Windy Miller

There was uproar amongst the villagers when proposals became known for the erection of a wind powered turbine in their very back yard.

The usual emotional sentiments were expressed chiefly on the theme of why it had to be in their otherwise unspoiled area when there were plenty of wide open and unpopulated spaces elsewhere in the county. Rumour and hearsay thrived amongst the residents. There was an unfounded story from another parish where the constant whirring of just such a turbine drove man and beast to a state of demented frenzy and the weaker amongst the respective species threw themselves to an untimely death in a canal or a quarry or under the wheels of some vehicle or other or died of natural causes some years later .

Another tale was of a lady renowned for her special powers in things future and unworldly who claimed that the rotation of the turbine interfered with signals to her from the 'other' side.

In particularly stormy conditions in a southern county someone recalled hearing about  turbine blades which had become severed from their tower and had pirouetted and spiralled through the village causing considerable damage to property and possessions.

Sporadic combustion of similar buildings was quite well known and could be substantiated in fact rather than being a subject of fiction.

The representatives of the Consortium, out of town Land Agents, behind the project put their case to a meeting around the village pump amongst barracking and jeering from an almost full contingent of the residents and a few curious by-standers who happened to be out  rambling from the city.

The proposed location, it was argued,  was ideal on the basis of its elevation and exposure to the prevailing westerly winds.

There was good access to the road network and for the benefit of those for whom the turbine would provide a mechanism for wealth and amenity.

There was to be direct employment for one operator and a house to be built adjacent for occupation by their family.

The spin-off prospects for other jobs in the village and surroundings were expected to be good particularly for those in the transport, haulage, distribution and marketing sectors.

Aesthetically the tower would be quite unobtrusive. Painted black the slender 74 foot high structure with a traditional ogee cap and the four bladed turbine atop would blend in with the hillside and be a mere vertical stripe against the skyline. Such was the design that it was anticipated that the building would attain local landmark status and reflect well on the forward thinking members of the village as being progressive and modern.

When put to a vote the motion to build the structure was passed unanimously. This was not really surprising as the only persons eligible to put their signatures on the paperwork were the Consortium comprising the main land owners and financiers. The rest of the population were largely silent as they were in the employment and tied housing of the aforementioned privileged few as agricultural workers, domestic staff or otherwise beholding for their livelihoods in trade and commerce.

The wind turbine as mentioned , more quaintly called a windmill was erected at Skidby Village in 1821 by Robert Garton, a millwright of nearby Beverley. It was heightened in 1878-1879 but any protests at that time were not recorded for posterity. The windmill was restored to operation in 1974 and is regularly open to the public to this day. The arguments against and for a wind turbine remain ostensibly the same from the early 19th Century to the 21st.