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A sight for sore eyes in Shropshire

A £280,000 project in Ludlow has vastly improved the view of a site in Shropshire and the speed of restoration to 638 homes.

As part of our ongoing initiative to enhance protected landscapes, Clee Hill Common is the largest of eight sites in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) which have been transformed to date.


Clee Hill Common before

950 metres of overhead electricity lines on Clee Hill were placed underground in October, with 21 wooden poles being removed.


Clee Hill Common during

Two overhead transformers have been replaced with a ground mounted package substation containing full automation. Switchgear at Clee Hill Plant has also been fully upgraded, with two fully automated RN6 ring main units allowing the network between Ludlow, Tenbury and Cleobury Mortimer primary substations to be split there.


Clee Hill Common after

Jeremy Tyler, WPD Overhead Technician explains: “This project involved nearly every member of staff at the Ludlow depot at some point, requiring the skills of Jointers, Linesmen, Fitters and extra help on shutdowns from Technicians. We were faced with undergrounding nearly 1km of 11kV at a depth of one metre. 70% of the excavation was through solid rock, so 360 track machine diggers were used to complete the digging.”

The work has received much praise, including local MP Phillip Dunne who visited the site.

Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership Manager, Phil Holden, added: “The work will improve the visual amenity at one of the AONB’s most iconic viewpoints and, in terms of public benefit, this scheme will deliver on a large scale as it is one of the most visited sites in the Shropshire Hills.”
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