On 15th September, the Society took a wander around Esgair Galed led by John Bimson.
One purpose of this walk was to introduce members unfamiliar with the north-west corner of the Cambrian Mountains to the site of Bute Energy’s proposed ‘Esgair Galed Energy Park’. If this development goes ahead as shown in Bute’s glossy brochure, it will consist of 26 turbines, each 220 metres in height to the blade tip – bigger than any yet deployed onshore in England or Wales.
Two days before the walk the weather forecast had predicted another dry, sunny day with a mild breeze – the third such day in a row. But on Saturday the forecast began to change and by the evening a very different day was on the cards. However, the bleak outlook did not deter twelve hardy souls from turning up on Sunday morning, some having travelled a great distance. The dismal forecast turned out to be accurate and rain started to fall steadily soon after we left our cars and headed uphill towards Glyndwr’s Way.
I had given out copies of Bute’s own map of the proposed wind farm, and we joined Glyndwr’s Way looking south across the eastern end of the designated area. The map shows turbines spreading westwards from here for two miles on both sides of the Afon Clywedog. Looking towards the north-east we had a good view of Carno wind farm, some 3 miles away. Carno’s 12 latest and largest turbines (‘Carno 2’) look huge even at that distance, but they stand a mere 79 metres high, giving a startling hint at the scale of the giants Bute wants to introduce.
We headed east into a cold wind and increasingly heavy rain. With the spectacular valley of Afon Clywedog to our left we passed the southern end of the ridge called Esgair Lwyd. This reaches 520 metres in places and is the intended platform for the three highest of the turbines. We crossed Nant Goch by a wooden footbridge, just before it meets Nant Ddu and the two streams become the Afon Clywedog. From the bridge the trail climbs steeply onto spreading moorland. The heather still retained some of its colour but curtains of rain blotted out one of the best views of the walk; from this stretch on a clear day it’s possible to see Yr Wyddfa, which stands 40 miles distant.
On the next descent Glaslyn came into view and we looked for somewhere out of the wind to eat our packed lunches. Unfortunately there was no shelter anywhere and we huddled on the pebble beach at the eastern end of the lake to eat increasingly soggy sandwiches. The lake and surrounding moors comprise an important nature reserve belonging to the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust. The fact that the proposed wind farm would share its boundary for some distance with the boundaries of the nature reserve and the Pumlumon SSSI is one reason for the strong opposition to it.
The rain showed no sign of easing so we decided to shorten our return journey by taking the track to the mountain road and following that to where we’d left our cars. At least the wind was on our backs for the final stretch. ‘So where exactly is Esgair Galed?’ I was asked. It was an easy question to answer as we were passing through it at the time – a tract of land cut by the mountain road, about a third of a mile outside the proposed wind farm’s boundary. I suppose a relatively obscure name is handy if you don’t want to give away too much of your development’s extent and location!
In spite of the appalling conditions good spirits were maintained throughout (I think!). Several members said they had glimpsed something of the area’s beauty and hoped to return on a better day. Ironically, glorious weather resumed the following morning.
For information on the Protect Glaslyn & Hafren campaign, please visit Stop Bute Energy