1250x1352 scout889.jpg |
Onto the mountings 1250x949 scout890.jpg |
The new mast is raised 950x1098 scout888.jpg |
Weather mast at Higher Hill 1250x855 scout887.jpg |
Shortly afterwards reinforced grills were fitted over the doors, plus lots of warning stickers. 1250x834 scout870.jpg |
THis turbine was vandalised during the May Bank Holiday by some morons from an illegal rave held in the nearby Ding Quarry. 1250x924 scout869.jpg |
The nuts and bolts are unloaded 1250x866 scout868.jpg |
The transformer is lowered onto the base 1250x842 scout867.jpg |
Work starts on Turbine 26 1250x834 scout866.jpg |
1250x834 scout865.jpg |
Colletts Transporter 1250x834 scout864.jpg |
Colletts Transporter brings in the parts for Turbine 26 1250x883 scout863.jpg |
Knowl Moor weather mast 1250x1925 scout862.jpg |
The new section awaits fitting 1250x854 scout861.jpg |
The damaged section can be seen at the top of the mast 1250x1068 scout860.jpg |
Weather mast on Knowl Moor 1250x881 scout859.jpg |
The Nordex compound 1250x834 scout853.jpg |
1250x834 scout855.jpg |
1250x873 scout852.jpg |
1250x857 scout851.jpg |
New tower section arrives 1250x942 scout850.jpg |
1250x899 scout849.jpg |
1250x915 scout848.jpg |
1250x921 scout847.jpg |
1250x872 scout846.jpg |
1250x834 scout845.jpg |
1250x869 scout844.jpg |
1250x913 scout843.jpg |
1250x885 scout842.jpg |
1250x855 scout841.jpg |
1250x876 scout840.jpg |
950x1171 scout839.jpg |
1250x924 scout838.jpg |
1250x884 scout835.jpg |
1250x929 scout837.jpg |
1250x859 scout836.jpg |
950x1239 scout854.jpg |
950x1263 scout834.jpg |
1250x910 scout833.jpg |
1250x889 scout832.jpg |
1250x913 scout831.jpg |
1250x882 scout830.jpg |
1250x913 scout829.jpg |
1250x906 scout828.jpg |
1250x929 scout827.jpg |
1250x907 scout826.jpg |
1250x899 scout825.jpg |
1250x910 scout824.jpg |
1250x956 scout823.jpg |
1250x975 scout822.jpg |
1250x932 scout821.jpg |
1250x858 scout820.jpg |
1250x893 scout819.jpg |
1250x888 scout818.jpg |
The new section of weather masr arrives 1250x871 scout817.jpg |
1250x872 scout816.jpg |
The cranes arrive to make another attempt at raising the weather mast 1250x834 scout815.jpg |
1250x862 scout814.jpg |
1250x834 scout732.jpg |
1250x914 scout813.jpg |
1250x834 scout812.jpg |
1250x834 scout811.jpg |
1250x859 scout810.jpg |
1250x903 scout809.jpg |
The first blade is lifted on Turbine 22 1250x1664 scout808.jpg |
1250x894 scout807.jpg |
1250x855 scout806.jpg |
1250x834 scout805.jpg |
1250x894 scout804.jpg |
1250x860 scout803.jpg |
1250x844 scout802.jpg |
The blades arrive 1250x912 scout801.jpg |
1250x852 scout800.jpg |
1250x836 scout799.jpg |
1250x908 scout798.jpg |
1250x1084 scout797.jpg |
1250x1122 scout796.jpg |
1250x846 scout795.jpg |
1250x867 scout794.jpg |
1250x869 scout793.jpg |
1250x911 scout792.jpg |
1250x894 scout791.jpg |
The hub is lifted 1250x952 scout790.jpg |
1250x911 scout789.jpg |
1250x897 scout788.jpg |
1250x850 scout787.jpg |
1250x1019 scout786.jpg |
1250x969 scout785.jpg |
1250x915 scout784.jpg |
1250x901 scout783.jpg |
1250x855 scout782.jpg |
1250x891 scout781.jpg |
1250x958 scout780.jpg |
1250x895 scout779.jpg |
The generator is unloaded 1250x927 scout778.jpg |
1250x916 scout777.jpg |
1250x895 scout776.jpg |
1250x925 scout775.jpg |
950x1316 scout774.jpg |
