The A420, with a speed limit of 50mph often slows to barely 35 mph and is therefore a very tedious road to drive ( in my humble opinion!) We have therefore placed a few Boredom Busters along it.
These Wind Turbines are a prominent ( and some say beautiful) feature along this road.
Work started at the site near Watchfield in Oxfordshire in August 2007. Siemens began to erect the turbines on the 23rd January 2008 with construction completed by 30th January (by floodlight) and all 5 turbines were comissioned and turning on March 12th 2008.
Turbines:
Siemens Bonus 1.3MW
Hub Height: 49m
Rotor dia: 60m
Blade lenth: 31m
The turbines are expected to generate enough green electricity to power the equivalent of 2,500 typical homes for the next 25 years.
The blades will start turning when the wind speed at hub-height reaches 3 to 5 m/s. At very high wind speeds (in excess of 25m/s) the blades will stop rotating to prevent damage. Once the wind speed drops below the excess the turbines will automatically start generating again.
This cache can be accessed from a layby on the B4508 towards Highworth.
Stretch your legs, enjoy the view, take a photo! There is a pub and supermarket accessed from the nearby roundabout if required.