Hydropower

3rd May 2008

Having done quite a bit of searching on the internet I have decided that a journey to Mid Wales is necessary to visit Rhyadol Hydropower Station. Here there are dams, powerstations and pipelines as well as a small windfarm.

The other alternative would be Llanberis Power Station in North Wales but as this is nearly all within the mountain itself I thought there would be little to photograph. Only Scotland and Wales have the terrain to provide hydropower from dams and the nearest one in Scotland is Pitlochry which is quite a hike!

The forecast for the weekend was awful but as all our plans had been laid we had no alternative but to go. We left home at 4.30 am to make the most of the weather- we thought, arriving at the top reservoir, Nant-y-Moch at 9 am. The weather was beginning to close in with strong winds. I set up the tripod and mounted the camera at the same time gripping the tripod to prevent it being blown over. I took out my light meter and immediately the wind caught the protective sleeve and blew it away into the reservoir. This was my first attempt with the Hasselblad and I could visualize that in the reservoir as well!!-How would I explain that to Richard??

Having taken a few shots in quite poor light we made our way down the valley to the powerstation where just the two of us had a conducted tour of the station. Photography was supposedly banned but on explainig what I was doing and why, contact was made with the manager who had no objections.

Leaving the powerstation the weather was much better and we returned to the upper dam where I took more photographs in beautiful conditions.