if you think windmills are ugly what do you think of pylons?

[12yearsinazkaban]

Or solar panels?

We have ugly looking lampposts on every street. not as big but just as ugly. Big massive triangular towers that buzz in the rain? they are everywhere. some in people's back bloody gardens, not to mention the big boxed off electric areas that have the electric will kill you warning sign.
Cities are full of them, every other road has one so why no wind Mills?

Don’t mind pylons - they often have plenty of wildlife round the base. I find wind turbines rather beautiful to look at, but then again don’t live near one.

I don't mind windmills (my brother's farm has a couple) but they do make a noise and there are stories about them killing birds, although I don't know how significant that is.

Ha ha I thought you meant windmills as in the type that were used to grind flour , and always seem to be associated with Holland. And puzzled as to why anybody would object to them

The more modern type, turbines . As far as I am aware are generally in clumps ( what on earth do you call a gathering of wind turbines clumps is not right) so cause a blot on the landscape.
I belive they are quite noisy too.

It's the shock of the new, isn't it?
I'm sure that if I had been around a century ago I would have been moaning about those new-fangled pylons. I didn't like turbines at first but am getting used to them. However, that's easy to say because I don't have any spoiling the view from my house.

@NewYearCalavicci

Ha ha I thought you meant windmills as in the type that were used to grind flour , and always seem to be associated with Holland. And puzzled as to why anybody would object to them

The more modern type, turbines . As far as I am aware are generally in clumps ( what on earth do you call a gathering of wind turbines clumps is not right) so cause a blot on the landscape.
I belive they are quite noisy too.

They are noisy. There's some near us and when it's windy they're really loud.

My town has about 8 or 9 wind turbines. They are out to the west side of the town in fields by the A1. I'm rather fond of them, when i see them on the way back from time away i think 'hurrah we are nearly home' my kids love seeing them. They are massive! I think you'd have to be fairly close to them to be bothered by noise.

You mean wind farm turbines?

I quite like them. I live in Scotland, we have a lot of onshore wind farms here. I find them rather beautiful, and somewhat ethereal. I like that they're generating clean(er) power from the wind.

Things change. Street architecture changes. Countryside views change.

I live on a road with houses and flats that all date back to the early 1820s. The residents' association is currently blocking the installation of EV charging points. Their argument is that it would be out of character for the street. And yet we already have halogen (and a few LED) street lights, dog poo bins, double yellow lines and numerous BMW X5s and Volvo estate cars, none of which would have been around in 1820 either and all seem to fit into the street architecture without stoking the ire of the RA.

I think wind farm turbines are a bit like that. You get used to them quite quickly once they're there, like big cars or streetlights on an Edwardian street.

The pylons they are putting up in Somerset are so ugly. I'd choose windmills, solar panels or a tidal barrage any day.

They're less of a blot of the landscape than power stations!

They always make me think of the day of the triffids

@Theimpossiblegirl

The pylons they are putting up in Somerset are so ugly. I'd choose windmills, solar panels or a tidal barrage any day.

Oh aren't they just!

I was looking down from the top of Crooks Peak yesterday and they are so obtrusive. Old fashioned pylons would probably have blended better.

This exact view!

I like wind turbines. They have loads in France and they always look quite majestic. Certainly less unsightly than pylons and wires. I don't live near any though so couldn't say about the noise.

I can see a wind turbine out of my window, probably several if I went round all the windows in the house, and they only enhance the view, IMO. There is a lovely walk around a wind farm nearby that I really enjoy.

I was on holiday last week in lovely scottish countryside, and I have to admit, I did think "urgh, what a blight" at all the pylons crossing the valleys. But they are necessary, I accept.

Wind turbines are awful, birds and bats literally get knocked out of the sky by them and they are so ugly. Those huge pylons are equally a blot on the landscape. The turbines also use sulphur hexafluoride a gas that's 23,500 times more warming than CO2 and it warms the earth for at least 1000 years. It's also synthetic and isn't destroyed or absorbed naturally. But these things are never really about the environment at the end of the day, they're about appearing to be doing something and making profit.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49567197#:~:text=It%20prevents%20electrical%20accidents%20and%20fires.&text=However%2C%20the%20significant%20downside%20to,than%20carbon%20dioxide%20(CO2).

I love windmills and wind terbines.
I sing Windy Miller and the dc either join in or groan.

I don't mind pylons but they do remind me of the ad from the 80s where they walked.

Yep I prefer to see windmills

I was actually having this conversation recently with someone who was complaining loads about the energy crisis and they were ranting about how more needs to be done to secure long term energy security in the country but they didn’t want wind turbines because they are ugly.

I actually think wind turbines are beautiful in a way, well designed and engineered. I really don’t get the “ugly” comments at all when the direct comparisons are things like fumes from fossil fuels.

Why do they paint them white rather than a more subdued colour that would blend into the background?

I think they’re all ugly (we might be used to pylons, but imagine how much any scenery would be improved if they could be removed), but we need them so it becomes a question of lessening their impact to the extent feasible. Visual pollution is a thing and it’s not fair to write people off as nimbies when they aren’t keen on having massive phone masts or turbines very close to their houses.

Wind turbines are the least ugly as in and of themselves they have nice sleek lines - I’d be much more concerned about noise than visual impact if I found they were going up near me.

Most wind mills are not appropriate in built up areas, due to the noise and flicker affect.
But I think they are quite beautiful, in their way! There are some big wind farms near me. They look especially beautiful when there is a low mist/inversion... the tops look like they are floating in the air.
If badly sited they can cause a disproportionate hazard to birds. But generally the number of birds killed is low (less than previously predicted) because birds are quite good at avoiding moving, noisy things. Glass windows in buildings are probably more of a hazard.
Some people think they spoil the view.
But if we want the convenience of electricity, we have to accept that there will be a visual reminder of this somewhere.

Who thinks windmills are ugly? I know a lot of them have fallen into disrepair now but even a half fallen down one is usually a lovely sight.

Windfarms and pylons industrialise countryside and clutter them up. I drove through a part of the Highlands where pylons had cut through a glen and frankly it was a scar.

A necessary evil, perhaps. That doesn't mean we can't point out that they are ugly.

I do not mind the look of wind turbines and would welcome them near me. Under some schemes those local to a development get an electricity discount.

Windmills (and watermills) are a part of our industrial heritage and I like to see them preserved and doing the job they were built for. Same for steam engines and sailing ships. Wind turbines and pylons on the other hand are an unfortunately necessary but ugly blight on the landscape.

Maybe in 200 years they will have faded into the industrial heritage category but I doubt it.