National Grid staff working in gondolas on electricity pylons

If you look a little closer, you may notice some activity around the huge electrical pylons nearby, their lines stretching across farmland, on either side of the road and over to Grafham Water and beyond.

These pylons are so broad at their bases that, when they were first built, it was possible to drive the farm combines underneath them. They are present at Wood Farm, too.

The National Grid pylons are finally being refurbished with new lines and insulators. Preparatory work has been going on for many months, over a vast area from Nottinghamshire to Hertfordshire.

It is an enormous undertaking which not only involves negotiating with farmers, environmental impact assessments, and ensuring that the towers are safe for individuals to climb, but careful attention to the smallest detail is impressive, as it is a risky undertaking to remove the old wires and install the new.

As we have five pylons on the farm, we have had a grandstand view of much of the work involved, including watching as several gondolas, high off the ground and each containing one man, moved slowly along the wires on one side of the pylon, removing spacers which held the various pylon wires apart.

Gondolas, high off the ground and each containing one man, moved slowly along the wires. (Image: Hilary Darlow)

Once the spacers had gone, the loose wires whipped in the wind, sounding like something off the set of Dr Who.

New toughened glass insulators have been installed, and the new wires, which are slightly thicker but can carry 20 per cent more electricity through less wires, have been pulled by winches over a tremendous distance of three kilometres at a time.

The linesmen are brave men, as only half the pylon line has been shut down; the other half is still live! So, when you switch on the light this evening, spare a thought for these men and thank them for risking their lives daily to guarantee the rest of us a constant and reliable supply of electricity.