Blogger - Erica Howe: Communications Officer, RSPB

I’m going to let you into a secret. It was my birthday on Saturday. I suppose it’s not really a secret at all, not with the world of social media. I don’t think that there are many things that you can keep under your hat nowadays.

I’m not going to tell you how old I was on my birthday, but needless to say, with each year I become increasingly more nostalgic about climbing trees, riding a bike with no hands, running to the top of a hill without taking a breath and rolling all the way down it!

As a grown-up these things are not part of our daily routine anymore and because of this, fear seems to have crept in. Last week, I was lucky enough to take a trip up to the Swaffham Ecotech centre where I climbed the hundreds of narrow, winding steps up to the top of the Ecotricity wind turbine. I’m not totally sure what has happened to my constitution in recent years, I used to be able to stomach roller coaster rides and tree-top look outs, but of late, something has changed. Walking up the inside of the wind turbine was not having a good effect on me. Sweaty palms, dizzy, churning tummy, the works!

The relief of getting to the top was slightly tarnished with the thought of having to go back down, but once I had my eyes firmly glued to the horizon, with the blades of the turbine hypnotically cruising round, I started to relax. Being so high up is really quite a privilege. It literally gives you a bird’s eye view. But do you know what really struck me? The peace and quiet. It was as if someone had turned off the background noise to the world and I was alone with my thoughts. 

This is my second ‘secret’ for you; I think that wind turbines are actually quite a thing of beauty. I know it’s not conventional beauty, but there is just something about them that depicts elegance and simplicity. And the RSPB doesn’t think they’re too bad either. In fact, for the most part, they’re actually a great way to generate green, clean energy.

Th e world is struggling to maintain a healthy balance of supply and demand and as a result, the other living things on our planet are fighting for survival. If we can put up a wind turbine that goes in the right place, with a proper environmental assessment done, then we are doing something positive in the fight against climate change. And I certainly don’t think we should keep that a secret. My age however, is another matter!

Featured in the EDP, Saturday 14 April